How much do you guys study for school?

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AestheticGod

AestheticGod

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  1. Pre-Medical
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I hear of my friends studying for 3-4 hours EVERY day. I tried doing this, and failed miserably at it. Maybe that's the reason I'm making B's and not straight A's 🙁

Curse you procrastination
 
AestheticGod said:
I hear of my friends studying for 3-4 hours EVERY day. I tried doing this, and failed miserably at it. Maybe that's the reason I'm making B's and not straight A's 🙁

Curse you procrastination
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Honestly, I only study a couple of days before exams or before doing homework. And now, I barely even study... Not a good model here...🙄
 
lxz said:
Honestly, I only study a couple of days before exams or before doing homework. And now, I barely even study... Not a good model here...🙄
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This is how I did it in undergrad, no problems. It wasn't quite as easy when I got to med school. I was forced to adjust, and it wasn't an easy transition. There is simply no way around it. You don't have to go to class, but you have to put in some time.

Do yourself a favor and try to develop good study habits now. Getting the A's would just be a bonus in my mind... =P
 
I stole this from my pre-health advisor, but I'm an "accomplished procrastinator." I function well on little sleep (oh hey look, it's 4am and I have to be up at 7:30!) and I usually wait until 3-ish days before an exam to start studying. If I try to study earlier than that, I'm not focused at all and I actually waste time. I have never been able to do the "study a little bit every day" thing, although I think I'll have to move in that direction for medical school.

Since you're a procrastinator too, it may be the way you're studying, not how early you start studying. Try re-writing your notes, recording lectures and listening to them again, and making flash cards.
 
I just study when I need to 🙂 Some days I don't study at all somedays I do it for hours 🙁
 
I like to think you can never over study.... I make sure that I read and know the material that was taught in class before the next class.
And the amount of time studying varies per person and varies per subject.
 
Study smarter not longer!
Actually about 3-4 hours is average for pre-med but for 3-4 days a week.
If it's finals week (going on right now) however it's like study every day for 7-8 hours (more if you are taking a busload of credits).
 
lxz said:
Honestly, I only study a couple of days before exams or before doing homework. And now, I barely even study... Not a good model here...🙄
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Yet you pull off a 4.0 with Ivy league interviews.
:diebanana:
 
i study probably 6-7 hours a day

but im pretty ocd so
 
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Many people told me this before getting to medical school: if you learn to study "well" during undergrad than doing it for medical school will be easier. I have found this true.

A few of us were smart enough to not study almost at all in undergrad until a week or two before the exam and then just cram like crazy. While this works, and you can get a 4.0 doing it, your life will go SO much easier if you just learn to space it out. For one, you'll remember stuff longer. For another, you won't have to pull of 8-10 hours cram sessions to do well.

When you get to medical school cramming will not be an option. Or, for most of us it isn't. Just learn to pace your self now and it will help later. Get rid of your distractions for a solid 2-4 hours and then allow yourself them after you're done.
 
I study for several hours (3-4) every day, however my studying is really relaxed...I take my time to really understand something because I'm pretty bad at storing copious amounts of info a couple days before the test. Kinda sucks that I figured this out now and not like during my freshman year >_>
 
typicalindian said:
I study for several hours (3-4) every day, however my studying is really relaxed...I take my time to really understand something because I'm pretty bad at storing copious amounts of info a couple days before the test. Kinda sucks that I figured this out now and not like during my freshman year >_>
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this. i had to wade through a lot of B's and C's to finally discover this
 
typicalindian said:
I study for several hours (3-4) every day, however my studying is really relaxed...I take my time to really understand something because I'm pretty bad at storing copious amounts of info a couple days before the test. Kinda sucks that I figured this out now and not like during my freshman year >_>
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+1

Does anyone have to time themselves while reading, otherwise you'll keep getting distracted and end up spending 2 hours on like 3 paragraphs? 🙁. I seem to have this problem and I don't know how to stop my mind from wandering.
 
American Shero said:
+1

Does anyone have to time themselves while reading, otherwise you'll keep getting distracted and end up spending 2 hours on like 3 paragraphs? 🙁. I seem to have this problem and I don't know how to stop my mind from wandering.
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lol QFT

whenever i feel myself wandering or being distracted i stop and talk to myself. i set 30 minute intervals of reading with 10 minute breaks. matter of fact, im in one of those breaks right now.
 
