My Advice to a New Math 175 Student:
Go to every single class!!!! Missing one class will put you
behind. Sleeping an extra hour is not worth the hours you will have to
put in to catch up. However, just being in class isn't enough. Pay
attention and follow along. Don't be afraid to ask questions even if you
think you are the only one that doesn't know the answer. You are in the
class for your benefit, not your classmates. Also, make sure you attempt
all of the assignments and do them the day that you talked about that
particular subject. Don't tell yourself you'll do it some other time because
you will only fall behind and all of the assigned sections will start piling
up on you. If you get stuck on a problem, just ask him to go over
it in class the next day. It may take awhile to do the assigned problems
and you probably won't feel like doing them, but push through it anyway because
it pays off in the end. It's a great feeling to encounter a problem on
an exam that you actually know how to do.
In addition to all of the above, there is always extra
help. I was only able to attend one Tuesday night review session but it is
very beneficial if you have any questions on assigned problems that weren't covered
in class. What helped me the most though was utilizing his office hours
to ask him questions. Going over a problem one- on-one made me a lot more
confident that I knew what I was doing because I was forced to listen. He
was always available during his office hour times and you could also make
an appointment if you needed to. Using these outside resources gets you
more involved in the class and your chance of succeeding increases.
One more thing...be prepared to put a lot of time and effort
into this class. It isn't easy, but it is possible to do well. It's
also kind of amazing how all of the application problems that you encounter
can actually be used in real life. It's even more rewarding when you actually
know how to solve those problems!
Sincerely,
Heather, Management Major