Do you think it's possible to self study any subject?

[TheMagician17]

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I'm pretty sure everyone here has had their share of experience in teachers who can't teach and ended up teaching themselves the material to pass the course.

I feel that in my current semester, I've been mainly teaching myself 3/4 of my classes. I'm not trying to blame my absymal grades purely on my professors, but I am definitely struggling to get ample amount out of lecture this semester and just been relying on textbooks and online science websites to pass my exams by a thread.

I've heard of many instances when you have to teach yourself in medical school. Is it however, plausible to be able to learn the materials of ANY course, ANY subject by yourself? I feel that there are some extremely difficult classes in which you NEED guidance to learn, otherwise it'd be practically impossible. I figured if one person can do it, it's possible and wanted to hear people's experiences and their input on it.

 

[Slowpoke]

I often find the explanations in text books, wikipedia, and websites bulging with technical jargon the most difficult to comprehend. They often can take very simple concepts and turn it into the most nightmarish thing you will ever read by decorating it with technical esoteric language. Though it may be succinct for the scientific community, it is a great barrier for those who are just starting to learn the material.

Perhaps you may really benefit from youtube. There are an incredible amount of uploaded podcasts of many different subjects. Of the many videos on youtube, the ones made by Sal has been the most effective in conveying difficult to understand concepts into a more digestable, intuitive and logical form for me.

(damn I'm starting to sound like an advertisement)

check it out. www.khanacademy.org

 

[apumic]

The answer depends on who you're asking.

Can someone pull it off (for literally any subject)? Yes.

Can you? Maybe, but probably not (it's statistically unlikely).

 

[blehm98]

depends on the subject and person
last year i didn't go to my stats, vector analysis, or biology classes because i just didn't get anything or enough out of them. The first and last both put me to sleep instantly, whereas the vector analysis teacher was just awful
it's certainly doable, especially in the first two i did maybe half the hw and did essentially no studying whatsoever, and still managed okay grades
i've found i can do the same thing for most classes, but i know a lot of people just don't get physics or chemistry. The biggest and hardest thing about self-teaching is you have to force yourself to stare at something you don't get until you do get it. If you can't do that then it is not a viable strategy

 

[MB333999]

its more than possible...

I've done it for a bunch of my classes, just go through material and if u run into trouble search the net to help you figure it out.

 

[apumic]

its more than possible...

I've done it for a bunch of my classes, just go through material and if u run into trouble search the net to help you figure it out.

Note the "ANY subject." Do you think you can study and learn fluent Sentinelese on your own (i.e., w/o any assistance)? Or...to go w/ something a bit easier, how about Japanese (assuming you have not previously studied in a formal or informal environment such as by visiting the country)?

While it may be possible to learn many subjects on one's own, I would be hesitant to assume you can learn "any" subject.

 

[Torr]

Is it however, plausible to be able to learn the materials of ANY course, ANY subject by yourself? I feel that there are some extremely difficult classes in which you NEED guidance to learn, otherwise it'd be practically impossible. I figured if one person can do it, it's possible and wanted to hear people's experiences and their input on it.

Definitely a question for a medical student thats been through it. Are you planning on attending a medical school with infamously bad faculty? What exactly are your concerns?

 

[enTropeeeeeeeee]

I'm pretty sure everyone here has had their share of experience in teachers who can't teach and ended up teaching themselves the material to pass the course.

I feel that in my current semester, I've been mainly teaching myself 3/4 of my classes. I'm not trying to blame my absymal grades purely on my professors, but I am definitely struggling to get ample amount out of lecture this semester and just been relying on textbooks and online science websites to pass my exams by a thread.

I've heard of many instances when you have to teach yourself in medical school. Is it however, plausible to be able to learn the materials of ANY course, ANY subject by yourself? I feel that there are some extremely difficult classes in which you NEED guidance to learn, otherwise it'd be practically impossible. I figured if one person can do it, it's possible and wanted to hear people's experiences and their input on it.

Any subject? Probably not. Self-learn to become a doctor? Probably so.

 

[Cleavername]

i cant imagine self learning calc 3, i would bash mah head against a wall.

