Alright so im in ECE200 atm. I spend almost all my freetime doing the homework/labs and just keeping up with the material so i can pull a C- (A/B college student before this btw). Does this mean i should change majors or were most people in the same boat? If I keep going past ECE200 will i get weeded out? Honestly i don't think im slacking off maybe i just don't have the mindset required for ECE.

Also i have no clue whats going on during the second half of the labs, i feel like a dumbass during them. The only reason I get through them is because my partner is one of those super genius types. The homework is pretty hard to I have to get help on 70-80% of the problems. Not sure how this will translate on the tests.

2/12/2009 1:32:41 AM

i too am in this class.
its intended to be a 'welcome to college' class. as is 220

i'd say if you're doing fine in your other ECE classes don't worry about it. Many people say this is the hardest ECE class as far as work load goes.

Also, i hear the tests are easier than anything else

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2/12/2009 1:39:32 AM

Try a tutor, maybe check out the HKN free tutoring service. If you don't understand the concepts in ECE 200 then it will be difficult to continue through the curriculum as many classes rely on those simple concepts...KVL, KCL, Ohm's Law, Frequency Response, etc...as the basis for more involved circuit analysis.

ECE 200 is a lot of work but you should be able to understand what is going on, it may not be that the material is too difficult as much as you just haven't had it explained in a way that makes sense to you. I'd definitely try to get some help, but don't focus on the type of problem or the procedure to solve this or that...focus on understanding why things are happening the way the instructor says they are...what are the relationships between the different parameters and why do they behave like that.

Anyways, good luck.

2/12/2009 1:43:57 AM

Quote :

"If you don't understand the concepts in ECE 200 then it will be difficult to continue through the curriculum as many classes rely on those simple concepts...KVL, KCL, Ohm's Law, Frequency Response, etc...as the basis for more involved circuit analysis."

2/12/2009 1:46:07 AM

i think most of the problem is that people aren't used to doing that much work for a single class. keep in mind we haven't even started the hardware project yet. the basic concepts aren't that hard, its the jump from the examples in class to the homework that probably gets most people. one problem usually involves 2 or more inclass problems.

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2/12/2009 2:05:56 AM

In my experience for most of the rest of your ECE ugrad you won't be doing as much work per class as in ECE200, a few classes will come close or rival 200, but it is supposed to be a 'smack in the face' weed out class. It really shouldn't be that challenging difficulty-wise, but if it is you should start living in office hours and/or find a study group to do homework with, this will become crucial for later classes when the difficulty does get cranked up a bit. (In 200 I sometimes did the hw with a friend and also had a friend about a year ahead of me that I could ask questions about shit I didn't understand, but that's what TAs are for too)

Maybe you just have a bad teacher, but I wouldn't use that as a cop out because you're gonna want to get used to teaching yourself/actively seeking help if you're gonna thrive in this major.

Yeah the labs suck pretty bad and I think one of mine topped out at like 40 pgs, and you should get used to kissing your social life goodbye, but the reward is when you graduate and start making that dolla.

Honestly I enjoyed the actual labs, building the shit and seeing it work was pretty cool, it was just the lab reports that I hated, and you won't see reports like that again until 212 and 302, but even then they're much shorter usually.

So bottom line: Yes it's a fuckton of work and it's normal to be hating your life b/c of it, No every class isn't going to be that much work, Yes classes will get appreciably harder and by the end of 200 you should have a good basic grasp on everything that they go over. (It's basically a wide-encompassing primer for nearly every EE class you're going to have in the near future, so it covers a lot, not in depth, very quickly)

[Edited on February 12, 2009 at 9:48 AM. Reason : ]

2/12/2009 9:40:33 AM

Quote :

"find a study group to do homework with"

yup, definitely helped me get through the homeworks.

as far as the labs go, i remember the TA's sucking at explaining stuff, but try your best to learn as much as you can about the lab before you go. at least you'll have the concepts down and that'll help you BS your way through the lab reports.

homeworks in 200 were definitely the most workload that I ever had in ECE, but concept-wise it should not be the most challenging. all these complex circuit problems you get can be solved by breaking them down into smaller systems and applying the principles you learn in class. go to a few office hours or tutoring sessions, you'll learn the "tricks" behind solving circuits. the goal of 200 is to give you an overview of what's to come in the rest of the ECE curriculum, so don't be too concerned if you don't understand everything.

all this information applies assuming your prof is not JJ brickley. then you're properly fucked.

2/12/2009 5:39:04 PM

1. you'll get used to the work load...
2. make friends
3. go to office hours... it's 100% worth it
4. sit in on other sections if your schedule permits...

