1st Year BSc
First Year Survival Guide
Welcome to the ETH! And of course, a warm welcome to RW/CSE, we are happy to have you on board! In this wiki you will find lots of information about your studies and it will hopefully help guide you through the next couple of years – feel free to contribute to it as well. But to spare you from having to sift through every single page, here is a (non-exhaustive) Ersti survival guide:
Disclaimer: All information was collected and compiled by CSE students. We cannot guarantee its correctness, nor that this is the best way to go through the program. Please contact the [rw::ko] if you have any suggestions or if something is no longer up to date.
Pre-Study
- Most importantly: Take time off and enjoy your holidays! These will be the longest and probably the most carefree for a while
- Pre-Study Event: Can be nice to meet other first-year students and you will receive a lot of info about CSE, but do not be worried if you miss it.
Starting Your Studies
- First day: Welcome day, no classes but an info-event and activities organized by the department and student organizations. A fun day to meet new people (and receive your Ersti-bag). Be sure to join a campus tour led by a CSE person
- The first week will have lots of events, the VMP (our student association) also organizes an Ersti-Weekend each year
- Sign up for your exercise classes (over mystudies, moodle, or CodeExpert)
- Upper year math & CSE students organize a mentoring event each year where you can talk to a student from your field of studies and who can give you advice. Look out for info about this on the VMP website!
- Here are some apps you might find useful:
- ETH Zurich (Mensa menus, campus map)
- ETH Edu App (Timetable, Shuttle Bus schedule, Study Environments)
- ETH moodle (Some of your classes will have their materials on here)
- Mensa App (Mensa menus of ETH & UZH)
Academics
- Studying at ETH can be tough and overwhelming; however, you are more than capable of thriving here, no matter what your background or previous knowledge is!
- Most courses at ETH are structured in lectures (Vorlesungen) and exercise sessions (Übungen)
- Lectures are where the professors introduce the material. All students are in one room/lecture hall. You might not understand everything right away but the lectures can still give you a good overview.
- Exercise sessions are held in smaller groups and are led by a teaching assistant (TA). They are great to review the lecture material. Don’t be afraid to try out a few different TAs to find the person whose teaching style suits you best.
- The exercises are important and often a great way to prepare for the exam during the semester. However, don’t get discouraged if you cannot solve everything, every attempt is better than not trying!
- Try as much as possible to keep up with the lecture content. You have time to review material before the exams but it is easier to look at something for the second time versus trying to teach yourself everything in the Lernphase.
- Don’t underestimate the academic workload, the first couple weeks might seem very simple but at the end of the semester you will have seen a lot of content.
- Summaries, old exams, and other student resources can be scattered around different places. We try to compile as much as we can on here, but it can never hurt to dig around a bit.
Student Life
- The ETH has a rich student life, we have lots of associations (here is a list) and Zurich also has a lot to offer.
- The Math, Physics, and CSE student association (VMP) always has something going on. Keep track with the newsletter, the website, or the instagram page.
- The RW/CSE commission [rw::ko] is part of the VMP and organizes many events and excursions for CSE students. We also run student support projects (like updating this wiki!) and are always looking for people to help
- CSE-specific: There are RW-apéros twice a year hosted by the study administration and the rw::ko organizes CSE events multiple times a semester
- Sports: The ASVZ offers classes in many different sports for all levels as well as access to gyms.
- Get involved! Help at an event, organize an event, or just participate
Your Classes & Exams
Winter Exams
Preparation Tips
- This is the “sprint” exam preparation phase. The exams do come quickly, but you have a good balance of exams and enough time to study.
- Do take a few days over the holidays to relax and breathe
- There is not a “right” way to study, do what works best for you!
- Old exams help a lot with this block, all classes have a lot of them available
- Create your summaries early on so you can get used to working with them
- It can be helpful to simulate the testing environment: Do a practice exam within the timeframe and using only the material you will have at the exam
Class-specific Advice
1. Linear Algebra
- Important knowledge for the later semesters, try to understand the content
- Solve the homework throughout the semester
- Solve as many old exams as possible, they usually follow the same structure (note: different lecturer in HS23 so the exam structure might differ)
- Resources: Old exams via course website, solution suggestions (Lösungsvorschläge) & other material here, general resources via AMIV
- PVK: AMIV
2. Computer Science (Informatik)
- Really important base for your studies, a lot (really, a LOT) of future classes use C++
- Try to do as many exercises as possible throughout the semester, but do not spend all your time on them; the homeworks are usually harder than the exam
- Try to get the bonus, but do not spend too much time here either (suggested not more than a weekend, but it is up to you to decide)
- Solve old exams
- Work on a good summary sheet from the beginning, make use of the space and the ability to copy-paste code solutions (e.g. by screenshotting code in light-mode)
- Resources: Old exams via course website & exam moodle, general resources via VMP
- PVK: VMP
3. Discrete Math
- The hardest lecture in this block for most people
- Start working on your summary early on
- Solve the exercises throughout the semester, attempt everything, not only the bonus question, but you can leave out what you cannot solve
- Solve a lot of old exams to see what is expected
- Resources: Mostly on VIS
- PVK: VIS (called PVW on their website)
Summer Exams
Preparation Tips
- This is the “marathon” exam preparation phase. You have a lot of time to prepare, but you also have a lot of coursework.
- Do not study all the time. You will need breaks throughout the summer in order to not burn yourself out.
- You can take a lot of summaries to the exams (~ 50 pages). Start working on them early and you can let yourself be inspired by old cheat sheets uploaded to different portals (VMP, AMIV, VCS)
Class-specific Advice
1. Analysis 1/2
- The lecture can be proof-heavy, the exam usually is not, so do not be intimidated by all the proofs
- Try solving a lot of exercises throughout the semester, definitely the ones your TA deems important
- Practice with old exams and the weekly exercises
- Invest time in a good summary, it will especially help with the multiple choice questions where wording can be important
- Resources & PVK: AMIV
2. Physics 1/2
- Practice as much as you can
- The lecturer changes every so often, so try to get used to the exam format of your year, but also practice with old exams of other lecturers
- Resources & PVK: VCS
3. Chemistry
- Solve the weekly exercises
- Get used to working with the calculator you will take to the exam
- Solve old exams
- Resources & PVK: VMP
4. Complex Analysis
- Good lecture notes (Skript)
- Practice as much as you can
- Solve the weekly exercises and old exams
- The komA Prüfungskatalog has a lot of examples of certain techniques, great for exam prep
- Resources & PVK: AMIV
5. Data Structures & Algorithms
- Always try the exercises, but do not get lost in them, the homework is usually harder than the exam questions
- Try to get the bonus, but do not spend too much time (up to your own definition, but suggested is a weekend)
- Work on a good summary early on
- Resources & PVK: VMP
