Almost Failed MIT Class: My First Semester at MIT

[@_______6398]

First day of MIT… Professor: THIS CLASS IS SPONSORED BY RAID SHADOW LEGENDS.

[@alfie0]

LOL

[@1stophchr]

Lmao that raid sponsor take me by surprise

[@md.mehedihassan1623]

😂😂

[@daveportillo1533]

😂😂

[@debasmitdey1132]

This guy finally proved he's a human

[@rezapramaaa]

@spoc This guy actually is other Terence Tao

[@karatekid8312]

Mark Zuck still hasn't

[@shrexy8095]

@@karatekid8312 ZUCC*

[@zeusca6080]

Asians are humans too Mr.Racist

[@Alex419]

@@zeusca6080 damn you are slow😂

[@hablahei1]

"Accidentally got lazy" hah I love that sentence. Anyway, good to see such a brilliant person can also be lazy and struggle a bit at times

[@efthymiosn3381]

well if it makes actual lazy people feel better then ok

[@lucashood4140]

@@efthymiosn3381 lol, that’s so funny and so true.

[@potatopotato4676]

He got lazy and solved 150 problems in an 11 hour livestream

[@virajkathiria4076]

@@potatopotato4676 lmao

[@charoniv5631]

You are in which College

[@minnie-piano3969]

Lesson learned: efficiency = bad grades

[@anuragbharti1993]

Imagine getting straight A s all your life to being nuked by a C at MIT

[@jackyxie5624]

Naive lmao

[@tmwilliamlin168]

Bold of you to assume I got straight As before

[@anuragbharti1993]

@@tmwilliamlin168 says the one at MIT

[@tmwilliamlin168]

@@anuragbharti1993 you don't need straight A's to get in, grades are just one indicator and there are many more that colleges look for

[@anuragbharti1993]

@@tmwilliamlin168OK. I will see you soon. Remember my name

[@vitorveiga]

The legend is BACK

[@dog85686]

William: Didn't fail a single class Also William: *FAIL*

[@johnhammer8668]

Thanks William. Its really good to hear from some one who has actually in MIT. This is the closest thing I got to MIT

[@workerworker7961]

Starting to throw shade at Harvard's grade inflation... yep, you're officially an MIT student now!

[@mnnptl]

William : " Grade A, Verdict Failed" Me : " Grade C, Verdict Passed"

[@pathikshah]

Me: "Grade F in MIT, verdict passed" 😅

[@jazz624]

@@pathikshah lollll

[@dara_02]

Do not be upset, we support you, good luck in everything!

[@bighoncho2050]

Your intelligence is inspiring bro and the vids are legendary

[@paradigmshift2223]

Makes me feel better about myself. For some reason, I assumed you got Straight A's cause you're a legend at competitive programming. But I think you're kinda like me where you obsess over what interests you and kind of discard what you don't care about. School is hard for me because I have to study certain things I don't care about at all.

[@tmwilliamlin168]

Yea to be good at something kind of have to ditch everything else

[@abhirajarora7631]

Same. I never liked chemistry and didn't study it properly in 12th grade and obviously I couldn't crack my country's top pre-engineering examination.

[@hybridgamer4105]

@@abhirajarora7631 JEE right? Me too i cracked it but failed to get cse in NITs

[@abhirajarora7631]

@@hybridgamer4105 Yep

[@hybridgamer4105]

@biu biu thanks buddy but i didnt join NITs as i was getting lower branches

[@MrWabouz]

Not to make you feel bad, but you experienced what I tried to explain to you in the comments section of a previous video of yours: you can't be good at school unless you play by schools' rules, i.e. you have to get your hands dirty and learn stuff you're not interested in, make the effort for something which is not worth your time and attention to get decent grades.

[@BrianHeidik]

Thank for your honesty! It's refreshing to see someone showing both the good and the bad.

[@victorm.2599]

"Reading Shakespeare is harder than reading machine code" ...

[@Anku-xi5yz]

it is though

[@SonOfGod-i2c]

Hey bro, I relate 😶😶.

[@akilaes777]

This is the typical university lifestyle. Went through nearly all of high school not giving a shit and hardly bothering to study. Graduated with award and got direct entry into engineering at uni then realized after my first set of midterms that I was never prepared for a single thing yet to come. Fast forward several years I graduated and it went quite well but that step up from high school to uni definitely hit like a rock 🪨.

