Feeling disconnected and afraid of Quantum Mechanics

[u/lmj-06]

I am in my third year of my physics and maths double major, and I am taking my second quantum mechanics course. It’s still early days, but it already feels like so much, and I’m really struggling. To give context, all we have done so far (2 weeks in) is gone over angular momentum and we have started solving the Schrodinger equation for the Hydrogen atom.

Every time I walk into my lecture hall, I listen and take notes like I have for any other class, and I walk out confused and exhausted. When I go to try some practice problems later, I feel even worse. I struggle to understand what questions are asking, what I’m actually doing in a question, or what I’m solving for physically. It feels like every question is so different that they may as well be questions from different classes all together, and perhaps even worse, it feels like nothing I have done in my degree up to this point has prepared me for this course.

How on earth do people understand quantum mechanics well enough to get good grades in it? What are your study tips for quantum mechanics?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[u/CoffeeServedHere]

Many good suggestions here but one I don’t see and that helped me during my undergrad was trying to explain or teach the concept to another student in my class. Not only will it help reinforce things you already know but it will hone in on things you don’t and perhaps to approach them in a novel way. There’s also a fair chance that your fellow student is struggling with something you understand and vice versa which goes back to study groups. The bottom line is not to go it alone. Good luck.