The EPFL propaedeutic year trips up a large share of students — rarely for lack of ability, almost always for lack of method. Here are the concrete tips we wish we'd had before our own first day, by students who passed their first year on the first attempt.
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The outline of our method. The PDF goes further (checklists, planning, method sheets).
At EPFL, the first year is assessed as a "block": grades compensate each other and it's the coefficient-weighted average that decides. Knowing where the big coefficients are changes your whole revision strategy — you stop spreading your energy at random.
Calculus, linear algebra and physics: common to all sections, highest coefficients, and where most failures concentrate. If you must prioritise, start here. Nailing these three already puts you on safe ground.
The volume arrives fast and never stops. One week behind in calculus becomes a month lost before exams. The rule: stay up to date week after week, even if it means being less than perfect on one chapter.
In high school, cramming the night before could work. At EPFL, they test your understanding and your ability to apply it to problems you've never seen. Work on the reasoning, not recipes.
Exams look like the exercise sets. Doing them once isn't enough: redo them until the method becomes a reflex. It's the most profitable work of your whole first year.
Explaining something to someone instantly reveals what you haven't understood. A good study group speeds everyone up — as long as it stays focused and doesn't turn into a coffee break.
Teaching assistants, exercise sessions, lecture notes, past exams: it's all there, and few students really use it. Past exams in particular are the best way to know what's expected of you.
Working 14 hours one day then nothing for three doesn't work. A steady, sustainable pace beats chaotic intensity. Plan your weeks, protect a real break, and go the distance to exams.
Your memory and focus depend directly on your sleep. Sacrificing nights during exams is counterproductive. Sport, friends and rest aren't wasted time — they're part of performing.
Day one shouldn't be a discovery. Seeing the first concepts before August, learning the methods and understanding the expected pace gives you a decisive head start. That's exactly what our preparation course is for.
Want the complete version — with checklists, a sample plan and method sheets?
Get the free PDF guideYes. The EPFL propaedeutic year is known to be demanding: a large share of students don't pass it on the first attempt. The difficulty comes less from the level than from the pace, the volume and the rigour expected — very different from high school.
Get ahead on the three highest-coefficient subjects (calculus, linear algebra, physics), work on your university study method and get used to the pace. An intensive preparation course before August is the most effective way not to be caught off guard. Discover our course.
Calculus, linear algebra and physics: common to all sections, highest coefficients, and where most failures concentrate.
It isn't mandatory, but targeted preparation before the year starts clearly improves your chances: you arrive with the basics, the right methods and a head start on the first-semester syllabus.
Download the free guide, or get a real head start with the course.
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