I'm in my second year of college and majoring in engineering. All of the classes I'm taking are engineering related and calculus (not just general studies the first 2 years like most colleges)

I can't ever follow along with what the professor is saying and actually get anything out of it. Especially in my Math & Engr. classes. I have to just write everything I can down and go back and try to make sense of it and learn it later.
I've tried just not taking notes trying to just listen and follow along with the lecture, but it's impossible. I just can't follow what he's doing.
But there will be other people in the class who are getting it and will even be saying what he's gonna have to do next when working a problem and things like that, but I'm just like "what the hell is he talking about?" and just copying down everything I can... It kills me because I used to be that person in HS, and now I'm just the opposite:( :)


So does anyone else not get a single thing out of class besides just notes? like do/can you actually follow along w/ what the professor is explaining? or do you just copy down everything they write on the board or the main points of their lecture...?

I am no doctor but I fear u may have a Learning Disability. Either that or the info is soo far over your head and u never got the info that came before it. Talk to the prof and see what he has to say. Maybe u are not the only one who is having problems with the info. Have u looked into getting a tutor? SOmething else to consider.

Does your college recognize ADHD? If they do they will have a Spec Ed department or a Resource department. You may be able to get free tutoring from someone in your class.

I am no doctor but I fear u may have a Learning Disability. Either that or the info is soo far over your head and u never got the info that came before it. Talk to the prof and see what he has to say. Maybe u are not the only one who is having problems with the info. Have u looked into getting a tutor? SOmething else to consider.I know, it's called ADD. or could it also be something else?

part of the problem w/ math is that I went straight into calculus w/out ever taking trig (b/c of scores) and all I had before it was algebra 2 in 11th grade taught by a coach...

it's not really that I have problems w/ the info, it's mostly that they just go so fast and I can't think fast enough to keep up. you've gotta understand everything that's happening and if you have to stop and go back to try to figure something out then you end up missing even more.

I do good in all my classes, have a 3.2gpa, made all A's in Engr and all B's & an A in Calculus so far...


Does your college recognize ADHD? If they do they will have a Spec Ed department or a Resource department. You may be able to get free tutoring from someone in your class.yes they do, and I only get special testing accomodations.

I could use a tutor but I can't afford one, I'll have to look into one through the disability department though.

What about taping the class lectures that way you can try to listen and ask questions? Write the notes at home later as your listening to the tape.

oegboy, I am going through the exact same thing. My economics teachers talks so fast that I can't even grasp what he is saying before he moves onto something else. I only write down what he writes on the board but I miss everything he is saying while I am writing it. :confused:

I have a tutor who meets twice a week but he gets very frustrated with the questions I ask and even made fun of me for being slow. (I'm just southern that's all. My school has a lot of northern imports who just talk way faster than I'm used to)

This is is a HUGE change for me in that I sat in front row for graduation from high school and all I had to do was show up for class and be attentive. Now at the college level (I'm a junior) I can't follow the instruction especially from this one teacher.

Honestly I'm afraid to say anything about having ADD. My school has no special ed. or equivalent department. No one in any of my classes gets accomodations. I am doing the same as you are, figuring it out on my own.

I get what I can out of class and tutor but in the end it comes down to how and how long I study the material. Sometimes I miss important points that are not covered in the book but are on the test. I just take it as a loss and move on. My GPA was 3.6 prior to this semester. Now that I'm failing econ it will bring that down but as long as its above 2.0 I keep my financial aid and can still graduate in '07.

I'm currently on wellbutrin xl and wishing to switch to a stimulant because I trust their efficacy. Wellbutrin makes me spacey and have headaches which may be contributing to the problem. Are you on any medication?

But most importantly don't stress about it. You aren't alone. It makes me feel somewhat inadequate at first when I can't follow a lecture but you know what, I try really hard. I am proud of myself for being in school! So what if i'm not in the top 15 like I was in high school? I'm also not sporting the tye dye and ripped jeans anymore either.

Circumstances change (though ADD remains constant) and I do believe there is some reason for it all. Keep taking notes if you can and go see your professor outside of class and ask him to explain it again. He will be glad that you are interested and if he knows you have ADD he will understand that you are not just day dreaming. If he doesn't understand thats his problem.

Wow, I should take my own advice and talk to my prof. Thanks for inciting me to think that through :)

Good luck!

