To do well in this course you should read the book, watch the lecture videos, attend tutorial, and do the homeworks.
As the term closes in and you have a lot of work, it's tempting to skip meals or sleep less. Don't do this. It's impossible to do math or write bug-free computer programs if you are too tired. If you can't finish everything and you are getting behind despite studying frantically, you may need to reduce your load: speak to your instructors and/or advisor.
This is a hard class. Even if you have never needed help in the past, you may need it this term. Do not be shy about coming into office hours or asking questions (e.g. in lecture, on Piazza). That's why they exist.
The course staff don't bite. We remember when we took hard math classes and needed help ourselves.
Don't worry that your question might be stupid. We don't admit stupid people. Probably a whole bunch of other people also have the same question and will appreciate the fact that you asked it.
Some parts of the assigned work must be done on your own. However, study groups can be extremely helpful for everything else. Your classmates can help you find mathematical bugs and, just as important, give you social support. Get to know the other students, e.g. in your tutorial group.
Study problems aren't graded but they are still important. It's almost impossible to get a good understanding of the material (e.g. do well on the exams) without getting your hands dirty trying to work problems yourself. If you understand the study problems, you'll probably do well on the exams.
Our collection of examlet problems contains some of the study problems, either as is or lightly modified.
Do not leave study problems until the last minute. Math problems are much easier to solve if you have time to think about them. Also, starting too late may limit your chances to get help from the course staff.
On the Exams page, you'll find a skills list for each examlet. Use the skills list to help study for the examlet. You may also wish to look at the exams posted (typically with solutions) on the web pages for previous terms. Look for terms whose overall format seems to match ours (e.g. weekly examlets). See here for more detailed advice.
When examlet grades are released on PrairieLearn, you'll be able to see comments from the graders. Also look at the model solutions posted on the Exams page. Make sure you understand any mistakes you've made. If you don't understand how you lost points, seek help from the course staff.
If you're not doing well in a course, you'd normally want to talk to the instructor or perhaps your departmental advisor. Lately, however, overcrowding has made this hard to do. So here are the most standard sorts of advice we'd give you in person. Come see us if this isn't enough.
How badly are you really doing? In high school, you were one of the top couple students and you could get all A's. However, everyone in our CS program was a top student in high school. B is not a bad grade. If your high school preparation was iffy (e.g. your high school wasn't the best), then you should worry even less about a B in this class. It takes a few courses for differences in background to smooth away.
In this program, a reasonable goal is to get A's in the courses that most interest you, especially your upper-level elective courses and projects. No one is very good at everything. An employer or graduate school will want you to show that you're very good at something. Sure, a future theoretician should have an A in CS 173, but a future prize-winning hardware designer might not. Your first couple years in college should be about finding the area of CS that suits you.
If you need to take CS 374 (i.e. CS and CE majors), a grade below B- in CS 173 could be a real worry. Finish the term as well as you can, but also speak to your departmental advisor about whether to repeat the class or take other theoretical classes (e.g. statistics) between CS 173 and CS 374.
Special situations:
Do any of these seem to characterize your situation? (More than one might apply.)