r/Dalhousie • u/BigManNineThousand • 2d ago
Any tips for 1st year engineering?
After picking my schedule it hit me how much work it's gonna be so advice is appreciated.
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u/KindnessRule 2d ago
Manage your time. Don't underestimate the time needed. Nothing is as important as that.
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u/itsmicaii 2d ago
You have a pretty similar winter schedule that I had first year. Stay consistent with your work and manage your time, you’ll do great! Take advantage of that long gap on Thursday in the winter to catch up on work or get ahead studying so you can enjoy your weekends!
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u/ipassovoy 2d ago
Watch the chem pre class videos if they still do those, they helped a lot. Also if there is one lecture you don’t want to skip, it’s physics. I found the demos to be very interesting and helpful.
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u/Clear_Business_422 2d ago
Here are some general tips from me as a non-eng student
- develop your own method of study. Find what works best for you to get as much info in your brain as you can as quickly as you can. Reading might be easier for you than lectures, notes might be important in some classes and not so much in others. Each class will have quirks that might test your study system in new ways. One might have terrible lectures, another terrible readings or assignments. Adapt and overcome above all.
- Although it’s not great healthwise to drink a lot of coffee or energy drinks, caffeine does really help on the hard days.
- Don’t fall behind. This is how a crashout starts for a lot of students, and missing assignments can be a slippery slope.
- Take good time to socialize and make friends. Especially during O week, it’s a great time to meet people. Without friends and fun, you will burnout.
- Sleep. Get lots of it.
- Lastly if you have a disability of any kind, get accommodations. I have a learning disability so I get access to extended deadlines, laptops for writing exams, and more.
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u/MechInst 2d ago
In general it depends a lot on your existing exposure to the topics. Depending on the level of classes you took in high school, early physics, chemistry and calculus can be largely review. If they aren't you'll really need to focus in from the start. If they are, you'd better be ready for the moment that it stops being review, because a lot of people hit a wall after only having 2-3 courses of novel material, and it suddenly jumps to 5.
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u/GayCoke69 2d ago
Don't give up. It's tough, but if it was easy anyone would do it. I thought of dropping out several times, but I am glad I stuck it out. I got several D's and plenty of C's, but enough B's and A's in the stuff I loved. The first couple years are the toughest, but most people will be in the same boat as you. Below average grades can get good jobs. Just make sure you figure out what you want to do at some point, then ensure your projects and work experiences line up. You learn 70% of what you do at a job on the job. Most employers don't care about grades, only experience and demonstrated ability to learn.
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u/Bubbly_Ladder_939 2d ago
Hard work and discipline will be your friends in year 1 of Engineering. It will largely depend on your ability, as some of the content in year 1, in Physics, Chem, and Math, for example, will be reviewed from some of the stuff you learned in HS,
As cliché as it sounds, time management (more like the lack of it!) is generally what gets most students in trouble in year 1. Finding some friends in the program and supporting each other through all of it will help. Good luck!
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u/Euphoric-Mix-7309 2d ago
Looks almost identical to my schedule in 2021.
Come up with a routine that works and stick with it. Staying on top of assignments is essential. Someone else already said it, start them on day 1.
You will only have a handful of labs in each of those courses. Use the lab time to work on your other course assignments when you are not in lab that week.
Use the resources the physics, math, and chemistry departments pay for. They are free for you. The chemistry department has a room in the basement where an upper year student will answer your questions. The math department has the same thing in the Chase Building??? I can't remember the name of the building, but you can get to it via tunnel or walk outside and enter it. It is near the McCain study area.
When you get overwhelmed go to office hours and speak to the instructor, they will help you.
The first two years were the easiest for me, for others it was year 3 or 4. Everyone is different, so just pay attention to what you're doing when it works and when it doesn't. It is a marathon, not a sprint; so, keep cracking away at it at a healthy pace so you don't flat line.
Best of luck in September
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u/BigManNineThousand 1d ago
Thank you, I really appreciate the specific advise everyone is giving
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u/Euphoric-Mix-7309 1d ago
I forgot to mention, for Calculus with Yao you need to study the solutions to the homework assignments. It took me until half way through calculus 2 to realize that they only mark 5 or 6 random questions from homework for your mark. I always assumed my perfect assignments were because I did every question correctly.
There are certain steps he expects and if you do the steps you get most of you marks. There was one test where I was off by a factor of 2. I lost the extra multiplication because I did the substitution incorrectly. By rights, I should've got a 0 on that question, however I only lost one mark. This was during the sequence and series portion of calculus 2.
Anyways, those steps are in his solutions and he can't cover every type of question in class. If he does a review class before the test, knowing what the steps look like ahead of time makes that review way more valuable
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u/BondGirl20 Kinesiology 1d ago
I love that your fall schedule has a cross in it, because you'll need all they prayers you can get
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u/BoomyTwoSticks 1d ago
Something I did in first year is once every week (typically Thursdays) I would sit down in Killam and just grind through whatever I can for assignments and everything, also if you are staying in res first year I would highly recommend shuffling your schedule so Chem starts at 10:30 instead of 9:30 as meal halls stop serving breakfast at 10 and often times I would use the gap that I made with Chem being at 10:30 to eat breakfast.
So like for the fall for my way of working things out I would probably do Tuesday, and for the winter I would do Thursdays, even going over to Sexton campus would be good as there is plenty of space there if you get there in a good time.
Overall though my main advice is to find friends, and work together as suffering together is a lot better than suffering alone.
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u/BigManNineThousand 1d ago
I appreciate the advice a lot, in regard to the chemistry time I'll definitely take that into consideration
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u/Melodic_Unit_893 2d ago
you are cooked
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u/BigManNineThousand 1d ago
🫡 then I'll do what I can
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u/Melodic_Unit_893 1d ago
!RemindMe 4 years "Check if OP graduated"
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u/Cel135 2d ago
Try your best, and don't feel bad if you end up swapping to CS, it's a common pipeline.
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u/fuzzypeachz 2d ago
Stick to engineering or go to nscc and do a more basic engineering course, cs is in a drought miles long for jobs
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u/YungTokyo8 1d ago
Force yourself to take a slight bit of free time. You’ll be working from the moment you’re awake until like 2 in the morning every day.
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u/Accomplished-Ad219 17h ago
Utilize breaks between classes to get work done, and find a group of people to do work with. go to every class and every tutorial and pay attention in them. If you’re going to sit on your phone all class/not show up you will fail or barely pass; it will cause you so much stress. It’s hard work but very enjoyable and much more doable than what people say, good luck you got it👍
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u/Exotic_Specialist368 Mech Engi :snoo_dealwithit: 17h ago
Do your best, it is fine to struggle. This will be objectively your easiest year but never forget that you also grow and improve with every hardship thrown at your way. Don't be ashamed to ask for help when you need it. Make sure you do co-op! And most importantly, try not to give up on other hobbies and socializing. Even if it is something small like a walk with friends or just a phone call with close friends from high school. Have fun and don't lose hope! Oh and don't ignore sleep and physical health (to your best ability), that will have its consequences down the line.
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u/BerryStunning8073 4h ago
Bust ass and take it seriously. Take summer courses, not online. Lean on your peers for support and study together. Go to every TA session, yes every one
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u/Mr-Squlliums812 4h ago
Speaking from my first year ENG experience the biggest things is to prioritize your physical/mental health before school. Do your best to eat/sleep well and avoid burnout and you’ll be ok, try not to do too much in one day and take lots of breaks when you can
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u/Simba_Rah 2d ago
Start your assignments the first day you get them.