[@akilaes777]

@Joshua Liu yeah and that’s how I felt too not claiming I’m a genius whatsoever but certain classes we had to take were so boring and useless. Which is why uni is literally a business to get a paper a lot of things can be learned by yourself if you’re very passionate then your work may speak for itself.

[@luciavidz]

ugh, same. still struggling

[@Woef718]

I gave up on studying at university today. Think I just gonna learn c++ and do codeforces all day and hopefully I can get a job. I got severly bored of university... also with my adhd and dyslexia it is even harder..

[@akilaes777]

@@Woef718 yeah just make sure you motivate yourself to always do what you like 👍 whatever that is as long as it’s moral you will feel much better and actually care for what you put in and get out

[@agaga5886]

Starting college and the transition's hittig hard

[@kaiwenwu6209]

This guy was in his first semester and he took the advanced algorithm..

[@DistortedV12]

He’s William Lin

[@jonas3296]

Dunno why LP and network flows are seen as advanced algorithms ;/

[@itsmee1800]

can you even take advanced algorithms then? im pretty sure there would be prerequisites...

[@BedroomPianist]

well when you're an IOI winner, i think some exceptions to rules can be made. prerequisites are there to protect the student, anyway. still funny, a freshman taking a graduate level course and acing it, lmao

[@johnwig285]

@@jonas3296 yes they are soooooo basic that a 7 year old should be able to do right 🤣

[@angelaxue1037]

William posting a video of how he failed his classes at 4am is such a mood

[@R.G.962]

Glad to find out that I wasn't the only one that skipped the lecture recordings and cramp it all towards the end of the semester

[@davidvasquezlazo4070]

Currently study software engineering, and even if my university doesn't have the same level of MIT, i retake two courses Physics and chemistry. See your video is comfortable, because i thought that all programmers need to be excelent in other materias, and not it is

[@rocketraccoon9596]

No my friend you don’t need to be the best in other materias , just concentrate and study the most in the ones you really need to complement the area you are interested on, and the others just pass them xd , I’m studying mechanical electrical engineering , and I’m just focusing on the ones that are related to the mechanical part , the ones that are related to electrical area I just pass them , just try to be the best in the ones you really need and don’t waste that much time in the ones u don’t need , Sorry If my English is not the best, I’m from Mexico, hope you did get the idea

[@justjie1008]

Sum everything up in this video: William basically “failed” everything

[@pranavkrishna9808]

-> Be me -> Take Advanced Algorithms the same semester as this dude -> Collaborate with him on PSETs -> Get to witness him solve all the problems much faster than me -> Later says he fails the class. -> If I'm worse than a failure, what am I? Oh also - an A- would appear as just an A at MIT, for GPA calculations.

[@tmwilliamlin168]

Maybe you got a higher grade because you weren't efficient enough in your explanations

[@DistortedV12]

@@tmwilliamlin168 I'd sponsor a code competition between William and the guys who got A+ in that class

[@GoshaPlay]

Benjamin Qi

[@anirudhrahul8956]

is this sir pranav "I took 20 classes" krishna?

[@albertbonar3621]

@@DistortedV12 for real 😂

[@jerryxu6859]

can we all just pause for a moment and ponder the fact that, William Lin, a IOI champion, MIT kid, is being sponsored for his youtube channel that he barely posts on...

[@felipeanndrade]

I think that's a common thing to get lazy during the remote semesters and if the classes are all asyncronous, we tend to "study" during the assingments. At least i've been doing it, and it's working pretty well. I mean, as William i don't remember anything from those classes

[@gadgetboyplaysmc]

Getting an A- for being too good is an L I'm taking.

[@vandermonke4178]

the rage when he starts talking about CS+sass lmfaoo

[@thebabypete8516]

Thought I wasn’t the only one that noticed that too lol. He got triggered 😂

[@kupomomo1712]

My roommate is an absolute chad at programming and cs. Got first place with his AI machine learning model during 2 classes competition. BUT, this guy has a 3.0 gpa and literally get’s C and D at easiest class. “Crap i forgot to submit it, I read the instruction wrong” Some people are just not good at school stuff but that does not denote their true worth at all

[@yashaswikulshreshtha1588]

World will turn upside down, when people will know what they don't know about themselves.

