Hey, small world! Yep, I'm in that class (unfortunately!) Do you go to lecture or watch the screencasts? In all my pre-vet time at UW, I've only ever found 1 other pre-vet person. Guess we're a rare breed here.
Thanks for all the advice everyone! It's helpful to hear about how people have gotten through biochem successfully. I'm really thankful, you guys are such a good resource! 🙂
I really, really loved O-chem, liked biology, but biochem somehow doesn't float my boat.
We still have 2 tests to go (there are 4 total and we get to drop 1) So I'm going to give it my best shot.
I am also in the UW Biochem 406 class...
😀
lailanni, what I do is this:
--go to every lecture and take notes
---watch every lecture on the screeencast and add to my notes/clarify things I did not hear or heard incorrectly the first time
--make flash cards with prompt questions to quiz myself--there are usually 400 per exam...
😉
--the days before the exam I reorganize my notes on large notecards for quick reference
--The night or two before I read Go Post (if I remember, I do... there are a lot of hints dropped there and in Q & A) and I do the practice exams the night before, without fail
--I also meet with another girl in the class and we go over everything the day before and sometimes earlier in the quarter. We are both pretty studious and detail-oriented, so we are often able to correct one another... if we don't know, we ask at Q & A, consult the book (she more than I on that one, I don't like the book) or ask on GoPost.
For it being only a 3-credit class, one really has to devote a ton of outside time. It's unusual, this course, and definitely at the extreme of the spectrum for the time-management required.
We might be meeting to study next Monday or the following week. If you are interested, let me know. Same goes for the other poster on here in our class. As I said, my partner and I usually review before we get together. Then, when meeting, we walk each other through the slides and listen very intently, make new notes, correct ourselves... it's very helpful. She's very very strong on the o-chem details. I am better, perhaps, at the more 'content' (the lighter stuff) part of the lectures... and hearing the inflection in the professor's voice which signals something very important...
I definitely think you either need to switch study partners or you need to be more assertive and try to turn the study time into more efficient practice. Maybe you could write quizzes for each other to do open note? Maybe you could each 'teach each other' a certain part of the material and then listen very carefully to find holes/mistakes, etc...?<---that is definitely something I would recommend, BTW.
For me, the main point is I need to see the material at least 5 times before I can recall it--write it, hear it, say it and read it. I also find that creating broad outlines help a lot with this class, esp. as the exam draws near and I am trying to figure out what the main points of each lecture were... The outline becomes like a coat rack where you can hang some of the key vocabulary and imagery... I try not to forget to make outlines because I can recreate them in my mind during the exam and help associate names (like enzymes) to a certain part of the course... too many things sound alike, otherwise--one of the pitfalls of the course content... recurring names and themes... with slight twists.
I've also tried turning all my notes into prose. That was helpful, but I got tired of it.
Anyways, as you can see, I spend more time on this class than my other ones. But I do enjoy the material, even if it takes a lot of effort to internalize.
Let me know if you would like to meet or have any other questions about study tips.
