I found first year natsci really hard in terms of workload, but from it I learnt how to cope best with the Cam workload. What I learnt from IA made me wish that I could go back and do first year again a lot better!
2nd year I then found managable. I had time to learn all the course content thoroughly and do plenty of past papers before the exams, as well as fitting in all the extracurriculars I wanted. Having fewer labs helped, as that freed up more afternoons to do work. I did chemeng this year and the amount of content was less than 1st year natsci, and also the content fitted together more than the masses of different stuff we had to learn in first year. Starting chemeng from scratch in 2nd year meant that the content wasn't harder than 1st year either. I expect 3rd year will be harder now we've learnt the basics of chemeng!
So for me it was a mixture of time management imroving, there being a slightly smaller workload, and me being more interested in the course. I think I put in as much effort as first year but knew what I was doing!
By the time in first year where I'd gathered how I beeded to work, it was too late to implement it as I had so much material from earlier on in the year that I hadn't learnt! I genuinely think that I would still find the 1st year natsci workload hard (as in I didn't get time to do most things until the day before they were due) if I tried it again.
From my friends who stayed on natsci for 2nd year, I think they appreciate not having to do subjects that they didn't overly enjoy in IA. They do seem to work as hard as first year, just have better work skills, as you said.
And already having developed a mental framework with which to think about the subject at uni level helps, too. Often things in later years build on 1st year topics rather than being entirely new.
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