[@CaptainShinyify]

my mans finally got hit with the raid sponsorship, less goo

[@yasurikressh8325]

I like how you paus and turn to a different direction for each word in “ molecules, acids and bases. “ the face you made lol

[@JasonBaby87]

Good to see you again on your life after so long It's good to have high expectations on yourself. Just don't stress yourself out I'm glad to know that things have gone well for you so far :)

[@chrisallen9509]

I got a C in Physics II as well, and now I'm an astrophysics PhD student. STEM classes in college are a sucker punch compared to high school, don't feel demotivated if you got a few C's your freshmen year. Use them as a learning experience to master the material and ace the more advanced versions of these courses later on.

[@rukna3775]

why tf does he need to master physics lol? he will be some software engineer in the future so physics for him is irrelevant unless he goes to some niche software field where physics is applicable, but thats true for everything really

[@tensai1043]

@@rukna3775 😂😂 read properly

[@viradeus4322]

Your honesty is great! I'm sure everyone faces some sort of adjustment period when coming to MIT. Keep up the hard work :)

[@thanhnam7037]

OMG can you please make a video like this every semester ? I really wanna know

[@priyanshupatel02]

Its interesting, i also wants know about it.

[@killeraloo3247]

I watch it every once in a while to become comfortable with failures.

[@QuocDatPhung]

If you fail a semester, switch to plan B: drop out and create a tech company called Pineapple

[@SvSGaming]

Or he could create the long awaited Pear phone

[@QuocDatPhung]

@@SvSGaming Such a good Window of Opportunity

[@tallguy4876]

@mr.1n5an_e I wish I didn't read your comment

[@UnrealLeviathan]

I've been so looking forward to what you thought of the first semester !

[@herbert_von_karajan]

Hey! Thank you for advising 9 hour cpp tutorial, I finished it in 2 days and damn it was helpful!

[@mailoisback]

Can you please give the link to the tutorial?

[@phungdao7343]

give me the fk link

[@WW-pg1ro]

@@mailoisback just seach c++ extern code, but i according to me there are other tutorials better than this

[@tanned_cosines_]

@@mailoisback i just searched its made by NewBoston; Legend he is but idt it will be of much help try the cpp playlist by "The Cherno"

[@tanned_cosines_]

@@WW-pg1ro Yeah totally

[@noire.5573]

Idk why but knowing you went through the same experience as I did is so nice. Onward!

[@Sha-256-rath]

"problem setters weren't able to understand my high quality solutions", bro just stomped the entire MIT CS faculty....😎😎

[@DaEpicKiller]

Everyone fails so it's good that you're able to learn from your failures without it having a negative impact on your gpa. Respect 🙌

[@alanparmenter]

4:54 In the real world, there is also diversity, such as autism, which for me means that I for one don’t just want details, I need them. Often the most brilliant struggle to explain step by step, but it can be very important, and I hope the professors manage to instil the importance of complete details when explaining. None of us can read minds, but I think it is worth trying to put oneself in someone else’s shoes, especially when trying to communicate.

[@derekgeng4400]

Truly inspiration Mr. Lin, I’ll be sure to follow in your footsteps ☺️☺️☺️

[@sifis4808]

I'm just waiting for this guy to code artificial consciousness

[@TannerTech]

As a fellow 2024 at MIT, I feel this

[@khann2159]

Can kinda relate bro. I always would get A+ at school, my mom didn't even had to pay tuition. When I got into Chemical Engineering my first grade was zero. I was so mad but we are all humans afterall.

[@17teacmrocks]

Lol I like the reasoning behind the A- in the CS course

[@davidomar742]

damn you took advanced algo first semester, what a legend

[@david_m157]

Keep pushing yourself and you owe it to yourself to struggle mightily. I am rooting for your success.

[@kingarth0r]

The thing about being "efficient" doesn't work for school because the grader is trying to make sure you actually understand what you're doing. Yes in the real world, all you need is a brief explanation because you're just expected to understand it. While the same could be said about a graduate level algorithms course, I still understand what they mean by "not being detailed enough". In graduate school, details are everything.

