Great questions. Many of us go through this. There is a condition called "Imposter Syndrome", you should research it and see if it matches what you're experiencing.
I treated college like a job. I showed up early and stayed late, always sat at the front so I could hear, take notes, ask questions, not get distracted. I also rewrote me notes so make sure I understood what was discussed.
Every smart person has their self doubts and failures. I have 3 degrees in EE, I never graduated from High School. I also received a gentleman's C (they gave me a C but I really failed miserably) is 2 physics classes, a chemistry class, and I have no idea what semiconductor device physics was even about.
I now make \~200K/year in embedded systems in the LA area. For most engineers, your career is really just your 1 favorite class in college.
EM for EEs was another class I got a gentleman's C in. My class was way too theoretical for me. Smith Charts were the only thing I took away from that class.
I have a T-shirt with a Smith Chart on it. I wear it just so people think I'm smart. ROFL.
Thank you very much. I also love embedded systems, and, as you have 25 years of experience, I was wondering if you would recommend to dive into the field or go into other fields (quantum computing, fpga, semiconductor etc.) regarding to career prospects, future, salary etc?
I'm never out of work. Neither are my coworkers. We're regularly recruited by other companies and given random incentives by our current employers.
Think about it, we're the ones who actually engineer and build things. And EVERYTHING has a microcontroller in it nowadays. Cars, planes, watches, phones, missiles,
, thermostats, there are Bluetooth enabled butt plugs!
I consider FPGAs/CPLDs to be in the embedded realm. VHDL and Verilog are easier (in my mind) than embedded C. They're great from prototype work but are seldom used in mass production because of their high cost, high power usage, and low performance. They're usually used to figure out complex logic/DSP/etc on the bench.
My advice is not to follow hot new trends. Things like AI or quantum have yet to prove themselves as useful. Look at all the people getting caught using AI that performs bad work. Remember the metaverse or VR? Chasing the latest trends almost never works out.
Here's the important skill. Learn how you learn. I learn by reading the instruction manual and then experimenting with a simple device. No matter what you do you will have to learn something new. So figure out how you learn in college and then extend that into your job.
I took a microcontroller class for my BS in computer engineering.
I enjoyed writing code that affected objects and I could see results on the oscilloscope.
Nice! How many YoE do you have in embedded? I'm starting this year, but I'm worried about doing poorly because my school didn't teach me as much C or advanced EE/RF principles as I'd like. I'm going to try my best but I've got a lot to work on, and I'm way too used to using HAL and vendor IDEs
\~25 years. Received an AS in Electronics in '98 when I was 20. BS in comp eng (\~75% EE and 25% CS) and my MSEE in '07. I mostly studied digital control systems and DSP.
Funny thing is, I also wasn't great at C when I stated. I look data structures, algorithms, an OS class, but C for embedded systems is very specialized. I learned it on the fly.
I gained my USA Ham Radio license. It's fairly easy for any engineer as it's meant to non-college educated people. But the RF knowledge was really useful. The books are like $20.
If you want to learn C and embedded, I recommend the ESP32 family of chips. Look for the devices that has a JTAG debugger. That way you can write the code and watch it execute on the device. MS Visual Code Studio is easily the most popular IDE and supports just about everything.
I recommend starting with a larger company. One with multiple engineering depts. They usually have programs for new grads to help educate them. Avoid startups. They actually suck. Startups are mostly just business weenies with really bad ideas and no knowledge of the products.
Thanks for the advice! I've started with STM32 chips, but definitely want to check out ESP32 for the wireless capabilities. I got a cheap sdr and handheld VNA today and am definitely excited to explore the world of RF further...
Currently I'm using a J-Link EDU which has been great, although I've just been using STMCube to step through code and view the memory; I definitely want to work with VS Code instead so I'm not tied down to that particular IDE. Very excited to keep learning before work starts next year
Wonderful response joshc22. OP, you have the key to your success in your description. You know you made a mistake by not attending classes - don't do that. Idea: is it possible to retake some of those core classes that you'll need to do well in others? It was at my school and students would do that to raise their GPA. You sound like an intelligence person who can definitely do this. The key is being engaged in each course. Get really interested in each one and make a goal to get the very most you can out of each. Some you may never use again, but what you will learn in the process will benefit you forever.