TheWhiteFlame said:
lol QFT

whenever i feel myself wandering or being distracted i stop and talk to myself. i set 30 minute intervals of reading with 10 minute breaks. matter of fact, im in one of those breaks right now.
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Haha... I suppose I can give it a try. I hope no one in the library thinks I'm crazy. 😛 And I do forget to give myself a break every now and then. I have to work on that instead of trying to tough it out for 12 hours straight. Thanks
 
Is reading the text considered studying? I study a couple days before the exams, but I keep up with the reading (reading the text before lecture). If i do this, studying is pretty much just review.
 
Here's how I used to study throughout undergrad.

Freshman year... I skipped some class here and there, stayed up late a lot. I lived in residence so I had lots of distractions etc. I'd wake up at noon or 1pm, make my way over to the caf, eat, then go back to my room or attend an afternoon class depending on the day. Come back, take a 2 hour nap until 5 or 6. Eat dinner, then I would do some work between 7pm - 10 pm and that was that. I managed a 4.0 this year... why? Because most of it was review from high school.

Junior year... I skipped an entire 2 months of physiology and histology (self taught from the textbook, since I couldn't understand the profs at all). I studied/made notes before/after class this year for about 2 hours a night during the semester. I spent more time preparing for the lecture etc.

I remember my junior year final schedule for December cuz it was brutal...
Dec 12th 7pm - Histology Practical
Dec. 13th 9am - Physiology
Dec 15th 7pm - Histology
Dec 16th 2pm - Philosophy Final
Dec 17th - 7pm - Molecular and Cell Physiology Final
December 19th - Immunology Final

In the 12-14 days preceding this schedule... I would wake up at 7am, eat breakfast, and hit the library for 8am. I would study like a boss until lunch at like 12ish... eat for a half hour and hit the books hard until 5pm. Then I would go to the gym for an hour. Then I would go home, shower, eat dinner etc. Watch a few episodes of the TV show I was currently on, and then hit the sheets by 11pm. (This sounds like no fun, but I actually got a lot done, the results were amazing and I highly recommend you include the gym in your studying routine). I got a 4.0 this year and I was a lot happier for sure.

For some reason, I always do better on final exams... During midterms I guess there's always 30,000 things going on. Whilst, during finals there's NOTHING going on except finals mode.
 
CodeBlu said:
For some reason, I always do better on final exams... During midterms I guess there's always 30,000 things going on. Whilst, during finals there's NOTHING going on except finals mode.
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That is starting to seem pretty true as I enter finals week (next week) as a freshman.

And also, I could never hope to maintain a 4.0 with the kind of schedule you had a freshman. No fair. 🙁
 
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isupsych253 said:
Is reading the text considered studying? I study a couple days before the exams, but I keep up with the reading (reading the text before lecture). If i do this, studying is pretty much just review.
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I would consider it studying, especially if u read the chapter more than once throughout the week.
 
American Shero said:
I would consider it studying, especially if u read the chapter more than once throughout the week.
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I never read textbooks if I can avoid it. Most of my science class midterms/finals could be studied for directly from powerpoint slides, lecture notes provided by the instructor, and past versions of the exam.

I feel pretty lucky to have gone to a school where this was the norm (not sure how it is most everywhere else). Freshman year it didn't really make a difference though, since I never went to class and didn't study (finished the year with a 2.6 as testament 😳).

During sophomore year I started studying about 2-3 days beforehand for o.chem and biochem exams, putting in a total of about 12 hours per exam on average. Second semester sophomore year I slacked off again (too much Starcraft I think), resulting in a 3.6 for the year (still well below that cumulatively).

By junior and especially senior years I upped my efficiency a lot and was studying about 4-5 hours the night before exams for neuro, pharm, ecology, zoology, cell bio, physics, etc. I ended up with a 3.95 average for my junior and senior years (only wish I could take that as my cumulative 🙁)

The point is you can learn to study efficiently. The key is repetition.

Whenever I studied from powerpoint slides, for example, I'd always power through the entire set of lecture slides for a midterm once. Then I'd power through all the lecture notes. For 150-200 lecture slides and 8-10 sets of lecture notes, this would take about 2 hours. Then I'd take a 10 minute break and do it all over again. The second time through usually took me about 1 hour. The third time through, about 30 minutes. By this point I was usually saturated and could mentally "see" every slide and 80-90% of the lecture notes. Finally, if there were past versions of the exam, I'd go ahead and test myself really quickly (~30-45 minutes). If there was anything I missed, I'd go back and check it (~10 minutes).

In summary...

2 hours - 1st time through the material
10 min break
1 hour - 2nd time through the material
10 min break
30 minutes - 3rd time through the material
30-45 minutes - self-test
10 minutes - double check
-----
total: 4.5-4.75 hours



I did well on the MCAT but feel like I could've done better if I'd started studying further in advance (the ONE test you don't want to procrastinate studying for 👍).
 
