Mixed feelings. That is how I will describe my thoughts upon seeing my results.
I wouldn’t say I did very badly, just mildly surprised by my grades. Some of the modules turned out as I had predicted, some did not. This led me to come to the conclusion – never underestimate what you think is manageable and at the same time, there is no need to worry too much over a paper you find too tough. Unless of course you completely have no confidence for that paper. Then you should start praying.
Grade Analysis
Astronomy
Expected Grade: B+
Actual Grade: B+
Comments: No doubt this paper is one of the most cutthroat competitive for this Sem 1. After flunking CA2 (which they conveniently did not release the quiz results), I lowered my expectations to a B+. This module was my first paper for the finals, so I spent a rather significant amount of the study period mugging for this paper. Too much, if you ask me. Lesson learnt here is to really recap each week’s lesson for content heavy modules before you start to lag behind.
Dynamics
Expected Grade: >=B
Actual Grade: A-
Comments: To say this exceeded my expectations would be a bold understatement. From day 1 I struggled all the way through this module. The concepts taught were not difficult to comprehend. It was the application and visualization I had trouble with. The tutorial questions were comprehensible after some time too. What hit me was the lack of accurate past year solutions to the papers. Upon starting the paper, I laughed and resigned to my fate. Half of the paper was beyond my capabilities and the a quarter of the other half which I thought was in my grasp turned out to be wrong after discussing with my peers.
I fully expected this module to be either the worst or second worst module for this sem. Thus when I received the results, I was left speechless. After this paper, I was constantly hang over the possibility of failing a module in my very first semester. It didn’t help much knowing that some people finished the paper and left within 1.5 hours while I was struggling trying to come up with something to write.
Computing
Expected Grade: A+
Actual Grade: A+
Comments: Easily the simplest paper for this semester. Okay, that is partially due to the fact that I learnt pretty much everything in secondary school so this is a free A for me. Big thank you to my alma mater for offering this rare O level course.
Math
Expected Grade: A
Actual Grade: A+
Comments: I started out this sem aiming for an A- for this module. However, upon warming up to doing math again after a ~3 year hiatus, I upgraded the expectations to an A. I felt pretty confident after the paper, and I am glad that math remains as one the modules that return results proportionate to the effort invested.
Engineering Communications
Expected Grade: B+
Actual Grade: B+
Comments: I would not try and hide my dislike for communications modules. I tend to prefer modules like math and computing which are hard solid facts and formulas over subjective modules like communication or history. My biggest mistake was not participating actively in class. I kept my silence for a lack of the correct answer. However, thinking back now I suppose giving the wrong answer might earn me some extra marks. I threw in much of my time into this module due to fact that there was a presentation involved and also 2 rather demanding reports to write. Although I would very much liked an A-, this grade works too.
Introduction to Aerospace Engineering
Expected Grade: A-
Actual Grade: B+
Comments: Pure disappointment. Knowing that I did not do very well for the first quiz, I threw in whatever time I had into this module. Granted, the group presentation was a disaster at best, I honestly thought that by working harder for finals, I would at least salvage the situation and snatch that A-. Perhaps it did, I would never know for sure. When I bumped into the prof at koufu 2 days ago, he too was shocked by my B+. All’s well though, now I know how important the CAs are.
Just like a flower which will bloom again after withering, I hope that my next sems will be better. Figuring out my priorities and reorganizing my commitments will be the first step. Till next time.