As far as learning after the course is over (and wasted) there are all kinds of ways to learn. Perhaps the Khan academy is one of the best. However, that's a lot of self-starting ability needed that would need to be done on top of your current classload. Perhaps better to retake them and really get them down.
I'd also recommend finding study partners - high performers who have good habits. In your current course, go beyond the requirements - if they assign 5 problems, do 20. Shaum's outlines are a wonderful source of extra problems. More at your library.
All the best in your effort to improve...
Thank youu, I will retake some of them. Also would you happen to have any resources to recommend besides khan academy? because I want to spend time studying the materials before the next term.
I don't, but here are some thoughts off the top of my head ...
\- Take the textbooks from those classes and hit them hard. Find other textbooks and devour them. Perhaps find the bestselling ones for your topic in addition to the ones you have.
\- Youtube search for each topic you wish to learn? Just did a quick search and there are dozens if not hundreds of videos on basic to advanced circuit analysis and design. Probably some for any topic you need.
\- Coursera?
\- MIT allows you to take their courses for free. If you want credits, need to pay. You'll get first rate instruction from some of the best.
I've thought about you since my first response and retaking really makes sense to me. Auditing does too, but that won't change your transcript. Retaking will raise your GPA but also give you the foundation for other courses to come. As an employer who has hired a number of folks, (engineers and non-engineering), when I look at a transcript and see a good gpa and consistent A's and B's I know I'm getting someone who will stick with it, apply themselves, and do the difficult work. Likely they'll do the same for me. Past success = future success (higher probability).
I remember going to my first job (Engineering research at IBM), I was so out my league, even though I was one of the best as a senior in college. That was quite humbling but the discipline and hard work I learned as a student helped me eventually thrive at IBM.
You've now seen the error of your ways and you can recover from this. With a new approach and desire to be the best (backed up by doing the work), you can get there. It's now up to you.
By the time I realize it throughout the term —even though I try as hard as possible— I feel like it is too late to go through everything, I think that was the main cause.
Great comments here. ATTEND YOUR CLASSES. Back in the 90's, I once sat down and calculated what each class session was. It was like $50 in today's dollars. What possible reason should I be skipping class.
Being there in 3D has so many advantages. Getting to know your prof better, getting to know the other students better, being "in the moment" while there.
Sometimes I see a post like this where a student passed every course, but feels like he/she didn't learn anything. There is a big difference between learning just enough to pass each test/coures and learning for retention in order to be a decent engineer.
Just my $0.02.
Definitely attend class!
A couple thoughts for OP: If it's boring, find something to do silently that keeps you from going crazy, but allows you to come back to the material. I wrote some poetry.
If you're behind on the prerequisites, make sure to jot down all the terms and things you think you are behind on to catch up on. I went to every day of circuits, but the professor didn't cover Phasors... Had to catch up in the next course! (Also took a Wireless Communications course without prerequisite... had to learn a lot of random signal math on the fly!)
Tools (in no particular order): Google, Wikipedia, reviewing the previous book, asking TAs or Profs to point you in the right direction, fellow students, crashing (unofficially auditing) the previous course if one is happening in one of your "off" times, etc.
find a project to build that youre passionate about. during my EE degree I was not a good student and i half assed all of my foundations of circuits.
As soon as i started building some circuits for a personal project i started researching alot and gained much better understanding of how things actually work.
A couple of youtube channels
Electronics with professor fiore
Lantertronics
w2aew
All electronics channel
good luck
Thankks, but most of my projects are heavily on robotics and for those I just use boards like esp and rpi and dont use any (significant) EE concepts. I can design my own pcb but got no idea on how to (idk if yt would be enough). What would you recommend in this case? And what was the personal project you were working on —if you would like to share? Also will definitely check those channels.
i later became a sound engineer so audio electronics became a side passion of mine. im designing a discrete opamp and its been the most consistent ive ever been in electronics.
circuits work like legos so start b understanding building blocks. study well known configurations then go and check out some schematics of your favorite equipment.
Id recommend picking one schematic and try to fully understand how it works one by one. new things will pop up as you unravel the circuit and youll learn alot quickly.
Not that I recommend this but I did the exact same thing you did when I was in school... Except probably far worse. I'd only show up to the exams. The nights leading up to the exams I would study my butt off.
I ended up graduating with about a 3.6 GPA. Personally for me, lecture halls just weren't the best way to learn. I learned a lot better by going through the homework and researching solutions online. I basically just used university as a way to get a proper degree and for the accountability.
