How did you excel in the sciences?

[thirk_dds]

Hello everyone. Im getting ready to start retaking my prerequisites for dental school from the start, (after 5 years and making it to bio2 and chem2). Ill make this short and to the point:

I have to work since I live on my own with my fiance and have to work at least 30 hours a week to pay my rent and utilities. I plan on shifting my work schedule to Thurs-Sundays and taking two prereqs/semester during this time.

Will this be too much to handle?

What is a good way to excel in the sciences?
(Personal plan: go to class, study a couple hours a day per class, and stay on top of the course and hw. Is this what you did as well to succeed?

Im looking to ace as many courses as possible since I did horrible my last go-around 5 years ago. I honestly never studied and want to turn my life around. Thanks for reading..

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[Rand627]

I worked 16 or so hours every semester with 14-16 credit hours, which is pretty similar to a 30 hour a week with 6-8 credit hours you're looking at. Definitely doable, and you can expect to be much more busy when you actually get to dental school!

And the best way to succeed is to learn how you learn. If you can figure out how to study that suits your brain well, you'll be set!

 

[super frank]

Towards the end of my undergrad I was taking 4 upper-level sciences per semester while researching 15-20 hours/week and receiving 4.0's. Just be aware of when your exams are and make sure you stay on top of all your work. Find a study method that works for you and master it.

How I studied: go to class with Powerpoints (if prof. gives it out) and record the lecture (unless the prof. records it). Annotate the notes during lecture and pay attention. When an exam would roll up I would then go through all the Powerpoints with my recordings on 2x while annotating them further. Sometimes I would allot three days before the exam (two days of going through recordings again and then one day to review) or more depending on the complexity and amount of material. The most important thing is to pay attention during lecture.

 

[Likkriue]

You need to enjoy it. I know this is cliche, but I excelled in My science courses because they interested me and I loved them. You memorize stuff you WANT to memorize easier.

 

[thirk_dds]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I really do appreciate it. I guess when it comes down to it, you really just have to put the time into it from the start. Back then, I was younger and not that serious. Even though I volunteered and shadowed like crazy, I would try to cram everything the day before like most of the other kids because i felt like I had so much time (procrastination) and it ended up feeling like those classes were rocket science. I used to look at the kids who excelled as geniuses and couldn't wrap my mind around how they did so well.

But when it comes down to it, i guess if you keep up with the class from day one and really put solid work into understanding the material a bit each day as you go and not the day before the exam, you have a better chance at excelling and overall comprehension. Then it wouldn't be that hard after all because come the week before exams, you would just have to go over what you already learned and focus on problems/questions, rather than trying to learn something new by mnemonics or heavy memorization. I've been looking over my Chemistry book lately on my own for about 10 chapters, (took the whole summer to read and take notes) and I feel like I understand the concepts alot better just by reading/taking notes and doing the in-chapter and end-o-chapter problems. This in conjuction with seeking help through office hours, when needed, seems like I would perform better in my courses.

 

[confidentandgood]

I started college with nothing but honors-level chemistry and biology under my belt (originally wanted to pursue journalism). So it was not prior experience that led me to excel in the sciences, but an open-mindedness towards the subjects.

@Likkriue is right. If you view the subject as a bore or a burden, it's much harder to push yourself.

Other strategies that helped me out:
- Studying with a partner (key to success in all chemistry classes)
- Learning the material over the course of the semester to make studying for exams a less stressful task
- Writing notes and review sheets by hand (helped me retain information better, especially in biology)

 

[thirk_dds]

My only other question is do you any of you break the readings from the textbook down in some way that allows you to keep up with the class? I know some of the readings are kind of long and most teachers try to cover a chapter/week. I would like to somehow have time to practice the questions without taking forever to read for two classes (chem+bio)