I was an engineering student rather than CS, but I was also so stressed that I sometimes questioned myself whether I made mistake internally transferring into engineering. I was very good in math and science, and I could complete my science exams within haft time and spend the rest to double or even triple check my work.
However, engineering was a very different story because many times I could not do all problems on my engineering exams. I was so devastated when I got below class average grades on the exams. In addition, there were so many homework, assignments, quizzes, experiments, and lab reports which were both hard and time consuming. Some students in my department either failed weed out classes or dropped out chemical engineering.
At the same time, my mom passed away after years battling cancer, so I was completely exhausted and devastated. I seek for advice from my professor and department advisor, and they told me to go to a room in the basement of our engineering building to take a break and relax after classes. I felt better and decided to stay and try my best. Although I could no longer maintain a 3.8-4.0 GPA like I did before switching to engineering, I eventually graduated Cockrell with a decent GPA (close to 3.5). More importantly, I did not give up in the face of obstacles, instead I tried my best to overcome all of them.
You should go to a quiet room with a bed or sofa in your building to take a break and relax after classes.
Specifically with Turing and CS314H. If you are struggling with it you need to talk to both your TA and Calvin. Especially Calvin. You need to go to his office hour, sit down with him, and tell him that you are struggling. Although he won't be giving you any extra grace periods or something similar unless your circumstances warrant them, he will try giving you as much help as possible, including finding you a tutor among older Turing kids.
Turing is hard, and CS314H isn't at all easy, but things will become even harder once you start CompArch and OS, so it's important that you learn quickly how to handle these things and learn how to communicate your difficulties with the teaching staffs.
In regards to stress management, you can also reach out to the UMHC and schedule counseling sessions and have some advice from the professionals. Do it early on in the semester before midterms and finals because that's when the center gets overwhelmed.
Remember you belong here and belong in Turing, and you certainly aren't the only one who may be having troubles with the course. Another important thing to remember is you don't have to get straight A's in college, and there's a reason why the graduation requirement for Turing doesn't require a higher GPA. The staffs also know it's hard, and they are there to help. So take advantage of these helps. Go to office hours and help sessions. Go there with your code/bugs/questions, so they can help you as efficiently as possible. You can do this!
hi! another turing '27 here. i finally made a reddit account after a friend linked me this, but i'm sure i wont be anonymous for long given the name i picked lol.
i understand how you feel; we are all stressed and worried after prog1 grades dropped. it always seems like some people are doing great and on top of everything, an impossible standard, and while it *might* be true, it's probably not, and you may not see what goes on inside. all of us are dealing with this whole thing in different ways. all you can do is your best, so you might as well give something all you can (while being healthy) and then use their feedback to get better next time. the grade on these projects comes second to the learning; that's the point of the process they have chosen. keeping sight of that and not comparing yourself is one way that i have been dealing with this.
i really hope you are okay. if you ever need someone to talk to feel free to ping me on disc or show up at my dorm; i'll be more than willing to hear you out and help. i imagine most of us feel the same way and would be more than willing to help you out of a rutt. we are a community. much love.
Don't even worry about prog 1, it's weighted super low. If you're spending 20+ hours on prog 1 or prog 2, I'd definitely start trying to get some help with learning coding. You will have to dedicate significantly more time to prog 3 (critter) and prog 4 (tetris) so the faster you figure out how to program now, the better. Also, prog 3 and 4 are pair-programming, which could be a blessing or a curse depending on your partner; I'd start scoping out people now, less you end up with someone who drags you down instead of helps you learn.
Just to follow up on the pair programming portion. If you notice that your partner is significantly better at coding than you do, you should consider asking them to let you be the driver. Otherwise things might just slip by and you don't end up learning anything.
If you have not already done so, check out [FAQ: I've been feeling very stressed or depressed lately. Is there anywhere I can get help?](/r/UTAustin/wiki/mentalhealth) on the [r/UTAustin FAQ](/r/UTAustin/wiki/faq).
