<p>Hi, I'm a Kelley DA and was wondering if I could get a few opinions on my schedule for first semester. Also, I've been hearing some horror stories about Basic Accounting which I'm taking first eight weeks. Any tips or suggestions on how to maximize my grade in that class?</p>
<p>BUS-A100 Winston
BUS-K204 Staff
MATH-M118 Staff
MUS-X050 (Marching Hundred)
PHIL-P135 (Existentialism) Wood
POLS-Y105 Failer</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Greetings Alex. The only thing that I can talk about is A-100 with Winston since I had her twice for that class. I had to retake it because a death in the family greatly affected me when I was taking it the first time. There are definite tips that I highly recommend you take advantage of:</p>
<ol>
<li>Go to every class. Winston does give hints and tips about the exams and does well at explaining the material.</li>
<li>Read the reading material. It’s easy to read and gives a bit more detailed explanation than the notes in class. Again… it’s easy to read.</li>
<li>Go to the tutoring sessions the days before the exams and ask as many questions as you need. </li>
<li>Do as many old exams as you can as you’ll come across the same questions or very similar questions on the actual exams. There are many that she puts up and they’re incredibly helpful. </li>
<li>Do NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT rely on just studying the class notes and reading material. You will be guaranteed an F if you do. The class really only provides the background material and if you don’t practice, you’ll miss a lot of the trick questions and harder questions that you really only find on the exams.</li>
</ol>
<p>vihzel,</p>
<p>any tips on math 118? thanks!</p>
<p>I’m not Vihzel, but I’ll offer input on M118:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Go into this class knowing that it’s a very, very hard class. The material in the first week or two is very easy and you’ll laugh at how basic some of the concepts are (ex. questions like “which letters are in both sets {a,b,c,d} and {c,d,e,f}?”) and a lot of kids got fooled by how easy the class started off and decided to blow it off in the long run. Big mistake. Make sure you understand EVERY concept before moving on to learn the next one, becaue everything in the class builds off the previous concept.</p></li>
<li><p>The homework is all online, on a program called WebWork. It’s a pain in the ass to do, but do it anyways because it’ll help your grade. In addition, the textbook has endless practice problems and there’s an answer key for the odd numbered problems in the backof the book. I recommend doing these problems BEFORE you tackle the WebWork, because some of the WebWork questions only allow 1-2 attempts on each problem before giving you 0 credit for the problem. Doing the book problems beforehand will make you way more confident when doing the online graded assigment, plus some questions basically overlap.</p></li>
<li><p>Read the chapters and examples in the book. It’s weird for a lot of people to do ‘math readings’ but do it anyways. M118 is a big lecture and having the book explain the material to you 1-on-1 is much less overwhelming thay trying to understand what’s going on in class.</p></li>
<li><p>The tests in this class, in my experience, feel a lot easier than they really are. I completed the midterm exam Fall Semester in 17 minutes and was the second kid done. I left the testing room like “man, that was sooo easy!” but later learned that I’d earned a D-. Look for trick questions and always check your work. Some of the questions are designed to trip you up on purpose.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Basically it’s a doable class. I didn’t do excellent but I made it through. Unless you’re in A100, expect it to be your hardest class.</p>
<p>either one of you have any advise on m119?</p>
<p>For M118 and M119, you just have to admit its going to be hard. Theres no set easy way to get by these classes. I was in your position last year and was trying to find ways to get an easy A. If you want to do well in those classes then you have to put in the work. The work doesn’t mean the bare minimum which consists of doing webwork and going to class. It means taking notes, reviewing those notes, taking practice tests, doing more problems, and asking for help if you need it. </p>
<p>Its going to be a grind but it is doable. Most kids I know got by with a B or higher but it was not easy. Prepare yourself from now to get ready for those classes. For M118 especially, I would recommend reading the textbook to understand those concepts. Once you understand it, try to apply it to something you like such as sports or books. That way on a test, you can use that same logic to help you solve the problem. </p>
<p>As for A100, do every single practice test you can get your hands on. Thats what I did and got an A in the class. However, make sure you understand why thats the answer though and dont memorize it.</p>
<p>I personally didn’t find M118 too difficult. I took Calc BC AP and Stats AP in high school and found M118 easier (definitely easier than my Calc class). I will admit that there were times where I was going a little mental while doing WebWork stuff. I only went to class to take the exams. I despised that class because I couldn’t understand my professor (he had a heavy foreign accent) and just went from slide to slide. I basically taught myself and learned from the tutors on WebWorks that you’ll find accompanied with your online homework. Definitely take advantage of that guy because he really does help you with your homework. M118 is just one of the stupid classes that you have to take at IU that everyone doesn’t like. Even if you plan to study piano and Spanish, M118 is a requirement. To this day, I have no clue where M118 has had a positive influence in my academic career. I’m sure that if I went back to do M118, I’d have to relearn everything since I haven’t taken any math classes since 3 years ago.</p>