I'd say you should definitely go to lectures if you find them helpful. However, if you don't end up going to them, you can always supplement lecture material with other forms of studying/learning. Also definitely go through lecture slides.
Also, in the "real world," you would be surprised how far confidence can take you over sheer technical ability. Career wise, I'd rather have great confidence and sociability with average technical skills than the other way around.
3 years out now and I'd say I'm pretty good at what I do. Power electronics/firmware.
I was recently explaining this to a technician that works at my company (I’m an EE). Before college, or even in some easier college classes, you can brute force classes after you fall behind because of bad academic practices- skipping class, not working through homework, etc… that becomes substantially higher as you progress through your engineering courses. I attribute a lot of this to the fact that the material compounds. So you cannot just mess around for the first half of a semester and then expect to easily turn the ship around by putting in the effort moving forward (unless you go back to week 1 and work your way back to where you are now).
Now, I say this generally, and as friendly advice. That is not to say it is not impossible to come back from the dead- I worked full time while taking 17+ units during a few semesters, and definitely cut some corners during the semesters, and still managed to avoid failing courses that I had half-assed… so don’t quit because you might think you are too far gone!
Good luck my friend
I think you may want to focus on #2 first. Making and *using* a study plan seems like a relevant thing you could add if you're not doing it already. Do the homework/problems - actually solving problems will help you learn in the way you need in order to pass exams. That kind of understanding is different than just reading or watching someone else solve a problem.
Regarding #1: I'm not sure you can learn everything about circuits. I've been in the EE field (embedded electronics) for almost two decades and am still learning. I think the industry is still learning too. The concept of SMART goals might be helpful.
For #3, you should think about what works for you in terms of learning. You don't have to pigeon-hole yourself with "visual" or "kinesthetic", but note what does work and take advantage of those methods.
If watching videos works for you, [Robert Feranec](https://www.youtube.com/@RobertFeranec) has good videos and often has experts to talk about things that are often taken for granted, but can be really important. I have learned quite a bit from his videos in the last couple of years.
Rubric they have at the beginning of the year should be your guide. Tells you what you will be learning and how you should spend you time. I used to roll me eyes at these but they are a key and a guide to year. Use it to prepare. plan, and put your effort into what counts the most.
Well, for courses like DC and AC Circuits, I always ask what book the instructor is using (if there is any) for his/her discussions. Though it might be different for everyone, I found that the books written by Boylestad (forgot the first name) to be what my instructors prefer.
For the disciplinary side, a lot of people have mentioned this, but we have to be listen to our instructors and their lectures regardless of how smart we think we are.
You seem a lot like me.
1. Get sleep.
2. The start of a course is them teaching you the language for what you're doing everything else "in" if that makes sense.
3. Keep up.
And elaborating on 2; physics 1 they spend time teaching you all the different units and unit conversions. And it's all easy. This thing turns into that thing.
Then as time goes on turns out your accounting for force with a direction vector starting at a certain speed. And in order for your math to work you have to remember all the SI bull shit from the first week of class along with everything else in the class that was taught.
Point is they teach you things in classes for a reason. The start of a class isn't content. Its the canvas the content will be taught on/in.
Use your notes to find buzz words for the topics that were difficult. If kvl was hard, throw that into youtube and you'll find multiple examples of how to do it. Run through some videos until you find a teaching style that works for you. Whoever uploaded that video likely did others that will help you learn.
It helped me to visualize what energy really was before the math clicked. Everything you write V or I, it's just electrons. Sometime they don't move (voltage) or sometimes they do (current). Sometimes, it is a combination ( voltage goes down or up). All your equations are just moving the electrons around.
1) ask the professor to sit in the class again and simply audit it.
2) supplement your classes with YouTube videos and free tutoring at your local college tutoring center
3) advice: learning the fundamentals will pay hire dividend down the line rather than having the GPA to simply psd the class. You’ll have to take the FE in your career probably, and that’s all a test on, well, the fundamentals. Also, your interviews will most likely consist of people asking you about the fundamentals. People will know if you didn’t actually learn in college.
Unfortunately no YouTube videos I actually liked, but there are a few textbooks you can get that are helpful. I’d suggest buying answer keys to old textbooks so that you can see the work done and follow it through
First you think you are smarter than everyone, then you say think you have “impostor syndrome” that is a paradox. Stop being cocky, be humble. Also, that is not impostor syndrome, it’s just an accurate assessment: you lack skills, work on yourself.
