History test not as bad as I thought...
Well, I got my history test back last week... It wasn't as bad as I feared, but certainly not something I was happy with. I managed to pull off an 80% by guessing correctly at some extra credit questions. My worst fears were realized when I saw what was on the test... There were 25 short answer questions (NOT multiple choice)about very random, very specific things. The professor certainly seems like a knowledgeable guy, but his style can be hard to follow. I learned quite a bit of stuff that didn't get mentioned on the test and managed to miss most of what was asked. I learned every nation in Africa for the map portion, which is somewhere around 55 countries, but he only asked us to identify 10 of them. I wound up devoting an inordinate amount of time to learning the map and got screwed because of it.
It annoys me that this class only has two tests all semester, a midterm and a final. That equals a lot of material per test, and the first one is a mystery because you don't know what to expect from it. You bomb even one of them and you're screwed... My Botany class has the right idea, we have four tests including the final, and he'll drop the worst of the four tests for us and calculate the grade based on the best three. My math class is similar... Doing it that way certainly works to our advantage, though it almost seems too generous, particularly when compared to my history class.
I went through and picked out classes for next semester last night. If I get in everything that I picked, I'll be royally screwed and hating Wednesdays... Thankfully, this semester looks like it will polish off most of my outstanding Gen Ed requirements. I might have to mop up a class or two yet, but for the most part, it looks like I'll be good. I think I'm scheduling 17 credits, as I need to be a little more aggressive with the credit accrual to stay on pace to graduate in five semesters... I need an average minimum of 15 credits per semester to make it work. The classes I've chosen for next semester don't sound all that bad, but we'll see if I can get them all when registration rolls around...
It annoys me that this class only has two tests all semester, a midterm and a final. That equals a lot of material per test, and the first one is a mystery because you don't know what to expect from it. You bomb even one of them and you're screwed... My Botany class has the right idea, we have four tests including the final, and he'll drop the worst of the four tests for us and calculate the grade based on the best three. My math class is similar... Doing it that way certainly works to our advantage, though it almost seems too generous, particularly when compared to my history class.
I went through and picked out classes for next semester last night. If I get in everything that I picked, I'll be royally screwed and hating Wednesdays... Thankfully, this semester looks like it will polish off most of my outstanding Gen Ed requirements. I might have to mop up a class or two yet, but for the most part, it looks like I'll be good. I think I'm scheduling 17 credits, as I need to be a little more aggressive with the credit accrual to stay on pace to graduate in five semesters... I need an average minimum of 15 credits per semester to make it work. The classes I've chosen for next semester don't sound all that bad, but we'll see if I can get them all when registration rolls around...