Keep notes for chemistry right from the beginning of the year. In FoS 4 there is a cumulative final covering material from FoS 1 to 4. Physics and biology also have cumulative exams, but less emphasis is placed on remembering formulae and therefore notes are particularly important for chemistry.

Attend lectures for Physics. Physics academic programs everywhere are generally approached with some trepidation. While the same is true for the level of chemistry or biology, the learning curve for physics is considered to be the steepest out of the three. Physics professors at NYUAD tend to be good, and if you make the effort to engage, despite its difficulties, FoS physics will be quite rewarding. Because all the explanations of the content happen in class, it is difficult to replace lectures with the textbooks.

Ask questions. Professors design some of the material to be difficult and most will not mind questions from students. Professors also hold office hours and encourage students to go to these with any unresolved questions or misunderstood concepts.It is recommended to use these office hours or one should reach out to the course's Global Academic Fellow for further guidance. As new concepts are introduced fairly quickly, it is a good idea to ask questions as soon as one feels one does not understand something; lagging behind can quickly become overwhelming.

Patience. Understanding FoS takes time and some brute force to chew through numerous concepts and problems. There is no need for stress but be prepared to put in a significant amount of time. Even if sciences have been one’s forte throughout high school, one will most likely come across some topics for which intuition will not suffice, but working through them and asking for help will at least enable you to perform satisfactorily in exams.

Work together. FoS results are not curved, and as most people are better in some subjects than others, you can learn a lot from classmates. Also unlike most other classes, FoS meets every day, so it’s an easy opportunity to make relatively solid friendships early in the year.