I pay very close attention while in class and make sure that I take down plenty of notes (i.e. if there is material not already on powerpoints, etc).

I study best under pressure. I simply don't remember anything I study more than 3 days before an exam. I probably would remember stuff better if I did study early and study it again before the exam, but for now, I'm doing just fine.

I guess it's quality and not quantity for me.
 
some classes its pointless to take notes in


like organic
 
For finals I'd average about 6-7 hours a day in my 16 cred schedule.
 
1-2 hours a day; 2-3 for finals. Haven't had any problems yet

EDIT: first month of classes, I normally study really hard, afterwards the rest of the semester is a lot easier (and I usually already know the material pretty well for finals).
 
^ how much credits do you take?
The amount of studying does have an impact on how much hours you study.
Of course quality over quantity.
 
The only class I did not really procrastinate in during undergraduate was orgo... I think it was because I heard so many horror stories about orgo, that I KNEW I couldn't procrastinate, so I didn't. And orgo was actually somewhat simple for me because I would study notes after every lecture and did intense studying about 2 weeks before the test. I ended up getting an A in orgo without the help a curve and actually still remember a lot of stuff from orgo... I wish I would have studied this way for all my classes, but I didn't really need to, so I didn't and don't really remember crap from all my other classes.
Going into medical school and hearing from EVERYONE that you have to study pretty much everyday, I think I'll probably study every day for at least 3 hours because I know I have to. I just hope I can get into that habit easily.
 
When I began college I was under the impression that the only way to be successful was to study pretty much all day. With that idea in mind I would spend hours upon hours in the library during freshman year. Looking back I think it was actually detrimental to my grades because I would burn out early on in the quarter and lose all motivation.

As I progressed through college I realized how to study more efficiently. Rather than studying for several hours every single day I would review class notes for about 2 hours and then do everything else I wanted to do like work out, hang out with friends, party. If I had a midterm coming up then I would go into overdrive mode because the stress of the upcoming test would allow me to study for several hours on end. I think I was also able to study for such long periods of time because I knew in the back of my head that I had plenty of time to have fun and now it's time to be serious.

During junior and senior year my friends couldn't understand how I was able to maintain my grades while managing to have all the free time I had. I imagine things will be completely different in medical school as I will probably be studying for several hours a day way before any upcoming tests.

I think a really important piece of advice I could give people about studying is the importance of maintaining an exercise schedule amidst all your studying. If I hadn't gone running everyday I know I wouldn't have been able to concentrate as well! It's one of the best stress relievers I've found.
 
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Wow, I feel terrible compared to you guys. I study the night before the exams. Senior here, been working so far, although for some reason I retain a lot of information from lecture, but I never really thought I was an auditory learner.

Usually it will be 8-10 hours for an exam the previous day, but I don't include homework as studying.
 
xBODOMx said:
Wow, I feel terrible compared to you guys. I study the night before the exams. Senior here, been working so far, although for some reason I retain a lot of information from lecture, but I never really thought I was an auditory learner.

Usually it will be 8-10 hours for an exam the previous day, but I don't include homework as studying.
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So then include homework in studying and let us know how much you actually study.
 
I would say I start a couple of days before an exam, not more than a few hours per day. If it's a quiz, I'll generally study for it the night before, then casually review during the day until the quiz.

Casually review =
stock-photo-businessman-in-suit-and-tie-in-a-swimming-pool-with-laptop-and-a-beer-in-one-hand-floating-in-an-2821684.jpg
 
I'm in an SMP now because I didn't do well enough as an undergrad. I got mostly B's and didn't study every day.
So now, I am studying at LEAST 6 hours a day, we all are and as someone who only studies 6 hours a day I feel like the slacker in our program, and that's just to float by.
I know right now you think studying 3 hours a day is bad, but its nothing. What else are you doing, sitting online, watching tv? All the hulu and Yahoo news I read was not worth this!!!
I wish I realized in Undergrad what a small deal 2-3hours of studying was. Now I'm spending tens of thousands of dollars on a last chance that is so much harder than just 2 hours a day I could have put into undergrad and gotten in on my first try.
You don't want to be in our shoes, remember your priorities. Break that study time up into two segments, eat candy while you do it. If you're gonna make it you're going to have to get used to it sooner or later. Don't have it be later.
 
Frazier said:
Depends on the course...

For the O-Chem sequence, I used to study everyday of the week [to some degree], all semester.