[@DrWubWubz]

William - You are incredibly talented and by no means a failure. At the end of the day - we are all just as you stated: human. We have limitations and constraints (though we could potentially supersede many of these in the future due to technological advancements). If you are having struggles with your mental health at all, don't feel ashamed to reach out and ask for help. You could be perfectly fine, but it doesn't hurt to bring this up (I'm only bringing this up because I struggled in college with my mental health and it hurt my grades and I wished someone had reached out to me and asked me if I was okay at the time). You are probably under a lot of pressure, and I hope you have healthy/constructive ways of dealing with it. Please know that I have immense confidence in your abilities. You can shape the world for the better if you put your mind to it. Even if you fail at MIT (which I don't think you will, but even if you do), you are still a success and an incredible person in my eyes. You have such great skills and your potential is astounding. I hope you are well and thriving. You truly are an inspiration. "No matter how hard the past, we can always begin again."

[@ziyadmohammad7422]

This video proves that William is still alive! xD

[@nirajandata]

hi bro from tmw server

[@AP-qs7ml]

Bruh u are so much dedicated! like u wearing the same shirt since MIT decision reaction🤯

[@Hanna-nh1eg]

My friend : I didn't write single word! Also my friend :

[@daphneloustalet9792]

Man I’m so glad that I’m not alone in the college struggle. Also the success in college classes doesn’t determine success in real life.

[@waverider1674]

But a good college will give you a lift as more companies recruit from there for entry level positions at a good salary. At some xyz college it is tedious to get a an entry level position as you will be competing with more candidates with similar profile and worse getting a permanent position. You will lose more than a decade in establishing yourself. All are not Steve Jobs to defy the established norms.

[@mr.erikchun5863]

''success in college classes doesnt determine success in real life'' LOL losers say that just like they wish a hope a woman tells them size doesnt matter

[@oscar2500]

This gives me hope. Thanks a ton William love your vids :)

[@JulioSavio]

A great man recognizes that he doesn't have knowledge enough and put even more effort to improve himself. 👏

[@dhanraaj]

In First semester ; advanced algorithms !!! 😶👍

[@raygunn965]

Never have I been so hyped to see a raid shadow legends add in my entire life

[@quocanhhbui8271]

The fact that you got A- (and totally could get A) for Advanced algorithms is a huge achievement. I never get A in any algorithm classes, I always choked during the exams :| even though I did great on more difficult problem sets in the HW

[@lucifer7458]

You got into MIT?

[@quocanhhbui8271]

@@lucifer7458 nope. I mean any CS algorithm classes from all the uni are pretty similar in structure. We deal with extreme problem sets and exams.

[@asdasd-sb5hd]

although I don't understand what you do on the computer. but this channel is the only channel i follow about algorithms

[@GoldenTV3]

If you're literally choosing your major, and the field you are literally going to be going into, why do they require you to take classes that may have no relation to your major. You're paying THEM! Imagine how many more educated people we would have if we didn't give them 5 different classes to pass and have 30% drop out due to stress so they can enter into their field where only 1-2 are required.

[@Giovanni-rh1pw]

You can't just go ahead and buy your bachelor's. The university you attend, when they emit your degree, they're certifying, by some set of rules, that you're worthy of that title on the paper. That's done by you passing the classes they tell you to

[@kiritosao1861]

To be honest, I would not worry too much about the grades. You will take mostly cs and engineering courses anyways. As long as you have at least a 3.7 GPA (4.7 GPA on the MIT scale), companies won't fault you, and you come from MIT, which is a really good school for cs. What are you planning to do for your career?

[@omarahmed-py9ii]

"everything start from zero" .. i think after one year from now he will make new video with A's for all classes .. see u next year

[@IxionwinG]

> getting points taken off in algo class for insufficiently detailed explanations Story of my goddamn life, I’m so glad I’m wasn’t alone in this and commiserate wholeheartedly ;u;

[@joeygarcia7826]

I think it is cool that you are showing your failures! In HS I couldn't pass my pre-algebra class, I even took it twice (D, then and F both years). Went to a Jr college, found my way and the right friends and eventually applied to one college I never heard of and got into Cal Poly SLO as an Electronic Engineer, worked my butt off to learn how to study bc I never did in HS. Then later got my master's in Software Engineering (free, thanks to Lockheed Martin). Just goes to show, some just figure it out later. I graduated HS with a GPA of 1.3 which doesn't graduate now.

