Comments on: A Simple Technique to Avoid Heart Attack Semesters http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/01/02/a-simple-technique-to-avoid-heart-attack-semesters/ Decoding Patterns of Success Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:32:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: MITstudent http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/01/02/a-simple-technique-to-avoid-heart-attack-semesters/#comment-25741 MITstudent Tue, 13 Sep 2011 03:13:47 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=229#comment-25741 I think this is a drastic misrepresentation of the MIT undergraduate student body. As a member of it, I did come here as an overachiever. You have to be to get in, but at the same time, I know that the effort I put into my classes now will reward me later. I don't seek out the hardest classes just to pad my resume. I seek out the classes that interest me the most. I am passionate about my major and I will take whatever I need to take to become what I want. At the same time, I don't seek out the easiest classes either. I choose based on my passion and nothing else. I got in because I have the drive to achieve whatever I set my mind to. I also particpate in a varsity sport, a club sport, am affiliated, and in a musical ensemble. I am not a freshman and I have made A's here. MIT has taught me a wonderful lesson in how to manage my time properly and has reinforced the idea that you get what you work for. If I work hard, it will pay off. I think this is a drastic misrepresentation of the MIT undergraduate student body. As a member of it, I did come here as an overachiever. You have to be to get in, but at the same time, I know that the effort I put into my classes now will reward me later. I don’t seek out the hardest classes just to pad my resume. I seek out the classes that interest me the most. I am passionate about my major and I will take whatever I need to take to become what I want. At the same time, I don’t seek out the easiest classes either. I choose based on my passion and nothing else. I got in because I have the drive to achieve whatever I set my mind to. I also particpate in a varsity sport, a club sport, am affiliated, and in a musical ensemble. I am not a freshman and I have made A’s here. MIT has taught me a wonderful lesson in how to manage my time properly and has reinforced the idea that you get what you work for. If I work hard, it will pay off.

]]> By: Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Monday Master Class: Drop Courses Every Semester http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/01/02/a-simple-technique-to-avoid-heart-attack-semesters/#comment-8159 Study Hacks » Blog Archive » Monday Master Class: Drop Courses Every Semester Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:16:26 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=229#comment-8159 [...] A Simple Technique to Avoid Heart Attack Semesters [...]

[...] A Simple Technique to Avoid Heart Attack Semesters [...]

]]> By: Study Hacks » Blog Archive » The Radical Simplicity Manifesto: Doing Less and Living More at College http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/01/02/a-simple-technique-to-avoid-heart-attack-semesters/#comment-4569 Study Hacks » Blog Archive » The Radical Simplicity Manifesto: Doing Less and Living More at College Tue, 11 Mar 2008 22:07:48 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=229#comment-4569 [...] for your major and for your general requirements. Note which ones are unusually time consuming. Work out your schedule so that you don’t have to take two or more of these hard classes during the same semester. A [...]

[...] for your major and for your general requirements. Note which ones are unusually time consuming. Work out your schedule so that you don’t have to take two or more of these hard classes during the same semester. A [...]

]]> By: Study Hacks http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/01/02/a-simple-technique-to-avoid-heart-attack-semesters/#comment-2401 Study Hacks Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:45:21 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=229#comment-2401 @Terri: I think the best you can do is make your rating system relative to the difficulty of the school you're you attend. Even though it's true that an "easy" class at MIT might be harder than an easy class at another school, there are still different degrees of difficulty with MIT itself. Some classes have lab so do not. Some have notoriously hard problem sets, some do not. Some professors like to stick it to the students, others will let you get away with murder. Etc... @Terri:

I think the best you can do is make your rating system relative to the difficulty of the school you’re you attend. Even though it’s true that an “easy” class at MIT might be harder than an easy class at another school, there are still different degrees of difficulty with MIT itself. Some classes have lab so do not. Some have notoriously hard problem sets, some do not. Some professors like to stick it to the students, others will let you get away with murder. Etc…

]]> By: Terri Yu http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/01/02/a-simple-technique-to-avoid-heart-attack-semesters/#comment-2400 Terri Yu Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:39:20 +0000 http://calnewport.com/blog/?p=229#comment-2400 Being an MIT graduate (double major in physics and electrical engineering, graduated in 2003), it's not possible to pull off the plan you mentioned at MIT. Even if I hadn't double majored, there are just very few easy classes at MIT (although biology is rumored to be "easy"). Most classes are around a 4 for the average MIT student (there are a few super geniuses around who find everything easy and triple-major). And there are a few killer lab classes that I would call 6+. Being an MIT graduate (double major in physics and electrical engineering, graduated in 2003), it’s not possible to pull off the plan you mentioned at MIT. Even if I hadn’t double majored, there are just very few easy classes at MIT (although biology is rumored to be “easy”). Most classes are around a 4 for the average MIT student (there are a few super geniuses around who find everything easy and triple-major). And there are a few killer lab classes that I would call 6+.

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