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  • 2 years later...

Didn’t realise there was a topic on this so I may as well attempt to sort of revive it.

 

After having done 1st year Civil and Structural Engineering at Leeds, I decided it wasn’t the right course for me. This is because I wasn’t particularly enjoying it, I was really struggling to take in information during lectures (whilst did attend every lecture, it wouldn’t have made a difference if decided to bunk off most of them instead) and I didn’t take to it naturally unlike many other students who naturally enjoyed it and could take to it very well. I did manage to get 65% which was a huge shock (in a good way) that was mainly due to some insane cramming and was also dragged up by getting 85% in the maths module.

 

So instead I will be switching to Mathematics and repeating first year whilst still staying at Leeds because it’s an amazing city (and the music society is brilliant). Maths has always been my strongest subject, a subject I personally found easy (whilst still enjoyable at A Level) and have always been intrigued with as it gets more advanced. The maths lectures during first year engineering were also the only lectures I genuinely enjoyed so I’m pretty confident I will enjoy studying it a lot more than engineering.

 

So yeah... time to do first year for the second time!

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Wooo, more Maths people on the forum! :D

 

I'm completely biased of course, but it's great to study it at uni. If it's your thing (which it sounds like it is), it can be really fun, and there's loads of different things to explore.  (If you ever need any help, just give me a shout!)

 

I started my PhD in maths in January, and I'm spending this week at a German uni studying some really fun maths too. Now if Brexit were to happen this week, would I be able to make a claim about being a UK student studying abroad and cling onto EU citizenship somehow..?  🤔

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I also agree that Maths is a very transferable degree to have (also possibly biased there), and you have lots of options careers wise. You can go into all sorts like finance, technology, research/academia, and physics/engineering (I know of someone who works for mclaren who did a Maths BSc).

 

Of course degree level maths does get a lot harder than A-Level, but its much more fun and varied as well.

 

Good luck!

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 years later...

Sorry to bump a thread that's been inactive for 2 years, but seeing as I'm currently a first-year uni student, the thread title did catch my eye.

 

As it appears that there are quite a few people on here with previous uni experiences, I was just wondering; is there anyone on here who didn't take to uni straight away, and for whom it took quite a bit of time for them to properly settle in?

 

I only ask because if I'm being totally honest, I'm not 100% sure that I feel fully settled into university and the way of life it brings just yet, even 5 months on from initially joining. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say I hate my course by any stretch, and the people and environment are lovely, but something still feels like it isn't quite clicking for me, and I can't place my finger on what; if someone asked me whether I was loving my course, I'd honestly be hesitant to say yes at this point in time.

 

If I'm being honest, I have found adjusting to the study style quite difficult, and doing the assignments often makes me quite stressed (although it must be said that I did find that things seemed to fall into place a little more towards the end of Semester 1). Even though I have no issue with doing independent study, I have found the transition to more unstructured time and less clear expectations quite challenging, and I have found the general style of study a bit tough to get my head around. Apart from one module which I failed (I got a 35 in one assignment, but I know that that was down to me misinterpreting the brief slightly, and also making blunders in formatting; I know what to do to solve that in the reassessment), I did OK in the other 3 in my first semester (my other grades were 58, 64 and 68), but I have found the transition (from sixth form) somewhat jarring.

 

Sorry for the little ramble, but I only wanted to ask; is it normal to not fully settle in for a while after you've joined university? Or have I made a mistake, and is it only going to get worse from here?

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  • 1 month later...

Hi @Matt N, I was wondering if you're settling in to Uni a little more now, or if you're still getting used to things?

What are you studying? :)

 

I can completely understand the sudden change from the 'school structure' you get at 6th form in to a more "sort yerself out" kind of situation at uni.

I went to College rather than 6th form, which I think set me up really well for Uni, better than 6th form ever could have done.  Without doing College however I think I would have found starting Uni similar to you to begin with, and I know that a lot of my friends who came from 6th form felt the same as you.

 

It's A LOT to get used to isn't it, it's all very different to school.

I hope it's settled down now though and you're starting to enjoy it?

 

I think if I could give you any advice at all from my experience, it would be

  1. to ask the staff for help with things. Be bold, and approach them directly - this is kind of a life hack I've taken with me in to work - just ask and I bet they'll be happy to help!  Don't forget, you're paying them for this. If you don't ask, you don't get :) 
  2. to remember that you absolutely deserve to be there, and you absolutely deserve to enjoy yourself. You've clearly worked really hard to get your place at Uni, doing the subject you wanted to do.
  3. despite what people might tell you while you're there, most employers don't give a damn if you get a 1st. Getting a degree is really hard - which lets face it, is kind of the point!  Nobody ever gets 100% on any assignment, that's impossible, just give it your best shot and be proud of what you're achieving! The fact you have been passing your assignments is REALLY good! You're on track to get a degree, that's an amazing achievement!

 

What I'll also say though is this..

Someone I went to Uni with dropped out in the first year, and he now has a collection of incredible cars and runs a web design company employing multiple staff...

If you're really not enjoying Uni, if it's not for you, then it's not for you - that's ok!

Most of my colleagues at work didn't go to Uni, and here we are in the same position as each other.

 

 

Ugh.. I've rambled......

Be happy Matt. That's more important than anyone likes to say :)

Look after yourself and do what's right for you, not anyone else.

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Thanks for the post @Inferno; I really appreciate it!

 

I’m studying Computer Science at the University of Gloucestershire. I am starting to get a little more used to it now, although I’ll admit that rightly or wrongly, I do still tread through my course and assignments with a certain degree of trepidation.

 

In terms of asking for help; I do often drop my lecturers an email if I need to know something for an assignment or whatever, and they always seem happy to help, but I’ll admit that I’ve never been the most forthcoming in asking for help, particularly in university what with the big onus on “independent learning”.

 

In terms of the employment thing; I’m getting quite mixed messages about that. We were told by the employability team at the university that graduate jobs often require at least a 2/1 (albeit not always), whereas my dad, who works in a big company in a position where he deals with interviewing university graduates for jobs, said something similar to you about how the exact grade of the degree isn’t really taken into account when looking at a CV and assessing someone’s eligibility for a job.

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Ooh Computer Science - I did that too! ❤️

I feel your pain 😂
 

Well… They aren’t wrong about the graduate roles.

If you’re looking to go in to a graduate scheme of some sort then a higher grade will definitely get you closer to the door in a lot of places, but the honest truth is that experience is the big thing companies look for, graduate scheme or not, and honestly that’s what gets asked about in interviews.

 

It’s all about the special projects you take on etc.

the s/w firm I worked for previously ran a grad scheme, and generally seemed to go for the ones who got involved in making apps / websites and things for local schools or businesses.

 

Good grades are great - but experience is better 😊

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  • 2 months later...

Well, I’m not quite sure what to make of this, but by some absolute miracle, I somehow managed to get 91/100 on a university assignment!

 

This was even in a module I really struggled with and I didn’t think I would do very well in, which makes it even more surprising…

 

I’m not entirely sure that I deserve this grade, and a small part of me is worried it’s a joke, with the real feedback hidden somewhere else, but I’m certainly very happy to have attained this grade (well above the threshold for a First)!

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