How To Pass Tough University Courses (The First Time!)

Every program in every school has them. Those super intimidating courses that past students always warn you about. You hear horror stories of people pulling back to back (to back!) allnighters and you begin to panic and question why you even applied to university in the first place!

I had one of those...

The course was called Software Systems Development and Integration. It is notorious in my program for almost everyone failing it at least once. Last year, 75% of the class dropped or failed the course. One person took it six times!!

But I passed on the first try. It was tough and extremely stressful and I learned a lot from it. So today I am going to share with you the secret to passing these type of courses on the first try. Hopefully these tips can help you out when you come across these tough classes.

Start Assignments Early

Part of what made my course have such a high drop and fail rate was that people left the first assignment until the day before it was due. Now with normal classes, this might not be a problem, but the projects for these classes can take well over 40 hours! It is really important to start these assignments as soon as you can. My one professor once said, "It's better to do a little a lot, then a lot a little".

Get Extra Help When You Need It

I know this sounds obvious, but ask for help as soon as you need it. If your professor or teaching assistant could probably solve your problem quickly, then it is better to ask for help then waste a bunch of time searching for the answer. That being said, it is important to try to fix the problem yourself. But it's also important not to waste precious time when the solution to your problem might be something your prof can explain to you in five minutes.

Don't Get Discouraged

You can get through this course, believing that you can pass is really important to actually passing the course. Try to stay as positive as possible. And if you do fail, it's not the end of the world! Life will still go on and you can take the course again some other time.

Take Breaks When You Can

During reading week I did absolutely no school work. I spent all my time doing crafts, because I could afford to procrastinate a bit. So if you can, take a break! You should never be too busy for a nice cup of tea/coffee, a walk or a shower. Taking care of yourself is important too!

There you go! Hopefully these tips can help you in your challenging courses! Leave a comment if you have any other tips for passing difficult classes!