School for old people

[G]

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So I am back to school full time for the first time in like.... um... I think there may have been dinosaurs and my professor was the inventor of the wheel the last time around.

To be honest, I am kind of shitting my pants a bit.

I have so many books I can't possibly carry them all at once, plus bigger stuff like PPE for labs. My classes are scattered all over campus, and I typically have 10 minutes between each course to get from one place to another. Some days I don't have a proper lunch break scheduled in.....

Anybody have some tips for success?

This is essential...saves your back and can fit your lunch too.

[jltabot]

I just skimmed the suggestions here but to reiterate what others what said:

- make friends. People you can rely on to study or bounce ideas off of. Unless everything engineering clicks for you right away, I haven’t found a single peer who survived engineering on their own.
- eat in class if you don’t have proper breaks, profs don’t care
- personal preference: even if you study better using physical textbooks, leave them at home. I got an iPad and used notability to take notes, annotate lecture slides, etc. It’s not for everyone, working on an iPad, but it saved having to carry around tons of printed lecture slides and textbooks.
- during extended breaks, get some exercise - go to the gym, get a workout in, do things to turn your brain off
- lab reports aren’t fun, start them early. You’ll eventually learn the marking style of each TA and what they’re looking for (quality over quantity for the sake of writing words on the page), ask the TAs questions while you’re doing the labs. Helps to understand what they’re looking for
- work to mark ratio: work smart, not hard. Think about how much time you’ll need to commit to doing an assignment vs. the grade you get and what it represents towards your overall grade. Ex: 5 assignments, 2% each. That’s only 10% of your total grade whereas labs, midterm and final are worth much more. I had one class that was 10% assignments, 25% midterm, 65% final. Plan accordingly.

I’m sure I’ve got other stuff to contribute if it hasn’t been said already. PM me if you have any more questions or I’ll add to this thread as I think of more things. Good luck!

[suntan]

No way I could do this. All that young estrogen would drive me nuts.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[suntan]

You're a smart guy, you'll kick ass.

[03ozwhip]

Going back to school being older is tough and it's hard to relate to a lot of the people in the class.. i was 33 when i went back and 36 when i finished.

BUT, its true what these guys are saying, nk matter how immature and young some of them are, they probably have a way if helping you out in some way.

There was a 17 year old in my 1st year class that was top of the class among 3 classes. He was crazy immature and showed it, but the kid was smart and good at what he does, I actually learned quite a bit of technical skill from this kid.

Don't count out the young folk, their brains are more sharp than ours lol

[Buster]

Don't work too hard. People who work hard in undergrad get into boring professional programs, and end up doing boring professional jobs.

Having the tools and understanding the concepts but utilizing them in a unique way outside of the norm is much more interesting. But people who are driven to the top in undergrad often don't have the skills to translate that into other interesting opportunities because undergrad is so tactical.

Some of the most interesting people I know have a law degree but don't practice law, or are accountants that don't work as accountants. Calgary is a bit different because engineering has always traditionally just translated to punching holes in the ground and pumping oil during an historic commodity run-up....but you get the point.

[duaner]

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So I am back to school full time for the first time in like.... um... I think there may have been dinosaurs and my professor was the inventor of the wheel the last time around.

To be honest, I am kind of shitting my pants a bit.

I have so many books I can't possibly carry them all at once, plus bigger stuff like PPE for labs. My classes are scattered all over campus, and I typically have 10 minutes between each course to get from one place to another. Some days I don't have a proper lunch break scheduled in. The program I am doing is a short 4 month technical entry program that covers Physics, Chemistry and English, and something called Entry, but in order to formally get into the program I want later in the year I have to maintain high competitive grades. I think I need ~85% to 90% in each course or this is all for not.

Plus on top of all this, I haven't done some of these subjects since the era of pre-internet. Not to mention I was more focused on the next party than school in those days. I am definitely at a huge disadvantage when compared to kids coming right out of high school that are more familiar with these subjects. Lectures, Labs, Seminars....

