Failing a technical course as a CS Major

[drinkmorejava]

Probability and Stochastics (these are not what you think of as "statistics" for the uninitiated) courses can be a strugglefest, and a bad prof will just ruin you...especially if the homework is asinine proofs instead of actual problems. I got through a whole aerospace degree without feeling too hopeless, but my grad probability course was miserable.

There generally aren't tutors for upper level eng/sci classes, but there should be a TA who can help a little. I get the impression he is trying to do the homework by himself, which is not reasonable for most people. He really needs to find a good partner or two.

If he's having an issue with time management for two eng courses, then he's really out of luck.

 

[videogames101]

Stochastic Processes sucks but really there's a reason these courses are tough, and that is because the material is tough. I sort of doubt you are struggling because of the difficulty of the material, but more likely inefficient use of time. Stop doing other shit, no'wa'im'saying?

Also, talk to the professors! One of my most difficult courses in EE was communications theory (a lovely mix of stochastic processes and signal/system theory). Fortunately, the prof was great and understood it was difficult, so he would meet with anyone who was struggling for an hour before class even started, and after too if you really needed the help. You have to make the effort to ask them though, and you might be surprised how willing most professors are to help. At least that was my experience. (and it doesn't hurt knowing the prof extremely well when grades close either)

Someone mentioned doing homework by yourself, well here's a secret: unless you're intellectually gifted beyond comprehension, find some partners to work with. It'll make the homework more fun and will go 10x quicker than doing it alone. No one has all the answers, but between 2 or 3 of you you should be able to come up with something decent

If you make it through it will be extremely rewarding. Get it.

(and tldr, I failed a class sophomore year because of shitty time management, had no problem getting a job after killing it in the upper-level classes. When you tell a recruiter "my priorities were a little out of whack that semester THEY WILL UNDERSTAND I PROMISE they are people too)

 

[Ns1]

Y'all giving bad advice - best advice are posts 2-4.

 

[LevelSea]

Algorithms class using CLRS? Introduction my ass....

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Algorithms class using CLRS? Introduction my ass....

I like CLRS, for instance, I think their red-black tree explanation is way easier to understand than Sedgewick's. I just wish CLRS wasn't so loose in their runtime and memory usage calculations by sticking strictly to orders of growth and ignoring leading constants.

 

[Imp]

Probability and Stochastics (these are not what you think of as "statistics" for the uninitiated) courses can be a strugglefest, and a bad prof will just ruin you...especially if the homework is asinine proofs instead of actual problems. I got through a whole aerospace degree without feeling too hopeless, but my grad probability course was miserable.

Oh, man. I did terribly in high school, senior year algebra thanks to proofs. Never got a hang of that shit. Once we got to linear algebra and more general problems, I did reasonable.

 

[sdifox]

Algorithms class using CLRS? Introduction my ass....

That was the book we used as well :shrug: . Well, except I used CLR.

 

[OverVolt]

There was a class at my university with a 90% fail rate for students who have been taking chemistry for 3.5 years.

Actually it was the 50% who passed Org Chem I and the 50% of those who then passed Org Chem II and then the 50% of those who passed PChem, of those, 90% failed.

Yeaaaaaaaaah.

 

[sdifox]

There was a class at my university with a 90% fail rate for students who have been taking chemistry for 3.5 years.

Actually it was the 50% who passed Org Chem I and the 50% of those who then passed Org Chem II and then the 50% of those who passed PChem, of those, 90% failed.

Yeaaaaaaaaah.

My first csc course had 80% of students not make it to the finals. No idea how many of the remaining 20% passed the final.

 

[Phoenix86]

Bsain?

Drop a class. GPA doesn't mean shit once you are out of a program. Seriously.

It. Doesn't. Mean. Shit.

Good luck.

 

[Ns1]

Re:^^

Except for the first job - depending on where you want to go, it may matter there.

 

[Phoenix86]

Re:^^

Except for the first job - depending on where you want to go, it may matter there.

You are talking about the .1% of highly technical jobs, which clearly he wouldn't get anyways. :whiste:

 

[Ns1]

You are talking about the .1% of highly technical jobs, which clearly he wouldn't get anyways. :whiste:

Fair.

 

[Ruptga]

I dunno, GPA > 3.0 or 3.5 can open the door to internships or research projects that can lead to that first real job, but I agree it isn't likely to help directly. Recruiters care about who you know and how you sell yourself, they don't spend their time looking over grades.

 

[Compddd]

OP I would commit seppuku immediately.