<p>The difficulty in finding time varies form person to person for a few reasons:</p>
<p>natural ability: some people just learn faster so it takes less time. For example, people may have an affinity for chemistry but have a lot of difficulty doing proofs. Those who have that innate understanding simply don’t have to spend as much time on problem sets, studying, etc to achieve the same grades.</p>
<p>How much you pay attention: When I’m sleep deprived, I only absorb about half of the material so effectively half of the time I spend in class is wasted. That means when I need to study or do problem sets later I have to review the book and notes - basically I have to teach myself the material later which is pretty inefficient. The best policy is to make sure you’re awake and ready to go, because the more you concentrate in class, the less studying you have to do outside of class.</p>
<p>Prior background: The most obvious example is taking AP Chemistry but not placing out of CHEM 21 and 22. Mudd chemistry is just easier if you have a good AP background, just like every other subject. When they cover new material, your background will help you form connections between previous classes in that field and also across disciplines. I encourage anyone who goes to Mudd to try forming those connections during class and while studying. It helps your retain all of the information.</p>
<p>Work ethic: this is ultimately the most important step. If you persist, you will win. Through a combination of going to class, getting enough sleep, asking your friends, going to Academic Excellence, seeking help from upperclassmen and attending office hours for professors you will eventually assimilate all of the knowledge required to understand the material. The question is: are you willing to spend hours and hours doing that? If you’re dedicated, as long as you plan your schedule a few days out in advance you have enough time to understand everything. The reason this doesn’t happen is people don’t plan ahead and then run out of time or get demoralized.</p>
<p>Last but not least: you won’t win them all. There will be questions that stump you. You won’t ace all of your problem sets and exams. You won’t have a perfect grasp of every piece of information that’s thrown at you. When that happens, don’t get discouraged. Mudd is a continual battle, and as long as you’re always on the offense you’ll win most of the time. I wouldn’t call it <em>extremely</em> difficult, but it’s certainly a challenge at times.</p>