<p>I’m in MechE.
My academic adviser suggested I take TAM 211. But its only necessary to take TAM 210, and some upperclassman told me 211 is more difficult than 210. I’ve registered for TAM 211. Should I stick with TAM 211 or drop to TAM 210? Is TAM 211 worth the extra effort? Whats the possibility of scoring a lower grade?</p>
<p>TAM 211 isn’t necessarily harder. It is longer. The two share te same classroom and assignments but TAM 210 ends like 2/3 of the way through te semester and TAM 211 keeps going. You would have to look at the course catalog to see what additional topics are covered.</p>
<p>Boneh3dad is an aerospace PhD student in Texas. Key word being PhD. I am a current civil engineering student who has struggled with TAM, including retaking 211, and witnessing how very many people were retaking 211. You choose whose advice you’re gonna take; your future professor or someone on an intellectual level closer to yours.</p>
<p>Only take 211 if you think someday you might transfer to civil engineering. That’s the only stinkin’ reason to spend 3-4 more weeks in a massive cattle herd of a course that is Statics at UIUC. And yes, it will be much harder and take more work. It’s not just longer boner, the topics are loopier and more difficult as well and it’s not worth it. The extra stuff you learn is marginal information for civil engineers.</p>
<p>If you know shear and bending moment diagrams, have a solid grasp of solving for reactions in frames, and get what engineering moment of inertia is, you are golden. That’s what you learn in 210, that’s what you need for 251, any more is a waste of time and a drag on your GPA.</p>
<p>NAFTA- I appreciate your frank and honest advice and answers. What would you say, so far have been your hardest classes? I know it is all different for each individual but it is nice to get a heads up going in…</p>
<p>Also, is there any point that you thought you “got over the hump” and it got easier? LIke after sophomore year?!?!</p>
<p>I did mechanical engineering in undergrad at UIUC, just like the OP. The MechSE department only requires TAM 210, so there is no real reason to take 211 unless you just want to out of your own intellectual curiosity. However, I know tons of civil and aerospace engineers who took 211, and they didn’t complain any more during the 211 portion of the course than they did during the 210 portion. In other words, the additional topics covered in 211 are not necessarily harder, it just just additional work that you don’t necessarily have to do unless you are just interested. I suppose taking 211 might have its advantages, but for the most part, 210 is fine for a mechanical engineer.</p>
<p>The additional topics are, from the course catalog: “moment of inertia, polar moment of inertia, and product of inertia; virtual work; hydrostatic pressure; applications of statics in design.”</p>
<p>Those are not terribly difficult topics. In fact, you will end up learning most of them in future classes anyway, so it is just a matter of if you want to learn it on its own or learn it later as part of something else.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. Its my first year here, and I honestly don’t know how well I’ll cope, so I’ve changed from TAM 211 to 210, before registration hold comes in on 3rd Sept.</p>
<p>And yes, it seems like TAM 210 is a “cattle herd” class. The lecture was fully packed and there weren’t enough seats for everyone. Which means that I’d probably end up sitting on the floor most of the time, my lesson immediately before the TAM lecture is on the other end of the quad =(</p>
<p>Here’s some simple advice to get through TAM 210 or courses like it.</p>
<p>Attend all lectures as people will stop attending.</p>
<p>Go to office hours religiously; think of it as a place where you can’t mess around with distractions and can also ask lots of questions.</p>
<p>Go to the professor’s office hours. Interact with him and schmooze him up a little. If he likes you, and gets to know your name and face, there’s a big chance he’ll boost your grade and you’ll learn a lot from him.</p>
<p>You have Keane, I’m in the fluid class after yours. He’s a decent guy inside; get to know him, he’s much better in office hours.</p>
<p>I never had Keane (had Haber for 210, what a tool). I have heard nothing but good things about Keane though. Isn’t he the Australian or something?</p>
<p>Yeah, he has an obvious Australian accent. Not that it makes him hard to understand though.</p>
<p>NAFTA, what do you bring to office hours - a specific question on a problem?</p>
<p>That’s what I usually do, bring specific questions on problems I’ve attempted.</p>
<p>I also use it as an old fashioned study hall. There is no way I’m going to go on collegeconfidential.com or youtube while my TA and other people are doing homework right there. So while I do bring specific questions; often times I’ll just go there to do my homework if it’s a big office hour environment, i.e. a classroom not a little office.</p>
<p>Sounds like a good idea!</p>