-Ihavekeys?

oegboy, I am a student at the university of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1 ="">Tennessee</st1></st1:state> and believe it or not in biomedical engineering. I have always enjoyed math and science as opposed to english and history. However before I was dx'd with adhd i had a major problem with calculus 1-3 along with differential equations, don’t know what math you will need but this is what i had to take. I made it through them all fortunately but i wanted to pull up my GPA for med school so i am currently retaking Cal 1. I thought it might be easier, not only the second time around but also with the adhd problem fixed, but i can honestly say it is a little better but it still requires a little extra work. I am currently taking Cal 1 and a lot of upper division engineering courses and all i can say is the real courses are SO MUCH better than what you may learn in the freshman year and don't give up because of math. It is not only you it can also be due to the teachers because not only were most of my math teachers foreign, nothing against this other that understanding accents, and also that sometimes they could care less about a entry level course when the are researching some pretty complex topics. Sorry it is long but what i am getting at is I have to take loads of notes and the only real thing that helps is working problems in the book. I would suggest a solutions manual so you can have some idea what is going wrong on the even problems. Good luck and if you have any problems or questions PM me and I can try to help sorry i had to edit but i was also going to say that for me personelly adderall did help me with the other courses i was taking it is just that the math department in general expects you to do so much in such little time. And that what they want you to do is so different thatn normal. Good luck and let me know if i can help you

oegboy, I am a student at the university of <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 /><st1:state w:st="on"><ST1 ="">Tennessee</ST1></st1:state> and believe it or not in biomedical engineering. I have always enjoyed math and science as opposed to english and history. However before I was dx'd with adhd i had a major problem with calculus 1-3 along with differential equations, don’t know what math you will need but this is what i had to take. I made it through them all fortunately but i wanted to pull up my GPA for med school so i am currently retaking Cal 1. I thought it might be easier, not only the second time around but also with the adhd problem fixed, but i can honestly say it is a little better but it still requires a little extra work. I am currently taking Cal 1 and a lot of upper division engineering courses and all i can say is the real courses are SO MUCH better than what you may learn in the freshman year and don't give up because of math. It is not only you it can also be due to the teachers because not only were most of my math teachers foreign, nothing against this other that understanding accents, and also that sometimes they could care less about a entry level course when the are researching some pretty complex topics. Sorry it is long but what i am getting at is I have to take loads of notes and the only real thing that helps is working problems in the book. I would suggest a solutions manual so you can have some idea what is going wrong on the even problems. Good luck and if you have any problems or questions PM me and I can try to help sorry i had to edit but i was also going to say that for me personelly adderall did help me with the other courses i was taking it is just that the math department in general expects you to do so much in such little time. And that what they want you to do is so different thatn normal. Good luck and let me know if i can help youI've been doing pretty good in calculus considering I've never taken Trig, the thing I have most trouble with is remembering all of the identities and nt getting them confused. We just finished with integrals and integration and it wasn't too hot. I had a lot of trouble with partial fraction integration. We just started with differential equations and so far it seems fairly easy, we've only covered the first 2 sections though...

I'm a Mech. Eng. major and right now I'm taking all ME related classes, with 1 required elective. last year we just took math and chem and basic Engr courses. I'm loving it this year b/c everything we're learning about is just the kind of stuff that I'm interested in.
I do really like math and am thinking about getting a minor in it just so I can take a little more of it. right now I'm halfway through what math is required for a BS in ME, and a minor in math requires only 9 more hours...

I hear you on the foreign teachers, I've been able to avoid having one so far but next quarter I'm going to. I just hope he uses a good book b/c that's mainly how I learn it anyway.

thanks for your post.
and btw, I'll definitely probably be PMing you next time I need some help w/ Calc:)



Ihavekeys?: thank you for your post also. I'm going to get back and reply to it later when I have more time, I gotta go somewhere right now...

I am in Alg...2! hahaha...pwn..

Not funny, anyway I find going along with the teacher while they are reading works so well! It just seems like I am getting so much more out of the lesson...I see what she is actually saying and why she is saying what she is...(in my mind, I am always like..where did that come from. When I read all the details while she is briefing us over the lesson, I am like oh! that's why that makes sense!)and plus the book has little tips that go along with everything. It gives real life situations-and I actually find myself ahead of the rest b/c I understand the WHY, and all the possible misunderstandings that could be associated.

