Advice for school

Hey guys,
I am a freshman who started my computer science degree at CC (all online right now). Any general advice on doing well with either computer science itself or maths like calculus.
Anything you can share from your own experiences would be awesome!

Thanks!

I never pursued a degree in Computer Science but if experience tells me anything, if you want to understand something, you need to apply the theory you’re learning.

EDIT - I don’t feel this post does anyone justice, so let me expand on this. If you want to solidify anything you learn from lecture so you can get a good grade on the exams, try to apply it to a real world problem – regardless if it is real or hypothetical. It helps gaining a full understanding of the why which translate well when asked to explain how something works.

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Make the most of your university courses and resources. Remember that the goal isn’t just to pass, but to learn as much as you can while you have access to experts and an education focused environment. Do the complete reading, try to make good projects instead of good enough ones. Ask lots of questions, even if it means that you classmates think of you as “that guy” who always has their had up. Talk to your professors. If you are a proactive and engaged student, they will often bend over backwards to help you. Don’t ever be shy or embarrassed to make use of office hours, free tutoring, etc. That’s what they’re there for.

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– to piggy back off of this.

I took every chance to book time for my professor’s office hours after every exam. Even if I fubar’d the mid-term, I still went to professor and asked them why I got the question wrong. I would genuinely wanted to know why I was incorrect so the next time I encountered the problem, I would know better. Sometimes, when I was being genuine, the professor would adjust my score because they understood what my line of thinking was when I answered it. And every point helps!

The takeaway is admitting you are wrong and then asking them why you are wrong.

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Yup. My anecdote is that I once went to a professor before a paper was due and said “I’m not going to be able to turn this in on time.” When he asked me why, I didn’t BS. I just said “I underestimated how long it would take and waited until too late to start it.” and because he knew that I was a dedicated student who just owned up to making a mistake, he told me to turn it in whenever I could and he wouldn’t penalize me.

College is very much a situation where you get what you put into it.

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As someone who somewhat struggled in getting my CS degree I have some advice:

  1. Study and put the effort in. Identify which classes you have the toughest time with and focus extra time on them. Get help from professors, study groups, do your homework.

  2. Leverage your schools services. One advantage of going to higher education is schools usually provide some services to help you find a job, and get your “foot in the door” within the industry. Stuff like job fairs might not be happening, but there still might be other resources available, such as clubs and other events.

  3. If this is community college, you may end up transferring to another college later. I suggest making sure your aligned with your counselor so your taking the right stuff that will be accepted in the colleges your applying for. The last thing you want is to take classes that “wont count” later, and need to be taken again.

Finally, try to enjoy it as much as you can. Its an interesting and different time!

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Schools know how to screw you over on classes. So be diligent and talk to the faculty at the school you’re transferring too. That way you’ll minimize the amount of surprises when you finally transfer.