<p>I graduated from community college in December 2013. I got degrees in Engineering Science, Mathematics and Physics with GPAs of 3.7, 3.8 and 3.8, respectively (they would have been even higher but I had a few C's in humanities from a while back when I took a couple of classes as a teenager and didn't give a s***, I re-enrolled 6 years later when I was more disciplined which is when I started engineering; I just didn't feel like retaking those classes since they weren't important). I studied hard, took my classes seriously, always went above and beyond to do my best and I always got out what I put in. Mind you, it was a good CC I went to.</p>
<p>This is my first semester at Rutgers in Mechanical Engineering (I took the Spring 2014 semester off). I know that universities demand more from engineering students and I was prepared to do more but now I feel like I'm drowning. No matter how hard I study, how much extra work I do and how much I feel like I understand the material, I feel like I'm never prepared for the quizzes or exams. It's almost like I spend my time studying for the classes I'm taking at Rutgers, but when the quizzes/exams come they are from some other school/source that learned the material in a totally different way (if that makes sense).</p>
<p>I've changed my study habits a few times to be more efficient and have pretty much killed any involvement in my personal hobbies/time just for more time to study and picked up some alternative materials to work problems from a different source. I'm making time to meet with one of the professors to see how I can prepare myself better and have applied to see if I can get a tutor, whatever I can to boost my current situation.</p>
<p>So what am I missing? I consider myself a smart and disciplined guy and I do enjoy the topics, but this is really killing my confidence. Any ideas? Thanks (sorry for the rant)</p>
<p>depends on what classes you’re taking and how many you are taking.</p>
<p>I’m taking 3 classes and I also work.</p>
<p>Numerical Analysis with Matlab, Mechanics of Solids/Materials and Thermodynamics.</p>
<p>I have Matlab under control, I’m not really worried about that. I thought I knew what I was doing in Mech of Mats, the midterm seemed foreign from homework/examples, got a 32 (47 class average). I put the most time into thermodynamics, I really enjoy that class and am learning a lot from it, but again, doing the homework, studying the chapters, even doing loads of extra problems at the end of each chapter doesn’t seem to prepare me for the quizzes/exams.</p>
<p>It sounds like it’s just a simple case of your community college not preparing you well for Rutgers and/or you overrating your own preparedness. If it was in the same state that’s even worse as the CC’s are supposed to at least attempt to have articulated agreements on curriculum. </p>
<p>I’m going to point out some things that are bothering me.
- CC’s are two year colleges, they offer classes a typical engineering, physics, and/or math major would take at a 4 year university though not always if it’s a smaller/crummier CC. You act as though you received 3 distinct degrees in heady sounding majors. Of course Calculus is taken for engineering, physics and math. In fact many of the curriculum outlines students in each of those major takes the first two years are nearly identical. However, two year schools can’t offer the divergent upper level classes that actually separate those majors. You’re not taking quantum I&II at CC or Fluid Mechanics at CC or Partial DiffEQ at CC. So really what makes your degrees so distinct from one another? A good rule of thumb is that it takes 5-6 classes to differentiate between a degree and a minor, let alone two full degrees. It would be more accurate if you said you get a degree in engineering from your CC with some elective work in physics or math (if that’s even possible at the CC) and report one cumulative GPA. Because your coursework at the lower level is so similar, it only makes sense to say you got A’s and B’s in physics classes, not a 3.8 in physics.</p>
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<li><p>I seriously question your CC’s engineering degree if they awarded you one without having taken mechanics of materials and thermodynamics. Those are sophomore level courses. As well the numerical class in Matlab is usually also a 2nd year class.</p></li>
<li><p>You haven’t even gotten to the real upper level coursework yet, but I’ll go ahead and give you a preview. Especially at a large public such as Rutgers, you are expected to use whatever resources are at your disposal to learn independently. That means the majority of what you learn, at least in what you can internalize to solve problems, will come from outside of lectures. I suggest you find a cadre of other serious students (this might be an iterative process) and start figure out where you have gaps in knowledge. It might mean you have to go back to a first principles book and review a section, say on how to solve a 2nd order ODE.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Many people (including me) do better when they study in groups. You can quiz each other. You see where some of your peers are as far as their understanding of the material. Each one will bring a little different take on the material and that other point of view will actually help you understand the material more.</p>
<p>Good luck. Engineering is a tough program and it puts many people to the test. It is a BIG step up from community college typically. Hang in there.</p>
<p>I have observed that there is almost always an adjustment period from CC to 4-year program. As @HPuck35 says, get yourself into a study group and that will certainly help. Keep looking for the right kinds of study methods tat will give you the desired results and finally remember that Engineering is tough! Getting a 3.5 in an engineering program is a significant achievement.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies, guys</p>
<p>@da6onet - Yeah, I only had to take I think 3 extra classes to get those other 2 degrees, it was more of just a statement that I’ve done extra work (math and computer courses) and if there is extra work to be done (that will help) I will do it. I got A’s in all of my physics/math classes (except a B+ in calc 1) and A’s in all of my engineering specific coursework.</p>
<p>Isn’t it pretty normal for CC transfers to have to take a couple of sophomore level classes upon transfer? I’ve heard similar things from people coming from other CC’s as well, I actually felt pretty lucky to only have to take 2 sophomore level classes upon transfer. Thermo is a 3rd year class at Rutgers (and I thought at most, if not all, institutions).</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, I feel just as academically prepared as far as prerequisite knowledge for the classes as the other regular Rutgers students (use of Statics in Mech of Mats, Matlab in Numerical Analysis, general math used, etc), so I’m not going to blame my CC for it, I suppose I just need to experiment with my study methods as university has proven to be much more rigorous.</p>
<p>@HPuck35/@xraymancs - Yeah I figure this is just an adjustment period, I just didn’t think the transition would be this drastic (maybe it’s just me though).</p>
<p>most cc to uni students have to do 2+3, years. So yes it is normal for transfers to take sophomore level classes</p>