About studying degree

1) Common? Yeah....but probably not acceptable since you will need a lot of the first years knowledge is expected to be known in later year. Usually a well designed program will pound those knowledge so hard in your brain that as long as you are going to class, you will still remember something to use later, or at least know how to learn it quickly again if you forget.

2) You are expected to know at least the basics, then higher knowledge is going to be your advantage when you compete against other for the jobs. So if you are lucky and get the connection, maaaybe you can still get a job as long as you know what to do. But it is still a good idea to have as much advantage as you can.

 

I've completed my degree, so I think I'm somewhat qualified to answer this.

First of all. Yes. Remembering everything you studied in your First year when your in your Fourth Year is difficult. True you might end up remembering quite a lot actually. But if you don't that completely alright. When I finished my degree I realized I had 51 subjects spread out over 8 semesters (4 years) not including Labs/Seminars/Projects/Electives/Extra Credit work. So don't beat yourself if you can't remember everything. How much of High School do you actually remember?

Secondly, I have quite a few friends who got jobs right out of college and they work for pretty high-up companies in the Computer Engineering/IT sector. They all told me that they study new concepts and still go over old College textbooks and new ones to grasp information. Many of them still look online/Ask older collegues/Flip through reference books trying to figure out ways to do programming or whatever it is they do. It's only human. Some of my other friends who work in a Telecommunication company said they do the same. While interviewers expect you to know the answer to every question they ask (lol j/k) managers and all don't expect too much I think. They need you to get the job done and if you have to do a little studying and asking around before you get it done, I hardly think that's a crime.

My two cents.

 

What's the difference between a good student and a bad one? The good student knows everything, the bad one knows where to find the information he needs.

As someone who works in science and deals with knowledge on a daily basis, I still read the same old textbooks from grad school and have a sizable number of manuals from my field. Some people do remember a lot more than me, but it's not the remembering part that's important, it's how well you can solve problems and come up with new and interesting ideas.

 

I pretty much forget everything once the quarter/semester ends...

Actually, I tend to find that when I take classes that build on another subject (presumably engineering falls into this category), with enough practice you will remember the things worth remembering, such as the those you need to use often (otherwise you can look it up). I don't really think education is about remembering facts but more giving you the "once over" so you can recall/relearn things quicker when you face them in the future and also training you to think.

 

I have 2 degrees and I am currently working on my 3rd. I hardly remember anything from the beginning of my first degree. That being said I remember a lot of concepts. I think general concepts and ideas are much more important than details so try to focus on the big picture.

When you get into a job, you will quickly realize that most of what you learnt during your degree is useless. Most people will never use it again and will learn many new skills very quickly that are specific to your job. Most employers will expect you have a basic understanding of how things work, but will likely teach you mostly new stuff of how things work in the "real world" which is often different from how a textbook teaches you.