u/Parking-Hurry-724

hello!! im currently enrolled to take math 19b online asynchronous. i've heard the horror stories about how hard homework is and how if you fail the final, you fail the class.

im considering switching to in person, but i doubt there will be many spots left in tamanoi's class by the time second pass enrollment comes around.

im taking another math class along with math 19b, albeit with a much better rated prof.

i've taken Calc AB and got a 5 on the exam, but im not sure how predictive of success that would be for 19b.

if anyone has advice for how to approach the class or what to do with enrollment/balancing the other math class, i'd really appreciate it!! Also if anyone's taken 19b in person....is the policy of "fail the final, fail the class" the same with tamanoi?

ok so there are two sections for calc 2 at my school. the in-person class has a professor with a 2 star rating on rate my prof. the online one has THREE professors; one with 1 star; 2 with 4 stars

i know calc 2 is a difficult course but im probably going to take it online (also because doing the in person one would only give me 5 minutes to get to my physics class). i'm pretty diligent about keeping up with online classes and have never been much of a procrastinator.

it is my first semester of university, so im a bit scared. i took ap calc ab in in highschool and got a 5 and an A+/A in the class.

if anyone has a similar background/habits and took calc 2 online, how was it? im probably going to need to find other online resources (ex. khan academy, youtube channels) so I was also wondering if you guys had recs for those. thanks!!!

Hii I just graduated high school and honestly, I'm a bit worried for what's about to come. I picked electrical engineering after debating for a year or so. I'm not INSANELY passionate about it - like i was never one of those kids that took apart computers or practically chewed on capacitors, but i have an interest in circuits and would love to get involved with renewable energy solutions and biomedical devices in the future.

I'm very average at math and pretty subpar in physics. I struggled quite a bit with regular physics in high school. I'd LIKE to blame this on a terrible teacher and his weird grading system, but I know it's my responsibility to make sure I understand the material. Weird enough, the only section I did really well in was electromagnetism.

Either way, I know I'm going to have to work REALLY hard next year. I've heard all these horror stories about people stressing themselves so bad they end up in the hospital or how EE gives you literal trauma. Hearing all of this made me genuinely reconsider going into the field.

I've also been really daunted by all these words I don't quite know yet that a lot of my high school peers seemed to know. They could name sooo many different components ("hand me a GigaMaxxer452, check on the spectrum oscillator, I designed 50 PCBs yesterday!!!"). I'm coming in with a tiny bit of Arduino experience, some digital logic stuff, and some java/python. I've been using things like khan academy to brush up on my algebra, watching some physics videos to try and get ahead, but no matter what I do, I still feel really behind. I'm just worried thar I'm not smart or hardworking enough for this degree. I really really really want to get to the other side and make some sort of positive impact with it but I'm quite lost.

I haven't even started my degree yet but I'm already terrified I'm going to fail. I haven't even factored in how I'm going to study, maintain a semblance of a social life, do extracurriculars, find research/internships next year. It's just overwhelming and I don't really know where to go.

If anyone has any advice or if you feel the same way, I'd really appreciate it.

Hi - incoming freshman here. I was curious so I went to the enrollment tab in myUCSC to see the classes I need to take in the fall. In order to make any real progress with my degree, I have to take class X and class Y, otherwise I literally can't do much.

However, when I searched Fall quarter 2026, it says those classes are already near capacity. I'm just really confused. Enrollment dates for freshman haven't been assigned yet andthey probablywon't be until late july/early august.

am i looking at something wrong?? are they going to strand me and the other 200 freshman who need these exact classes? i don't even know that enrollment for fall quarter has opened for other people, but the portal seems to be telling me otherwise.

I just graduated high school and am planning on majoring in electrical engineering this fall. I haven't even started my degree yet, but I'm so insanely scared for what's to come. For some reason, I feel like I'm going to fail all of my classes. I'm pretty okay at math - like I've gotten A's all throughout high school, but I never really challenged myself with taking advanced math classes. Physics is another story - I took regular physics last year and averaged a 60%, which has made me doubt if I'll be successful in my degree.

I love learning about physics. I find it so interesting, but I'm terrified that I'm going to fail in university. I'm aiming to get into a good grad school after undergrad, but to do that, I'll need really good grades.

Half of my family are engineers, so there's a lot of pressure on me to succeed. I think about the possibilities of what I could create and do, which gets me really excited. But then I think about the difficulty of the degree, the sheer amount of work I'll have to put in, and my family's expectations and then I just turn into a nervous mess.

I've often heard people say that engineering is more grit than intelligence. Right now, I need to learn how to build my grit. There's a lot I'm gonna have to balance next year - classes, extracurriculars, personal projects. I'm just scared that I'm going to get overwhelmed and burnt out and that everything's going to come crashing down. If anyone has any advice on how to manage all of this, it would be very appreciated.

Hello!

I'm an incoming freshman in electrical engineering at UCSC.

I've been hearing a lot of mixed things about the program. I'm aware that UCSC doesn't really have good job fairs, and that other UCs definitely have stronger EE programs. However, I chose Santa Cruz because I've heard good things about the community and research. Specifically, I've heard that most people are very chill, and STEM here isn't as cutthroat as with "higher" ranked UCs. I've also heard that since there's a smaller ratio of grad students to undergrads, there are more research opportunities. I want to apply to grad school, so this is pretty important to me.

I was wondering if anyone on here did research as an EE undergrad. I also wanted to know how to gain these opportunities and how accessible they really are.

If any alumni are reading this post/anyone who knows alumni with an EE degree, what are they up to now? What sort of industries did they go into? What kind of grad schools did they study at?

And final question: How do you balance everything? I want to get involved with engineering clubs, research, and do well in my classes, but I worry that I won't be able to do all three. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!!!!

ive been feeling sooo anxious lately over these schools. I'm waitlisted as EE at all of them, but i havent heard back from any yet. i saw someone on here talk about how they're probably close to reaching target enrollment, hence why its taken a bit for waitlist waves to come out. im from the bay area too and i know its competitive here. im so scared im not gonna get off any of these schools 😭