[@hstrinzel]

Yes I had that thought that university would SET HIM BACK, rather than get him forward. Reminds me of the old days: When I was at university I chose Economics and Business Administration as my primary subjects and decided to SKIP Computer Science altogether, because I thought that I AM AN ACE in software already because I had written my first business software already then, Real Estate Property Management, a couple of years earlier. And indeed, 3 months into Economics classes the professor decided to HIRE me as freelancer to write software for him. I loved it and worked for 2 more years there and it was a great time hobnobbing with the PhDs there, and working as developer, writing practical software on the leading edge. I stopped classes, and went forward working in software from then on, more and more professionally, never looked back. Fortunately, in computers it IS possible to be successful without a degree. There are many other fields that are not so lucky. On the other hand, you would not want to get a heart surgery by someone who has no degree or license, or do you?

[@oldchili3154]

Hope there could be another video like this one! Really interesting and entertaining to watch!

[@Project-js7mu]

"'accidentally got lazy"

[@blacksky8603]

I can totally relate to this. I have also started my university online, I had to move in a new country alone and it sucks. I used to be a top student graduating from my High School, now Im in the same place as u are. It feels totally relatable

[@xfregas2682]

Cool. Keep these updates!

[@youngarmani7155]

This makes me feel so much better about getting a C+ in Physics lol

[@kongzilla2897]

Students are students everywhere :) while(True) Complete the syllabus day before the exam, regret after getting low grades :) chill until the next exam !!

[@RyanPhung725]

Awesome video. Thanks for sharing Williiam!!

[@mexicanmax227]

Good luck on your finals my friend! Stay focused out there!! 😤 lol

[@artur2.043]

the graders of the problem sets weren't skilled enough to understand my advanced logic LOL. Who is this guy!

[@novaart2297]

Studying cs i got excellent marks and managed to be top 10 at uni But after a year i saw many students whom failed multiple classes are working on cool projects and learning useful stuff and i felt i'm stupid So this year i was like mmm i won't study hard i got lower marks but i created nice projects and i felt better So the question remains : should we be super in uni or super in other stuff or normal in both 🌚 I feel super in uni for our age is better but not sure

[@gasun1274]

o wise one have you found the answer to that question😆 im facing a dilemma right now

[@Slade69]

@@gasun1274 balance is the answer

[@rafisarhan2336]

Online is always harder, hope it would be easier for you when you go back to an actual classroom.

[@luisjr.2748]

i agree

[@epicmonkeydude4432]

This mans confidence in getting Cs puts me at ease 😂

[@omerfarukmerey]

I can feel it dude. 😆 I thought the same. After getting into one of the top schools in my country for computer science. I was like okay I’m one of the best and I felt like the only thing I needed was listening to classes and do homework’s etc. was going to give me a good GPA. In my first semester my first two exams -CS intro and programming I- were 41 and 64. I started thinking to quit school. 😂 But then I got used to the tempo and studied really hard. I think it’s because you’re not used to the pace of learning that much. Once you get used to it’s all fine I guess. By the way the exams I got 41 and 64 were A- at the end of the semester 😏😂

[@r1ain.602]

Well as a student of random university in some corner of world, getting A+ is easy but learning to be intelligent is hard.

[@youngrichbrian]

I never clicked on a video so fast in my life.

[@peaceful6247]

++++

[@SK-kj1ge]

I find it very likely that the graders weren't good enough to understand his high quality efficient solutions - if you don't know what great artistry is, you can't see it

[@xordux7]

6:06 Reading Shakespeare is harder than reading Machine Code 😂

[@ican770]

it is what you mean? have you ever read shakespeare in your life? prolly not

[@xordux7]

@@ican770 yup prolly not

[@xingyanglan6836]

I feel you with the being penalized because “the graders of the problem set weren’t good enough”, and people not valuing efficiency. Some people get their grades by arguing their mediocre solution works (sneaky!) while others simply solve the problem without verbose filler documentation.

[@Aaron-fe2ih]

Man, everyone at my school and a nearby school got rejected to MIT. I think it's for the best because MIT is crazy.