By the way, I do not learn by writing notes-never have. I must listen, read, and practice equations on my own. I don't get anything by just copying down what the teacher is saying or writing) I dunno, I have to discover things for myself.

I have that strange problem too. It's not a LD I know for two reasons: 1, ive been tested for them and 2, I can understand the material easy as pie later.
I have always wondered how those contributors in class are getting it right then and there, I am always lost in class no matter how simple it is.
My personal theory, though I could be horribly wrong, is that I zone out unknowingly SO many times during class that I miss huge gaps and not even realize it.
This year(also 2nd yr college), I am less aware of my zoning out not sure why though, but last near everything i zoned back in I knew I had just missed a chunk.
I try very hard to focus and if the teacher takes her time explaining things then I get it, but I think moving fast throws me off since im always missing bits here and there.
I have no advice for it if thats the case, I struggle with it as well.
I'm not diagnosed so ihave no extra help from the school, not just yet anyway.

I always had the same problems in Maths, but I could actually sit down, go through the material and get an A. I literally skipped two years of Geometry and a year of Physics due to moving all over the place and it didn't give me any trouble. I now have Statistics as a part of my degree. And guess what. Can't remember a thing after the lectures although the material is dead easy, because I can't listen to the lecturer.

She always talks sloooowly in a monotonous tone. Plus, she's German. The one accent that irritates me to death (I'm German but no one I meet ever picks up on the fact that I'm not English unless I specifically tell them). I missed a lecture about a week ago, went on the internet to read up, went to the next lecture...only to discover that I'd already read what she was going to cover. So it's not even her going too fast in terms of material. It's probably the fact that she uses powerpoint presentations instead of showing us what she does on the board or an overhead.

Not that other people on my course don't have that problem. They do, but I always get the impression that they don't listen because they can't be bothered. I try to listen and can't...

I hate when teachers use powerpoint in class. I need to see it being done right in front of me with the lights on. I'm really bad in math. When I started college I had to start with pre-algebra, then elementary algebra twice, then intermediant algebra, then college algebra. Only college algebra counted towards credits and I still need one more math. Sick isn't?

Powerpoints in general are fine. I much prefer them to pre-written overheads, because the material is broken down into little managable chunks. Unless the lecturer tries to shove a page worth of information on one slide. Short bullet points are fine, though.

oegboy, I am going through the exact same thing. My economics teachers talks so fast that I can't even grasp what he is saying before he moves onto something else. I only write down what he writes on the board but I miss everything he is saying while I am writing it. :confused:

I have a tutor who meets twice a week but he gets very frustrated with the questions I ask and even made fun of me for being slow. (I'm just southern that's all. My school has a lot of northern imports who just talk way faster than I'm used to)

This is is a HUGE change for me in that I sat in front row for graduation from high school and all I had to do was show up for class and be attentive. Now at the college level (I'm a junior) I can't follow the instruction especially from this one teacher.

Honestly I'm afraid to say anything about having ADD. My school has no special ed. or equivalent department. No one in any of my classes gets accomodations. I am doing the same as you are, figuring it out on my own.

I get what I can out of class and tutor but in the end it comes down to how and how long I study the material. Sometimes I miss important points that are not covered in the book but are on the test. I just take it as a loss and move on. My GPA was 3.6 prior to this semester. Now that I'm failing econ it will bring that down but as long as its above 2.0 I keep my financial aid and can still graduate in '07.

I'm currently on wellbutrin xl and wishing to switch to a stimulant because I trust their efficacy. Wellbutrin makes me spacey and have headaches which may be contributing to the problem. Are you on any medication?

But most importantly don't stress about it. You aren't alone. It makes me feel somewhat inadequate at first when I can't follow a lecture but you know what, I try really hard. I am proud of myself for being in school! So what if i'm not in the top 15 like I was in high school? I'm also not sporting the tye dye and ripped jeans anymore either.

Circumstances change (though ADD remains constant) and I do believe there is some reason for it all. Keep taking notes if you can and go see your professor outside of class and ask him to explain it again. He will be glad that you are interested and if he knows you have ADD he will understand that you are not just day dreaming. If he doesn't understand thats his problem.

Wow, I should take my own advice and talk to my prof. Thanks for inciting me to think that through :)

Good luck!