2/12/2009 6:35:44 PM

i got destroyed in my ECE2xx classes

i'm talking multiple F's, multiple repeats, a withdraw, etc.

my major GPA was abysmal because of them

you don't really start to get it and enjoy it until the 300-400 level

anyway, all that said, i'm in grad school now with a 4.0, so those early classes in no way reflect what you're capable of later on

2/12/2009 8:09:10 PM

Quote :

"sit in on other sections if your schedule permits"

Haha yeah I had an absolutely abysmal 211 teacher who was wholly ineffective, luckily we had access to the distance ed videos of Ms. Townsend's 211 class which was stellar, so I literally quit going and 'went to' Townsend's class, just showed up for the tests in my section, and given that I actually understood the stuff vs a lot of the poor guys in my actual class, the end curve was pretty damn kind to me

2/12/2009 10:11:34 PM

to take a step back -- it clear that you are struggling with the material and workload of ECE200, and I echo the comments from others that the workload for ECE200 is very intense, given how early in the college career it is presented at you.

But the bigger question is -- are you enjoying the material? the concepts? the kind of things ECE 200 makes you think about (other than the knowledge of your social life slowly slipping away...heh). This is the more fundamental question. The core concepts you learn in ECE 200 do not go away. You will get them again in 211. it will take on different dimensions in classes like 403, or 402, etc. Have you looked ahead to ECE 220 material? (asked other friends, HKN mentors). These are some things that simply don't go away.

If you find yourself not enjoying or not being interested in the material, then i would suggest you not continue in EE. or give it until the 211/212/220 semester.

2/13/2009 1:40:44 AM

I'd at least take 109/209 or whatever they're calling it these days, see the CPE side of ECE too before you jump ship

2/13/2009 1:54:51 AM

i'm an EE, but the concepts in 200 are taking longer for me to get than 109/209.

109 was easy as shit. 209 is easy so far. The hardest part is remembering to do code lab

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2/13/2009 3:27:10 PM

you sons are lucky with your 109/209 business. i had to take 206 then csc316 for data structures

2/13/2009 9:35:15 PM

Quote :

"i'm an EE, but the concepts in 200 are taking longer for me to get than 109/209."

well you know what this means of course. you should be cpe.

^word. 316 was riduckulous and then these kids get to take 209 instead. jeez

[Edited on February 14, 2009 at 9:38 AM. Reason : .]

2/14/2009 9:37:38 AM

Is Trussell still teaching 220?

2/14/2009 12:15:54 PM

haha I was on the bleeding edge of that transition, I ended up getting out only having to take 206, 209, and 216

[Edited on February 14, 2009 at 12:34 PM. Reason : ^no, I think it's HOO and some other guy]

2/14/2009 12:30:55 PM

316 was so hard that they had this special drop date extension about 2/3 into the semester. that is... so many people were failing they were forced to let them drop.

and the programs were apparently so difficult for the TAs to grade that we all ended up getting 100s on both programs (much to the dismay of those that dropped I'm sure)

it actually wasn't that hard in retrospect, but in comparison to java II, wtfbbq

2/14/2009 12:37:13 PM

lol at the EEs struggling with 316

2/14/2009 5:42:48 PM

by the time I switched to EE, they were on their 2nd year of the new curriculum, and still hadnt worked out the kinks of 200 and 220. As such, those classes really were not as fruitful as they could have been.

2/14/2009 8:15:47 PM

just suck it up and get through the 200 level ECE's
there is a light at the end of the tunnel really

2/14/2009 8:29:45 PM

Quote :

"well you know what this means of course. you should be cpe. "

i know everyone tells me this. i just did the first 209 programming assignment in like 45 minutes .
i find CPE pretty boring so far and i really don't want to spend the rest of my life doing assembly code / embedded systems shit. i guess that wouldn't be terrible, but i'd much rather be building guitar amps. Then again the only way i see into that industry is with Karr Amps and i'm not even sure that i need an EE degree to do that.

Hopefully i get something out of the ECE200 Hardware project.

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2/14/2009 9:58:39 PM

well, a power supply

2/15/2009 12:06:53 AM

Quote :

"lol at the EEs struggling with 316"

I'm double , son, and wasn't struggling. I'm sure most of the class was comprised of csc anyway.

2/15/2009 10:31:21 AM

^^ lol i mean i hope i enjoy doing it more than circuit problems

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2/15/2009 1:41:58 PM

Attention all takers of the Wizard of Ozturk...

That ass told me that I should change my major after he politely gave me a D+ for ece200... The only nice then he did was allow you to not take the lab on the repeat if you get like a 80% or better on the lab. In my case the lab was graded super easy! Think I got like a 86% on the lab. Anyway back to the wizard, when I was walking across the stage to get my diploma I really enjoyed smiling at him! HAHA

But anyway, the only thing that you need to know is that ECE and CPE majors make serious $texas when you get that paper!

2/19/2009 10:54:45 AM

I dunno I thought Ozturk was a good guy, he loved guitar and amps and stuff and was a big Wolfpack basketball fan, he wasn't a stellar teacher but it was ok...

plus you say he 'gave you' a D+ like you didn't earn it or something

2/19/2009 9:21:41 PM

Quote :

"the only thing that you need to know is that ECE and CPE majors make serious $texas when you get that paper!"

Unfortunately for CPEs (and maybe ECEs), your job will be more like CSC than you would have hoped, and getting the CSC degree would have been a lot less headache and the pay just as good.

2/20/2009 12:11:30 AM