Anybody have some tips for success?

Treat it like a job. Don't do the kid thing and party and have fun and then cram to get all your work and studying done. Put in 8 hours a day, or more if necessary, and try and keep evenings for relaxing or simple reviewing. Cramming and stuff is hard, too hard at your age (whatever that is, lol).

I returned this fall and, yeah, it is harder than last time. I thought that taking four classes would be a way to ease into it, as I did five per semester the last time I returned (14 years ago, age 29), and I did well. I just about got my butt kicked with the four, so I'm dropping to three next semester. It seems I developed some bad habits after being laid off for 20 months. I will be making use of the writing centre for any upcoming papers.

[flipstah]

... Uhhh, wrong. ANIMAL HOUSE.

[mzdspd]

Also, another thing to consider. School is a great place to network.

Join in clubs and associations. My wife is the VP of the student association and she gets paid for that job plus gets her school paid for. And then thru this job, she has joined many clubs and committees and has met lots of people and is using this to help get her a job in the spring.

[Sugarphreak]

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[duaner]

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I am kind of preparing myself to get my ass kicked. With the amount of cost involved and potential for long term setbacks if I screw it up, I am hoping that will be the motivation I need to get my head into it and focus

Mentally it is tough but, yeah, we certainly have more reasons, and more significant reasons, to be motivated than the average kid. As hard as it is mentally, I love learning and I enjoy the school environment (apart from the few too immature kids), and hopefully it will result in better long-term opportunities. Screwing this up now would be brutal.

[craigcd]

Something that has benefited me and something I wish I knew earlier was to set up a study routine/ritual. Have a couple locations where you can study and follow a similar pattern. Grab a coffee, tea, music (if you like) and find a method to study that works best for you. For me (like others have mentioned) its writing everything in pen and paper.

Make rules around internet access etc and schedule time for that in breaks. My preference has always been to leave the house to study but have also set up a office at home.

[Sugarphreak]

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[max_boost]

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I am kind of preparing myself to get my ass kicked. With the amount of cost involved and potential for long term setbacks if I screw it up, I am hoping that will be the motivation I need to get my head into it and focus

Props and good luck bro. The more i think about it, I can't do it. The shock will kill me.

[Gestalt]

My wife teaches and went through a lot of hugher school.

Pretty easy tips
Hang out with the asians. They are connected and will often have past exams and solutions.
Preview. Prepare your mind to learn, and use the course outline to skim the subject the night before.
Sit up front and pay attention. Take notes.
Tbat night review what you learnet and do practice problems.

[firebane]

SP I have respect for you. This is not something I would ever feel comfortable doing nor attempt.

[Sugarphreak]

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[speedog]

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So I am a whole 7 days into this now... anybody missing me yet, haha

I was a bit worried about my age, and that has passed... lots of students my age in this program, actually a lot of students my age throughout the school. I am not even thinking about it anymore.

I have about 30 hours of classes a week right now, and the study/homework ratio is about 1.5hrs give or take a bit... so I am spending about 75 hours a week right now just keeping pace, plus whatever other time I have to try and work ahead.

The pace is a bit nuts, but I guess that is how they compress everything into 4 months. I have some blank workbooks just for studying or doing calcs in each subject, they are 200 pages a book. I already filled one completely, and I've burned about halfway through 3 others... both sides of every page, so I guess 1000 pages of calcs in one week? Sounds about right, since I got home today I've already burned through about 50 pages on both sides and I need to put in at least another 4 hours tonight. That isn't even including my lab manuals which have their own work-space, or my lecture notes in my main subject binders.

I couldn't do school any more or not at least on the scale you are. Maybe 20 years ago but certainly not any more - I am impressed because what you're doing is a big decision and many are just all too willing to keep going along the comfortable path they're on and just get more depressed/despondent or angry as time goes on.

[ExtraSlow]

Props sugar, and yes totally correct speedo.