[@braeling3677]

Just graduated on Saturday with my Economics degree (minor in math). Try hard throughout the semester. I know it sounds obvious, but if you get to the end of the semester and you have a C- in two of your courses, finals are gonna stress you out. For the most part, if you have a B at the end of the year and you bomb the final, then you will most likely still pass with a C (depends on the course). So do your hw and show up to class. You can party on the weekend, but unless you’re Good Will Hunting you should be hitting the books all week.

[@00benlee]

Time management is a key component to college. You’re smart.

[@finthefail9599]

"accidentally got lazy" fucking love that.

[@DingBop]

Will gets A-. A- = fail. Love you man. Your basically a God bro I don’t know how you even do such witchcraft

[@user-ox5ir2rd6g]

Makes sense that they’d be lenient on the first semester. It makes the school look good because the first semester is more often than not terrible, and it helps students get used to going to a more challenging school without the stress of bombing the first semester.

[@fuquplz9983]

He’s still doing really good

[@respectpartii6302]

Unfortunately it's the truth and worse than that universities don't value students who are capable of doing so much more than the others and sometimes even than the professors. Nowadays I'm researching in Differential Geometry and Riemann Geometry in Math (yeah I know it's a different field but I feel it's pretty much the same for most of them), but at my freshman year when I was taking a Linear Algebra II or Advanced Linear Algebra exam I failed I had 8 out of 20 score just because apparently "I knew too much and didn't stick to the conventional mode that my professor told me to do even though my exam was to say the least a 18 out of 20" and the funny thing is that I didn't use anything outside the scope of Linear Algebra to solve the exercises. The point is, I've barely attended a lecture of undergrand, I started enjoying math very early back when I was in high school, so by the end of high school I would have studied 2 years of college already so I never had the need to attend lectures at all and throughout my freshman year (the one I took the Linear Algebra exam mentioned before) I was studying Lie Algebra and Manifold Theory and was already positive that I wanted to do research in Riemann Geometry which I nowadays achieved to do fortunately. As such I didn't even have the idea how the professor wanted students to use a specific notation so I just used the most universal one in math, and solved the problems right of the bat using methods that seemed to be efficient at the time but without getting away from Linear Algebra scope and as you can imagine I was graded a 8. Afterwards I went for a talk with my professor and she told me to stop studying what I was studying (I still can't believe nowadays that for the first time I had a professor asking me to stop studying and reading from other sources rather her "own notes" because I was "knowing to much"...) and believe it or not I had to explain to her some Linear Algebra concepts I did use in the exam to her (a LINEAR ALGEBRA PROFESSOR GODDAMMIT!) and I'm yet to realise if she understood them or not lol. Bottom Line, I went home to study "their methods of resolution" and the week after attended the second phase of the exam and wrote everything using her notation and solved everything by using her methods and imagine... I had 19.5 out of 20. Unfortunately I think my story sums up the mentalitty that reigns in colleges... thank you so much if you read until here, have a good one.

[@sinatra8593]

dude you're possibly my biggest inspiration im currently learning python and in my opinion, i think you're the best programmer ive ever seen in my life and i just want to ask. Do you HAVE to know more than 1 language to become a good programmer? also what languages do you know.

[@egg-iu3fe]

yes you need to know multiple languages. good languages to learn depend on what you plan to get a job in, but personally I like python, c++ and maybe c# because I'm more interested in data or software

[@johnwig285]

If you're into web development, then only 1 language will do which is most probably Javascript. If you're into software engineering, then you would be safer with at least 2 languages depending on the stack u choose. If you're into data science, python sql

[@sandiegosbreakfast4177]

Comparing to my first semester, this transcript is gooooood enough(actually way better )

[@elbertwang7827]

your drawings are so great and funny!

[@zeusjean]

Soy tu seguidor y todo, pero algo dentro de mi disfruto tus fallas en el semestre, aunque te deseo mucha suerte para el próximo :D

[@PiroKUSS]

Creíste que era perfecto y tendría notas perfectas, posiblemente le tuviste envidia.

[@zeusjean]

@@PiroKUSS Pues si

[@reginaaruan3634]

SEMANGATTT WILLIAM!

[@aryansharma4340]

Great student of CSE don't feel fear of mit exams you will come through it 🙏