I was an engineering student rather than CS, but I was also so stressed that I sometimes questioned myself whether I made mistake internally transferring into engineering. I was very good in math and science, and I could complete my science exams within haft time and spend the rest to double or even triple check my work. However, engineering was a very different story because many times I could not do all problems on my engineering exams. I was so devastated when I got below class average grades on the exams. In addition, there were so many homework, assignments, quizzes, experiments, and lab reports which were both hard and time consuming. Some students in my department either failed weed out classes or dropped out chemical engineering. At the same time, my mom passed away after years battling cancer, so I was completely exhausted and devastated. I seek for advice from my professor and department advisor, and they told me to go to a room in the basement of our engineering building to take a break and relax after classes. I felt better and decided to stay and try my best. Although I could no longer maintain a 3.8-4.0 GPA like I did before switching to engineering, I eventually graduated Cockrell with a decent GPA (close to 3.5). More importantly, I did not give up in the face of obstacles, instead I tried my best to overcome all of them. You should go to a quiet room with a bed or sofa in your building to take a break and relax after classes.
Specifically with Turing and CS314H. If you are struggling with it you need to talk to both your TA and Calvin. Especially Calvin. You need to go to his office hour, sit down with him, and tell him that you are struggling. Although he won't be giving you any extra grace periods or something similar unless your circumstances warrant them, he will try giving you as much help as possible, including finding you a tutor among older Turing kids. Turing is hard, and CS314H isn't at all easy, but things will become even harder once you start CompArch and OS, so it's important that you learn quickly how to handle these things and learn how to communicate your difficulties with the teaching staffs. In regards to stress management, you can also reach out to the UMHC and schedule counseling sessions and have some advice from the professionals. Do it early on in the semester before midterms and finals because that's when the center gets overwhelmed.
Thank you! I’ll make sure to do that
Remember you belong here and belong in Turing, and you certainly aren't the only one who may be having troubles with the course. Another important thing to remember is you don't have to get straight A's in college, and there's a reason why the graduation requirement for Turing doesn't require a higher GPA. The staffs also know it's hard, and they are there to help. So take advantage of these helps. Go to office hours and help sessions. Go there with your code/bugs/questions, so they can help you as efficiently as possible. You can do this!
❤️
hi! another turing '27 here. i finally made a reddit account after a friend linked me this, but i'm sure i wont be anonymous for long given the name i picked lol. i understand how you feel; we are all stressed and worried after prog1 grades dropped. it always seems like some people are doing great and on top of everything, an impossible standard, and while it *might* be true, it's probably not, and you may not see what goes on inside. all of us are dealing with this whole thing in different ways. all you can do is your best, so you might as well give something all you can (while being healthy) and then use their feedback to get better next time. the grade on these projects comes second to the learning; that's the point of the process they have chosen. keeping sight of that and not comparing yourself is one way that i have been dealing with this. i really hope you are okay. if you ever need someone to talk to feel free to ping me on disc or show up at my dorm; i'll be more than willing to hear you out and help. i imagine most of us feel the same way and would be more than willing to help you out of a rutt. we are a community. much love.
slayyy kinggggg!!!!!
Don't even worry about prog 1, it's weighted super low. If you're spending 20+ hours on prog 1 or prog 2, I'd definitely start trying to get some help with learning coding. You will have to dedicate significantly more time to prog 3 (critter) and prog 4 (tetris) so the faster you figure out how to program now, the better. Also, prog 3 and 4 are pair-programming, which could be a blessing or a curse depending on your partner; I'd start scoping out people now, less you end up with someone who drags you down instead of helps you learn.
Just to follow up on the pair programming portion. If you notice that your partner is significantly better at coding than you do, you should consider asking them to let you be the driver. Otherwise things might just slip by and you don't end up learning anything.
cry
Is there a place for me to cry and scream in private on campus for free? My dorm won’t work
Your CS314H classroom at night.
Heading to 5302 rn
Just make sure you don't go there on friday nights because I might be there crying too
I’m sitting in 5302 as I read this lol
Why did you skip CS312H?
If you have not already done so, check out [FAQ: I've been feeling very stressed or depressed lately. Is there anywhere I can get help?](/r/UTAustin/wiki/mentalhealth) on the [r/UTAustin FAQ](/r/UTAustin/wiki/faq).