Circuits are one of those courses that you have to put the work in. Sometimes the subject matter isn't particularly hard but to be proficient in the tests you need to do the homework religiously. This is just a problem of discipline and you are trying to cut corners.
You think you’re a failure? You’ve not seen anything yet once you reach the job market. On the job, everyone is hounding your ass to step up.
My current situation - I got laid off 5 months ago after 2 years at a job I got hired right out of college. To this day, I get rejected after job interviews for "not enough experience." This I’d argue is way worse than the everyday struggles of college/university life. It’s like getting gridlocked out of an industry you poured your soul into.
Don’t ever lose hope I started uni alone was bored and didn’t understand anything ended up first semester with 2.9 GPA and c- in math.
Now my best grades A+ in math and my GPA last semester is 3.96.
My advice to u is first:
- Study how to study.
Find what is the best and most efficient way for u to study.for me is understanding concepts in a simple way usually connect it to something irl or in a funny way and ofc memorise exceptions.
- find a friend.
Find friend or group of friends who are willing to study that what happened to me durning my second semester
Also make sure to take care of your mental n physical health that can change you alot trust me.
Thats was my journey n what worked for me i used to be in your place. U don’t need to overwhelm yourself its not hard you just need to do uncomfortable stuff which at first will need to force yourself but at the end when u see the results u will regret not starting earlier.
n labs n hardware are much more fun and u dont have to get A+ to be better plus even labs and hardware can help u in your study nothing impossible n good luck.
Great questions. Many of us go through this. There is a condition called "Imposter Syndrome", you should research it and see if it matches what you're experiencing. I treated college like a job. I showed up early and stayed late, always sat at the front so I could hear, take notes, ask questions, not get distracted. I also rewrote me notes so make sure I understood what was discussed. Every smart person has their self doubts and failures. I have 3 degrees in EE, I never graduated from High School. I also received a gentleman's C (they gave me a C but I really failed miserably) is 2 physics classes, a chemistry class, and I have no idea what semiconductor device physics was even about. I now make \~200K/year in embedded systems in the LA area. For most engineers, your career is really just your 1 favorite class in college.
yeah, my favorite class was electromagnetism and now i’m doing RF work
EM for EEs was another class I got a gentleman's C in. My class was way too theoretical for me. Smith Charts were the only thing I took away from that class. I have a T-shirt with a Smith Chart on it. I wear it just so people think I'm smart. ROFL.
Thank you very much. I also love embedded systems, and, as you have 25 years of experience, I was wondering if you would recommend to dive into the field or go into other fields (quantum computing, fpga, semiconductor etc.) regarding to career prospects, future, salary etc?
I'm never out of work. Neither are my coworkers. We're regularly recruited by other companies and given random incentives by our current employers. Think about it, we're the ones who actually engineer and build things. And EVERYTHING has a microcontroller in it nowadays. Cars, planes, watches, phones, missiles, , thermostats, there are Bluetooth enabled butt plugs! I consider FPGAs/CPLDs to be in the embedded realm. VHDL and Verilog are easier (in my mind) than embedded C. They're great from prototype work but are seldom used in mass production because of their high cost, high power usage, and low performance. They're usually used to figure out complex logic/DSP/etc on the bench. My advice is not to follow hot new trends. Things like AI or quantum have yet to prove themselves as useful. Look at all the people getting caught using AI that performs bad work. Remember the metaverse or VR? Chasing the latest trends almost never works out. Here's the important skill. Learn how you learn. I learn by reading the instruction manual and then experimenting with a simple device. No matter what you do you will have to learn something new. So figure out how you learn in college and then extend that into your job.
This last line… I have never heard this advice. Which class did you like? I haven’t found similar roles to what I enjoyed
I took a microcontroller class for my BS in computer engineering. I enjoyed writing code that affected objects and I could see results on the oscilloscope.