-Ihavekeys?ok, finally got some time ...:)

I didn't sit in the front row at graduation, but I was in the top 10 of my class as far as ACT scores go(I had a 28 & the top person had a 34:eek: ) and I used to just about be the assistant teacher in my math & science classes:). and like you, it's just the opposite now.

my gpa is 3.1 and I have to keep my gpa above 2.5 to keep my scholarships

I take adderall...

my school is pretty good about handling L/D's. and my professors have been understanding as well. I've nticed that most of them will make sure you pass as long as they see that your trying.

do you go to a state university? I thought all universities had to make accomodations for students w/ L/D's, according to the "Students With Disabilities Act" or something like that

I have that strange problem too. It's not a LD I know for two reasons: 1, ive been tested for them and 2, I can understand the material easy as pie later.
I have always wondered how those contributors in class are getting it right then and there, I am always lost in class no matter how simple it is.
My personal theory, though I could be horribly wrong, is that I zone out unknowingly SO many times during class that I miss huge gaps and not even realize it.
This year(also 2nd yr college), I am less aware of my zoning out not sure why though, but last near everything i zoned back in I knew I had just missed a chunk.
I try very hard to focus and if the teacher takes her time explaining things then I get it, but I think moving fast throws me off since im always missing bits here and there.
I have no advice for it if thats the case, I struggle with it as well.
I'm not diagnosed so ihave no extra help from the school, not just yet anyway.I kinda do the same thing...
if I'm just listening and following along and not trying to copy everything down, I'll start thinking about something else for a couple seconds right in the middle of him explaining something... that's definitely my ADD

do you go to a state university? I thought all universities had to make accomodations for students w/ L/D's, according to the "Students With Disabilities Act" or something like that
I go to a private college. Do they have to follow the rules?

I go to a private college. Do they have to follow the rules?
no they don't. when you sign up to go to a private school you usually forfeit all of the rights the federal protects(it's all in the small print), I know that from going to private school my whole life...

Hey oegboy, I'm a 5th year senior in Mechanical engineering, and let me tell you I've struggled every bit of the way with the math! (and of course, ME is the most math-intensive engineering discipline... ;)) I really struggle to follow lectures too - which, just like you guys, wasn't somthing I ever expected becuase it was exactly the opposite in high school. I was a nerd in high school who pretty much always got everything right away. I was never the smartest kid, but I held my own - 28 ACT just like you, 3.6 GPA... blah blah blah... and now I'm working my butt off to stay at a 2.9. I almost failed physics, calc 3, dynamics, and materials science... but I've stuck with it and now I'm about to graduate - if I did it, you can do it too!! (maybe I shouldn't speak before I get there though, huh? lol)

What I really wanted to tell you is that you don't have to feel bad about not following lectures. Sometimes it's the professor's fault - even if they are great professors, sometimes they just go TOO FAST. And sometimes they don't know how to connect the details and the proofs up with the bigger picture. I'm in a class like that right now, and it's really tough. I have ADHD and am not medicated, yet I *hardly ever* space out in class becuase it's such an intense experience for me. I sit in the front row (or close to it) totally engaged but I'll almost always become lost at some point during the lecture. I have to admit I wasn't always like that - I used to space out a lot more but by my junior year (2 years ago) I'd basically dropped that habit and become super engaged in class. (it definately helped, but it made me realize that I have a whole other set of problems with understanding lectures and taking notes.


SO how do I deal with this now? it took me a LOOONG time to figure this out, but I go to all my professor's and GSI's office hours. Then I can ask them questions about stuff I didn't understand or missed, and even stuff I DID understand so they can re-inforce it for me. I start doing my homework within a couple days of recieving it, and work on it during office hours if I don't have any questions. Not only does this show my professor that I'm trying, but it gives me a concrete time to work on things. I always used to think I didn't "know enough" to go to office hours, and that the professor would just get frustrated with me not already knowing the answer (i.e.: I could've found that in the book, so why ask the prof?) Yeah some prof's are like that, but most are happy to re-explain somthing they talked about in lecture if you didn't get it. I, for one, am a slow processor (which sounds like your problem too), and if they go just a TEENY bit too fast, I get left behind. I tend to spend a lot of time trying to figure out how they did the math they are writing up, and then I get lost. Either that, or I write it all down with the intention of "going over it later", but I can't figure it out then, or else I jsut never look at it. THa'ts no way to go through lecture, and it's no way to take notes.

