University Courses

After finding a book and reading for a while, Link and Lang left together once Lang had packed his things. They first strolled around the campus, with Link acting as a guide. They had a simple lunch together at the school cafeteria, and then the two of them went to a place near the school that sold used books.

New books were expensive, so many people chose to buy used books. The school's used bookstore also had a relatively complete selection of textbooks required for courses.

Through their conversations during this time, Link learned about Lang's basic situation.

His father was a somewhat famous designer, and his mother also had her own career; they were definitely a wealthy family.

Lang had two older sisters above him, and he was the youngest child in the family. Although the concept of favoring boys over girls had long faded in the United States by now, as the youngest son in the family, Lang still received more care and attention.

Lang's tuition was covered by his family, and he also received a considerable monthly living allowance. He had no worries about food or clothing and lived a life without any pressure.

Although Lang didn't receive a full scholarship like Link, being able to get into California Institute of Technology meant his intellect was certainly not lacking. Despite being a bit overweight, he was also a top student in middle school.

The course schedule had been finalized yesterday when discussing with Peggy. Additionally, according to the California Institute of Technology physical education elective course catalog, students were required to take and pass two physical education courses during the academic year.

As for the sports chosen for physical education, Link's first choice was naturally baseball. For the second sport, Link thought about it for a moment and chose the three-kilometer long-distance run. This event required no practice for Link; he could even take the test directly.

Speaking of which, due to the limited campus area and the relatively small number of students at California Institute of Technology, although there was a wide variety of sports, even in popular sports like football, basketball, and baseball, they couldn't recruit many talented players.

The California Institute of Technology baseball team was merely for amateur fun, and its strength was extremely limited.

As the registration day passed, the fall semester officially began, and the several courses Link had registered for this semester also officially started teaching.

From this point on, Link also began his college life in an orderly manner.

He would wake up at five every morning to run and exercise, then come back to shower, get ready, eat breakfast, and prepare for class.

Classes at California Institute of Technology generally ran from eight in the morning to five in the afternoon, with a two-hour lunch break in between. Typically, there were two classes in the morning and two in the afternoon, with each class lasting about ninety minutes.

The specific class times were all arranged on the course schedule. If you had registered for a course, you just needed to attend class on time according to the schedule.

Course arrangements at California Institute of Technology were generally in small classes, with the number of students usually under twenty. Of course, there were also large classes with no limit on the number of students.

Whether a student chose a small class or a large class depended entirely on their own arrangements. In any case, they had to earn all the credits for the core courses required by the school in the first two academic years before entering the professional course study stage.

In the first semester, Link registered for a total of ten courses, averaging about four classes a day. It could be said that his schedule was full. Most of the remaining time, Link spent with Peggy in the library, and he usually worked until the early hours of the morning on weekdays.

When professors lectured, they would not simply read from the textbook but would implement the divergent thinking common in Western education, extending beyond the textbook.

To keep up with the professor's teaching pace, one needed to do much more than just study the textbook; a lot of preparation outside of class was also required.

Additionally, professors would require students to complete several student papers during the course, according to the course arrangements. The scores of these papers would directly affect the overall evaluation of the course.

Therefore, after classes truly began, in addition to the textbook, Link also needed to study many books related to the courses according to the professor's requirements. Generally speaking, this aspect occupied a large amount of his time outside of class.

Fortunately, Link's current intelligence of 15.7 greatly improved his learning efficiency. Coupled with his physical fitness far exceeding that of ordinary people, he also needed less rest time, which allowed Link to complete such a packed course schedule.

And Peggy's learning efficiency was much higher than Link's. Furthermore, she didn't need to have arrangements like combat training and shooting practice on weekends like Link did, so her time even seemed ample.

Students at California Institute of Technology, besides attending classes, spent most of their time in the library and study rooms, including Link's roommate, Lang.

Of course, Link also knew how to balance work and rest. In his plan, he had half a day of relaxation on both weekend days, and he could also relax in the evenings. This Friday afternoon, Link saw an acquaintance in class.

The class this afternoon was a large lecture, and the format of these large classes with dozens or hundreds of people was completely different from the small classes with only a dozen or so people.

A very important point was that professors teaching large lectures were all assigned a dedicated teaching assistant.

The teaching assistants here were not full-time faculty members but were senior students, serving as a work-study position, which was also a characteristic of American universities.

As a private research university, the professors at California Institute of Technology are experts in their respective fields. Teaching is only a part of their job; their research is more important.

Teaching alone cannot produce Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes, or Turing Awards!

Moreover, for internationally renowned professors to personally teach undergraduates is already worth the salary the university pays them, and the university cannot demand more from them.

Therefore, the miscellaneous tasks outside of teaching require teaching assistants to help them complete.

Teaching assistants have many chores, but their main responsibility is to grade the papers assigned by the professor.

The acquaintance Link encountered in this large lecture class was the teaching assistant for this course, Sophia. When Link and Peggy walked into the classroom together, Sophia was at the podium, preparing for the professor who had not yet arrived.

Seeing Sophia's situation, Link guessed that she was likely serving as a teaching assistant, and Sophia also noticed Link.

Realizing that the other person was a teaching assistant, Link was in a good mood. After all, teaching assistants hold the power to evaluate students' usual academic performance. In the brief eye contact just now, Link confirmed that she had a good impression of him.

Seeing that the class was about to start, the two didn't speak. Link and Peggy sat in the first row.

When the time came, the professor, dressed in professional attire, walked in briskly. After stepping onto the podium, he didn't exchange pleasantries and immediately began lecturing.

The professor's schedule was very tight. He arrived exactly on time for class and was the first to leave when it ended. The pre-class preparation and post-class wrap-up work were all handed over to the teaching assistant, which is the standard practice for professors teaching large lectures.