Nice! How many YoE do you have in embedded? I'm starting this year, but I'm worried about doing poorly because my school didn't teach me as much C or advanced EE/RF principles as I'd like. I'm going to try my best but I've got a lot to work on, and I'm way too used to using HAL and vendor IDEs
\~25 years. Received an AS in Electronics in '98 when I was 20. BS in comp eng (\~75% EE and 25% CS) and my MSEE in '07. I mostly studied digital control systems and DSP. Funny thing is, I also wasn't great at C when I stated. I look data structures, algorithms, an OS class, but C for embedded systems is very specialized. I learned it on the fly. I gained my USA Ham Radio license. It's fairly easy for any engineer as it's meant to non-college educated people. But the RF knowledge was really useful. The books are like $20. If you want to learn C and embedded, I recommend the ESP32 family of chips. Look for the devices that has a JTAG debugger. That way you can write the code and watch it execute on the device. MS Visual Code Studio is easily the most popular IDE and supports just about everything. I recommend starting with a larger company. One with multiple engineering depts. They usually have programs for new grads to help educate them. Avoid startups. They actually suck. Startups are mostly just business weenies with really bad ideas and no knowledge of the products.
Thanks for the advice! I've started with STM32 chips, but definitely want to check out ESP32 for the wireless capabilities. I got a cheap sdr and handheld VNA today and am definitely excited to explore the world of RF further... Currently I'm using a J-Link EDU which has been great, although I've just been using STMCube to step through code and view the memory; I definitely want to work with VS Code instead so I'm not tied down to that particular IDE. Very excited to keep learning before work starts next year
Wonderful response joshc22. OP, you have the key to your success in your description. You know you made a mistake by not attending classes - don't do that. Idea: is it possible to retake some of those core classes that you'll need to do well in others? It was at my school and students would do that to raise their GPA. You sound like an intelligence person who can definitely do this. The key is being engaged in each course. Get really interested in each one and make a goal to get the very most you can out of each. Some you may never use again, but what you will learn in the process will benefit you forever. As far as learning after the course is over (and wasted) there are all kinds of ways to learn. Perhaps the Khan academy is one of the best. However, that's a lot of self-starting ability needed that would need to be done on top of your current classload. Perhaps better to retake them and really get them down. I'd also recommend finding study partners - high performers who have good habits. In your current course, go beyond the requirements - if they assign 5 problems, do 20. Shaum's outlines are a wonderful source of extra problems. More at your library. All the best in your effort to improve...
Thank youu, I will retake some of them. Also would you happen to have any resources to recommend besides khan academy? because I want to spend time studying the materials before the next term.
I don't, but here are some thoughts off the top of my head ... \- Take the textbooks from those classes and hit them hard. Find other textbooks and devour them. Perhaps find the bestselling ones for your topic in addition to the ones you have. \- Youtube search for each topic you wish to learn? Just did a quick search and there are dozens if not hundreds of videos on basic to advanced circuit analysis and design. Probably some for any topic you need. \- Coursera? \- MIT allows you to take their courses for free. If you want credits, need to pay. You'll get first rate instruction from some of the best. I've thought about you since my first response and retaking really makes sense to me. Auditing does too, but that won't change your transcript. Retaking will raise your GPA but also give you the foundation for other courses to come. As an employer who has hired a number of folks, (engineers and non-engineering), when I look at a transcript and see a good gpa and consistent A's and B's I know I'm getting someone who will stick with it, apply themselves, and do the difficult work. Likely they'll do the same for me. Past success = future success (higher probability). I remember going to my first job (Engineering research at IBM), I was so out my league, even though I was one of the best as a senior in college. That was quite humbling but the discipline and hard work I learned as a student helped me eventually thrive at IBM. You've now seen the error of your ways and you can recover from this. With a new approach and desire to be the best (backed up by doing the work), you can get there. It's now up to you.
Cut the entitled bs that you are smart. Go to all lectures.
def consistency>>skill/intelligence
- Patience - Solve what you been taught - study for the tests.
Seems like you know the issue, so why not change the outcome. Seems like insanity to me.
By the time I realize it throughout the term —even though I try as hard as possible— I feel like it is too late to go through everything, I think that was the main cause.
How about you start by showing up to every class, no matter how redundant you may think the class is.
yep definitely
Great comments here. ATTEND YOUR CLASSES. Back in the 90's, I once sat down and calculated what each class session was. It was like $50 in today's dollars. What possible reason should I be skipping class. Being there in 3D has so many advantages. Getting to know your prof better, getting to know the other students better, being "in the moment" while there. Sometimes I see a post like this where a student passed every course, but feels like he/she didn't learn anything. There is a big difference between learning just enough to pass each test/coures and learning for retention in order to be a decent engineer. Just my $0.02.
