#Problem Sets

[whatshouldwecallengineering]

AT EVERY POINT DURING A PROBLEM SET

[simplyjer]

This sums up this week pretty well.

[theerristocratstudies]

7/100 Days of Productivity

To be honest, I’m getting worse. My bad habits are slowly creeping back, my anxiety is spiking up, and I’ve cut two classes today. To make up for the missed classes, I decided to finish the problem set we’re supposed to pass later. I hope I get better again. I’m trying. 🙁

[hornedhearttribe-blog]

PSA

Will not be on the Internets much, if at all, this weekend.

Just wanted to make sure that no one was alarmed. Because even though life = Internet, I am not dead. Unless the stress kills me. And I'll make sure some updates my tumblr with my untimely demise. 

Well this got unnecessarily morbid. 

[whatshouldwecallmathmajors-blog]

when a problem has an asterisk next to it

[whatshouldwecallengineering]

WHEN I AM IN THE FUCKING ZONE

When I am not

[priyaisms]

Two months in and I'm still figuring out this whole college thing.

In high school, I could put off studying for a huge test until the night before. I'd even waste time till dinner, then grab a bowl of snacks for the night, and shut myself in my room. It was relatively easy for me to teach myself concepts that I had never really learned, and figure out how to do the corresponding problems.

Here, it's disconcertingly different. Sure, everyone says MIT is hard. But what makes it harder for me is that if I really need to just cram in as much material as I can in one night before a test, my high school method is hardly effective. Even if I go through textbooks, notes, and practice tests, I inevitably find myself not actually understanding some material. Frequently I need someone I can ask questions to, someone who can explain specific concepts in terms that are more understandable. This therefore strikes out the possibility of the whole "completely isolating myself" technique I've become so accustomed to.

However, when I'm around people, like studying in a group where I could ideally ask for a lot of help, I've noticed that it can be very unproductive because the "study session" dissolves into laughter and chatting at some point, until it's 1 a.m. and we realize, "Shit, we have work to do."

So far, this is the crux of the 'tute's learning system for me. Problem sets are intentionally designed to be exceedingly difficult in order to promote collaboration. This is great, because as some joke, it induces some more antisocial individuals to shower, emerge from their caves, and interact with others...but really, pset-ing is often a social activity. It's hard to find a group of people you both 1) enjoy the company of and 2) actually work productively with.

Others have spoken positively of finding just one person to consistently do a certain class's pset with. That way, you can help each other, but there's less chance of getting off track. So far when I've tried this, the person has been so much smarter than me that it wasn't really working. So, I need to find someone who 1) I enjoy the company of, 2) I work productively with and 3) is compatible with me in terms of knowledge of the material.

Any takers?

[coffee-and-physics]

1.26.17- day 6/100 of productivity Working on solids homework that's due tomorrow with friends. Today wasn't that great of a day but I got to blow off some steam with a workout

[fyuchicago]

How much time would you say all of you spent studying a week, on average?

It definitely depends on the class and how well you’re doing in it.

On average, I’d say I spent 2 hours a night on homework? Sometimes more if I had heavy readings or had to write a paper, or work on a problem set. Definitely more like 3-4 hours a night during midterms/finals period.

But I truly think that if you can stay on top of your work, doing small attainable chunks EVERY day, then you shouldn’t have to slave over homework every night. The trick is not procrastinating and creating more work for yourself, which admittedly, is hard to do.

It also helps to create a schedule where you have “off” days to catch up on work. Most commonly, classes are offered three times a week M,W,F for an hour, or twice a week Tu,Th for an hour and a half. If you can make it so that most your classes are on the M,W,F schedule, you can use Tu,Th to do homework. Class one day, homework the next. That’s what worked for me.

Best of luck! Readers, do you have any other tips?

-Ashley

[whatshouldwecallengineering]

WHEN WE WORK IT OUT ON THE WHITE BOARD

[sparklingmediocrity]

A deep sense of doom hovers like a musty fog over the consciousness of poor, curious students.

Yeah.. I've done it.  I have let my distractions get in the way of my concentration.  I have done this to the point where.. I am very very screwed.   More screwed than you could imagine without my illustrating the exact magnitude of my screwedness.  I say this with some confidence, which is a little frightening.

And yet.. calm.  I am.. completely calm.  I am working on one thing right now.  And then.. the next.  And then.. the next.   The order may switch due to what is due first, but... regardless of how much of a clusterfuck this is...

A large part of me still thinks I can do it. 

So, now, I will leave tumblr for the night, don my reading sweater, sip my caffeine.. and do my best.  Because that's all I can do.

Valete.

[theerristocratstudies]

\ 2/100 Days of Productivity //

answering a problem set + adding notes on how to solve each question for physics

[cuatmedschool]

Pizza is Life

My past two nights have ended in late night CTP.

In other words, it's been a rough week. But only SIX MORE DAYS UNTIL THANKSGIVING BREAK!!! Only thing standing between us is... a prelim, a paper, and a problem set. My three favorite p's!

DS

[whatshouldwecallengineering]

WHEN A PROFESSOR KEEPS PROBLEM SETS GOING DURING MIDTERMS

I just want to be like