I also think you should look into getting a tutor. THink about it this way: you are spending $10,000 or $30,000 a year for these classes, and a tutor would help you get the most out of them while only adding a small cost to that. I find that if I work 3 hours a week to pay for an hour of tutoring, that is TOTALLY worth it to me. I haven't had very many tutors (only 2 in 5 years) but now that i realize how helpful they can be, I wish i'd givin in to it earlier. Also, there may be societies (like PTS or TBP) at your school who offer tutoring to ME students for free up through their 2nd or even some 3rd year classes. It's not GREAT tutoring (more like homework help) but at least it's somthing!

One last thiing on note-taking: I don't know how you are taking notes right now, but I know it's somthing I've never done well either beucase I can't multi-task (listen and write at the same time). One of my teachers finally sat me down and showed me how to take notes better (he wrote down the headings for me to help me organize it, and made me write down things we discussed right after we'd talked about them) I learned somthing huge by that: you have to understand the concept before even writing it down. Writing down somthing you don't understand is pointless and will only make you get behind on the rest of the lecture. Best is to jot down a SMALL note - like what the topic is, and maybe a key formula or graph, and then look up the section in the book or ask the professor after class what section that is in (or even if they can just explain it to you differently becuase you got lost)

Engineering (and COLLGE) is not easy, so don't feel bad if you need a little (or a lot!) or help! You are recognizing the problem and you want to fix it, which is waaaaaay more than the first step!

good luck!! feel free to PM me too - I don't remember integrals but I'm pretty good at laplace transforms and transfer functions (calc 4) when you get to that.

PS. I think most of those people who "get it" in class are just show-offs

I do the same thing. (Constantly writing, taking down every word the teacher says.) I'm amazed at other students who just sit there and listen to the prof and make no notes. How on earth do they do it? In the end though, I make an A in the class and some of them don't.

I can understand what the teacher is saying if I just listen to the lecture. But then I can't retain anything later or draw consecutive ideas together cohesively.

I sort of have to write down every word and every conclusion that the particular teacher wants you to get, and then later painstakingly study the text and memorize an incredible amount of information. I work harder than anyone else in class. I usually do end up with all "A"s. But I suffer for them, believe me. I can't stand math, all of you talking about advanced math... God bless you! I made A's in college math too, but can I do simple math now? - no!

Sometimes I feel like subjects like history are hard for me because I don't have a framework to hang the info on, due to doing so horribly in high school. I graduated third from the bottom of my high school class. Don't even remember what my GPA was, at the time I did not care. I was such a perfectionist that since I didn't think I could do the work well, it was just easier not to do anything at all. When I went back to school as an adult and cared about what I was studying, I used that perfectionism to get where I am now... about to graduate from a pretty good private school with a 3.7 gpa. Don't know how many years I took off my life though, torturing myself the way I do! And then there is the matter of my last one credit course which continues to elude me although I spend four hours a day every day trying to earn it for a year now ... but that's a story for another day...

I had to start out with elementary alg, inter alg and now I'm taking college alg. The next course would be pre-calc. I'm a CS major.

It helps to find a friend in your class to go over stuff with. preferrably someone with the opposite skills so you can complement each other.
i have a tendency to listen, take some notes, then catch on to something interesting and think about it and all its tangents then come back to the lecture and don't know what is going on. i have a friend that is good at note taking and another who is really good at getting the overview. i am better at thoroughly understanding any concept that i am interested in at the time. we try to get together regularly to fill in blanks & understand it better.

Special needs/disability offices give a Notetaker, at least at my school.

Emma

Well it's been quite a while since I've posted here b/c I recently finished up the fall semester & have spent the last few weeks studying my ***** off and then taking a nice quarter break.
I almost killed myself studying during finals week but it all paid off! I ended up w/ 2 a's & 2 b's and I even brought my gpa up a point to a 3.3 :D
I got a b in Math which is just what I wanted, I studied my butt off for the final b/c I had to make a better grade on it than I had made on all the other tests, I pulled it off by 1.5 points! maybe I'm not as bad at the math as I think I am:D

I drift off too and find myself dreaming fantastic day dreams only to snap back thinking, "what the hell is the prof talking about now?". Sometimes I can manage this by not paying attention to what is being said per say and just listening to the words being said and taking notes nearly word for word, sometimes it helps. Then I just read and reread my thurough notes.