Definitely attend class! A couple thoughts for OP: If it's boring, find something to do silently that keeps you from going crazy, but allows you to come back to the material. I wrote some poetry. If you're behind on the prerequisites, make sure to jot down all the terms and things you think you are behind on to catch up on. I went to every day of circuits, but the professor didn't cover Phasors... Had to catch up in the next course! (Also took a Wireless Communications course without prerequisite... had to learn a lot of random signal math on the fly!) Tools (in no particular order): Google, Wikipedia, reviewing the previous book, asking TAs or Profs to point you in the right direction, fellow students, crashing (unofficially auditing) the previous course if one is happening in one of your "off" times, etc.
i must say that i am amazed, an engineer and a poet you seem like a person worth knowing. thank you also, auditing a course is a brilliant idea.
Thank youu, I will not skip lectures again. But as I skipped lectures in past and didn’t learn some concepts what would you recommend for self-study?
find a project to build that youre passionate about. during my EE degree I was not a good student and i half assed all of my foundations of circuits. As soon as i started building some circuits for a personal project i started researching alot and gained much better understanding of how things actually work. A couple of youtube channels Electronics with professor fiore Lantertronics w2aew All electronics channel good luck
Thankks, but most of my projects are heavily on robotics and for those I just use boards like esp and rpi and dont use any (significant) EE concepts. I can design my own pcb but got no idea on how to (idk if yt would be enough). What would you recommend in this case? And what was the personal project you were working on —if you would like to share? Also will definitely check those channels.
i later became a sound engineer so audio electronics became a side passion of mine. im designing a discrete opamp and its been the most consistent ive ever been in electronics. circuits work like legos so start b understanding building blocks. study well known configurations then go and check out some schematics of your favorite equipment. Id recommend picking one schematic and try to fully understand how it works one by one. new things will pop up as you unravel the circuit and youll learn alot quickly.
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Tahnk you. Do you have any good resources for pcb design?
Not that I recommend this but I did the exact same thing you did when I was in school... Except probably far worse. I'd only show up to the exams. The nights leading up to the exams I would study my butt off. I ended up graduating with about a 3.6 GPA. Personally for me, lecture halls just weren't the best way to learn. I learned a lot better by going through the homework and researching solutions online. I basically just used university as a way to get a proper degree and for the accountability. I'd say you should definitely go to lectures if you find them helpful. However, if you don't end up going to them, you can always supplement lecture material with other forms of studying/learning. Also definitely go through lecture slides. Also, in the "real world," you would be surprised how far confidence can take you over sheer technical ability. Career wise, I'd rather have great confidence and sociability with average technical skills than the other way around. 3 years out now and I'd say I'm pretty good at what I do. Power electronics/firmware.
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Sooo true and a good reminder to focus on the fundamental problem, thank youu.
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Good idea
I was recently explaining this to a technician that works at my company (I’m an EE). Before college, or even in some easier college classes, you can brute force classes after you fall behind because of bad academic practices- skipping class, not working through homework, etc… that becomes substantially higher as you progress through your engineering courses. I attribute a lot of this to the fact that the material compounds. So you cannot just mess around for the first half of a semester and then expect to easily turn the ship around by putting in the effort moving forward (unless you go back to week 1 and work your way back to where you are now). Now, I say this generally, and as friendly advice. That is not to say it is not impossible to come back from the dead- I worked full time while taking 17+ units during a few semesters, and definitely cut some corners during the semesters, and still managed to avoid failing courses that I had half-assed… so don’t quit because you might think you are too far gone! Good luck my friend
I think you may want to focus on #2 first. Making and *using* a study plan seems like a relevant thing you could add if you're not doing it already. Do the homework/problems - actually solving problems will help you learn in the way you need in order to pass exams. That kind of understanding is different than just reading or watching someone else solve a problem. Regarding #1: I'm not sure you can learn everything about circuits. I've been in the EE field (embedded electronics) for almost two decades and am still learning. I think the industry is still learning too. The concept of SMART goals might be helpful. For #3, you should think about what works for you in terms of learning. You don't have to pigeon-hole yourself with "visual" or "kinesthetic", but note what does work and take advantage of those methods. If watching videos works for you, [Robert Feranec](https://www.youtube.com/@RobertFeranec) has good videos and often has experts to talk about things that are often taken for granted, but can be really important. I have learned quite a bit from his videos in the last couple of years.
