Crosspost from uni life forum in case there is anyone here in the same boat...
I'm a first year studying Chemistry at Durham and the workload is killing me and also most of the people I know onthe course. I'm always forever exhausted from contact hours and barely keep up with the compulsory assignments,nevermind lecture consolidation or the reading.
I have 26 contact hours (consisting of a 9-6 on Tuesday without a break), only 2 of which weekly are tutorials. I taketwo electives in mathematics, for which there is a tutorial every other week and weekly assignments each takingmultiple hours. To feel relatively 'on top of everything' we're expected to devote ~1hr to each contact hour - and itgenuinely feels like there is no time in the week to even attempt to keep on top of lectures.
I've missed a few lectures and they are impossible to catch up on; empty slides and muted recordings etc. We'reexpected to read or consolidate a significant chunk of content for each lecture but yet have very little time to fit thisin. The lecturers whizz through content as if it's a medicine degree (often telling us to self-study chunks) and there'svery little opportunity to practise or understand what is taught; it just feels like content overload.
The support system is pretty much non-existent; lecturers and tutors being impossible to contact, or told to 'notcontact [them]'. Collegiate support is impossible to get or you're just patronised.
I'm working 9-5 days and just hanging on by doing the bare minimum, and I feel like I'm losing myself to this courseand this uni. I'm crying over not being able to see a way out of the pile of work and am staying up until the early hours for assignments/tutorial work/pre-labs/post-labs and I never get a chance to pre-read or consolidate anythingI've learned nor do any reading whatsoever.
I breezed through A-levels at A*A*A* with a significant amount of self-study; I have the skills to be able to do the work - it's just the sheer workload and expectations they're throwing upon everyone that is drowning me.
What am I doing wrong? What are they doing wrong?
Help