For biochem, it is more like nothing at all until 5-6 days before an exam.
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Wow is biochem THAT much easier than Orgo?
 
CodeBlu said:
I thought Orgo I was cake... Orgo II not so much...

Biochem was somewhere in between Orgo I and Orgo II.
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Cake as in you studied copiously and got an A no problem or that you studied a regular amount like your other classes and still aced it?
 
Frazier said:
I find biochem to rely on [almost] pure memorization/regurgitation of facts with a couple plug-and-chug calculation problems -- at least it is at my school. The volume is heavy, but not terrible if rationed out (i.e. not the night before an exam).

O-Chem exams were essentially all application -- thus you have to go deeper than merely "Oh, this means this. The End." to instead "This means this when that happens but not when this occurs over there. Unless, this other thing is going on over here. OOPS, look at those environmental conditions, scratch what I thought before, instead this other thing is going down instead."

EDIT: let me clarify, this is your basic upper level biochem I'm talking about. The advanced-level "for biochem majors" biochem could be a whole different bag of tricks.
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There is only one biochem offered in my university. People I've talked to say that Orgo was far more worse than any class, and my prof said that the average grades on tests for every Orgo class was around a 53% Also the +/- is curved to a 90-100% is a reg A and so forth.
For Biochem there's no curve but I see the students taking it in the library for like 6 hours a day reading and memorizing busloads of info, like they had huge packets along with the book.
 
I studied about a day or two before an exam. This was partly due to having two exams a week though. The thing is, like other people have said, it's really how you study and not how much time you spend. I know people who tell me they have spent hours studying but are the type who are easily distracted (oh hi facebook). If you are like that, study in the library or some place away from your computer. I was able to massively cut down on study time by studying with friends and reviewing the material with them. This requires finding the right people to study with also. And paying attention in class definitely helps. Find what works for you. 🙂
 
I study all the time except when exam is imminent, say day before the exams. On that day I will just try to recollect, without an aid of books and notes, all the things needed for the exam. My father told me that you should just relax completely just before the exams. That has stuck with me.

When I say study it is not necessarily studying the official course material. Actually more than half the time I will be studying things way off; whatever interests me. I have rarely studied to get better grades; may be total of four to five years in my life. Even then if I don't like the subject I didn't care whether I got an A or C. My method of study was essentially to solve problems and rediscover lot of things without reading too deeply but try to solve unsolved problems.

May be focusing on just school material may have brought better dividend in terms of grades, but I wouldn't have been happier restraining my curiosity; no regrets what so ever. Well I don't think I have done badly, since I attended one of the top five institutes, as they were ranked, for undergraduate as well as graduate studies.

I can't really reccommend my way to any one. It's a way outlier.
 
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I have finals on Tuesday and Wednesday but it's gonna be hard not to watch these football games today 🙁... Oh well, gotta make sacrifices.

@TheWhiteFlame Go Dawgs.
 
I think a lot of these sorts of threads won't be as useful as people think because there are such wide differences between classes and between schools.

It might be that a physics major at my University has to study 3 hours a day to maintain a 3.5 whereas if I was a biology major at my sister's University I might have to study 4 hours a day to maintain a 3.5.
 
Omppu27 said:
I have finals on Tuesday and Wednesday but it's gonna be hard not to watch these football games today 🙁... Oh well, gotta make sacrifices.

@TheWhiteFlame Go Dawgs.
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lol.


geaux tigers defense. they give me chills.
 
At my school Biochem was very different from Organic. Organic had a much larger puzzle/problem solving component while Biochem was much more either you knew the answer to this minute detail or you don't. It was a lot of minute details though...

Our teacher specifically told us he was trying to trip us up just like the MCAT would, knowing that nearly all of us were pre-med. I honestly think it helped me big time.
 
TheWhiteFlame said:
lol QFT

whenever i feel myself wandering or being distracted i stop and talk to myself. i set 30 minute intervals of reading with 10 minute breaks. matter of fact, im in one of those breaks right now.
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I 😍 this tip. Instead of spending 2 hours on three paragraphs, I'm flying through PAGES in 10 minute intervals. I set a reasonable amount that I want to read in those 10 mins and I "get 'er doneeee". I had to break it up into three-10 minute intervals though. I quickly realized that 30 minutes was a little too long for me, so I had to put more pressure on myself in order to not wander off. 👍 Just wanted to say thanks again... My break is almost up. 😛
 
lxz said:
Honestly, I only study a couple of days before exams or before doing homework. And now, I barely even study... Not a good model here...🙄
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This is what I do. I'll agree that it's an absolutely habit, but hey, it works well enough.
 
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