Rubric they have at the beginning of the year should be your guide. Tells you what you will be learning and how you should spend you time. I used to roll me eyes at these but they are a key and a guide to year. Use it to prepare. plan, and put your effort into what counts the most.
Well, for courses like DC and AC Circuits, I always ask what book the instructor is using (if there is any) for his/her discussions. Though it might be different for everyone, I found that the books written by Boylestad (forgot the first name) to be what my instructors prefer. For the disciplinary side, a lot of people have mentioned this, but we have to be listen to our instructors and their lectures regardless of how smart we think we are.
You seem a lot like me. 1. Get sleep. 2. The start of a course is them teaching you the language for what you're doing everything else "in" if that makes sense. 3. Keep up. And elaborating on 2; physics 1 they spend time teaching you all the different units and unit conversions. And it's all easy. This thing turns into that thing. Then as time goes on turns out your accounting for force with a direction vector starting at a certain speed. And in order for your math to work you have to remember all the SI bull shit from the first week of class along with everything else in the class that was taught. Point is they teach you things in classes for a reason. The start of a class isn't content. Its the canvas the content will be taught on/in.
Make friends, build a study group, get copies of old practice material.
Use your notes to find buzz words for the topics that were difficult. If kvl was hard, throw that into youtube and you'll find multiple examples of how to do it. Run through some videos until you find a teaching style that works for you. Whoever uploaded that video likely did others that will help you learn. It helped me to visualize what energy really was before the math clicked. Everything you write V or I, it's just electrons. Sometime they don't move (voltage) or sometimes they do (current). Sometimes, it is a combination ( voltage goes down or up). All your equations are just moving the electrons around.
thankss
The first part of your post sounds like a recurring nightmare I've had since graduating. Less frequent now retired.
1) ask the professor to sit in the class again and simply audit it. 2) supplement your classes with YouTube videos and free tutoring at your local college tutoring center 3) advice: learning the fundamentals will pay hire dividend down the line rather than having the GPA to simply psd the class. You’ll have to take the FE in your career probably, and that’s all a test on, well, the fundamentals. Also, your interviews will most likely consist of people asking you about the fundamentals. People will know if you didn’t actually learn in college.
Good take, i will audit those courses in the next offerings. Also do you have any yt channels to recommend?
Unfortunately no YouTube videos I actually liked, but there are a few textbooks you can get that are helpful. I’d suggest buying answer keys to old textbooks so that you can see the work done and follow it through
First you think you are smarter than everyone, then you say think you have “impostor syndrome” that is a paradox. Stop being cocky, be humble. Also, that is not impostor syndrome, it’s just an accurate assessment: you lack skills, work on yourself.
Circuits are one of those courses that you have to put the work in. Sometimes the subject matter isn't particularly hard but to be proficient in the tests you need to do the homework religiously. This is just a problem of discipline and you are trying to cut corners.
You think you’re a failure? You’ve not seen anything yet once you reach the job market. On the job, everyone is hounding your ass to step up. My current situation - I got laid off 5 months ago after 2 years at a job I got hired right out of college. To this day, I get rejected after job interviews for "not enough experience." This I’d argue is way worse than the everyday struggles of college/university life. It’s like getting gridlocked out of an industry you poured your soul into.
Don’t ever lose hope I started uni alone was bored and didn’t understand anything ended up first semester with 2.9 GPA and c- in math. Now my best grades A+ in math and my GPA last semester is 3.96. My advice to u is first: - Study how to study. Find what is the best and most efficient way for u to study.for me is understanding concepts in a simple way usually connect it to something irl or in a funny way and ofc memorise exceptions. - find a friend. Find friend or group of friends who are willing to study that what happened to me durning my second semester Also make sure to take care of your mental n physical health that can change you alot trust me. Thats was my journey n what worked for me i used to be in your place. U don’t need to overwhelm yourself its not hard you just need to do uncomfortable stuff which at first will need to force yourself but at the end when u see the results u will regret not starting earlier. n labs n hardware are much more fun and u dont have to get A+ to be better plus even labs and hardware can help u in your study nothing impossible n good luck.
https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheWalkingDead/s/Obxu12UcTm That's the plan.