 

[slammer922]

i cant imagine self learning calc 3, i would bash mah head against a wall.

haha... beat me to it

self learning calculus =

 

[Lil Mick]

I'm not sure about anyone self-studying anything, but it is possible for people to be self-taught in many different areas (done it myself). If the area in which you are struggling happens to be math or physics, there are some wonderful (cheap) books on Amazon that provide very thorough explanations of the discipline (used them to learn math and physics--they cover everything through grad level classes). Also, if you look at more advanced material than your course covers and manage to read through it, you will probably come away with a good grasp of material germane to your class. I haven't had much trouble understanding the material without formal coursework in those areas (didn't take much after stats/calc).

If it's something like foreign language, I've found it helpful to watch favorite movies or TV shows in that language (know the basics ahead of time and absorb how they say it in that language--rutube is good if it's Russian). Going abroad definitely helps with that, though (or finding a few exchange students from that country!).

If it's another subject, I'd recommend going to the department talks. While what you learn there might not help you memorize material (if it's bio, history, ochem...), it will help you to think in the manner in which researchers in that field, such as your professor, tend to think (i.e. what's important, how do you tackle a problem...). It helped me so much when I took organic chemistry 🙂

 

[DoctwoB]

For the first two years of medical school, you can definitely teach yourself. The concepts are relatively simple, its just volume of information and memorizing thats difficult. I'm teaching myself microbiology right now, using a combination of our course syllabus and step1 materials. I only use the syllabus becuase that is what we will be tested on, otherwise there are other much getter resources to use like "clinical microbiology made ridculously simple".

The only thing that you can't really self-teach is anatomy. You can learn everything you want form the book (though most anatomy textbooks suck and atlases are helpful but don't teach you the anatomy, they're just pictures) but to really get a 3d picture and sense of what it takes to get to these structures you need to be in lab.

 

[LEUNIT]

Don't know about mastering the subject, but it's definitely possible to study it.

 

[Perrotfish]

If the subject involves teaching a skill or some other kind of definitive knowledge to a student I think it's almost always possible to self-study. Medicine, engineering, math, cooking, languages, whatever. A good teacher can improve your efficiency but you definitely can do it on your own.

Where you arguably need a teacher is a subject where the goal is to challenge your perceptions and force you to defend your own view points. Subjects where the teacher doesn't necessarily have the answers. Subjects like philosophy, theology, history, etc. I'm not sure you can ever really learn these subjects completely without a teacher.

 

[TheMagician17]

I'm still a freshman undergrad. I was just acknowledging the fact that there will definitely be instances when you're on your own and you have to be able to self-study to survive. I was merely wondering to what extent people have went through to resort to teaching themselves in the case they don't complement well with a professor's "teachings".

The classes I'm teaching myself right now are chemistry, genetics, and calculus. Because math is one of my stronger subjects, I'm having a relatively easy time understanding right from reading the textbook. Chemistry, I've taken AP Chem in high school so have somewhat of a solid foundation to understand concepts thrown at me. I'll struggle occasionally, but with enough effort poring over textbooks and online sources, I manage my way through.

It's genetics that's been killing me. I can't comprehend what the professor's trying to get at during lecture and the textbook he assigned us doesn't exactly follow with what's going on in class or the exams. I guess I'm faring through it on an average level, but definitely not with flying colors.

 

[JESSFALLING]

Here's a great site for those wishing to self-study theoretical physics, written by a Nobel winner. http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/theorist.html

Easy? NO. Possible? That likely depends upon the person...but advanced physics is a hard course of study regardless of instructional method.

 

[BBender716]

Self study? Many call it "M1 + M2".

 

[StudyShy]

I find college mostly self study.

Khan is great. 🙂

 

[ILikeDrugs]

The only classes that I wasn't able to teach myself were Literature classes. Sometimes you just don't know what the hell the person is talking about. Especially some of those British authors from the Victorian and Romantic period. There were some philosophy classes that had me depending on the professor for clarification. Anything else, psychopharmacology, cog. neuro. sci., genetics, etc., I could easily do without the prof. I'm actually the guy that sits in class and never takes a single note. I'll sit there with the text and make "x"s near the stuff that he/she talks about. My text was my teacher 98% of the time. I became a pro at discerning between the decor and meat of the text. I love texts. 😀

 

[ReptarBar]

haha... beat me to it

self learning calculus =

i did, and i got an A+. stewart book is great.

 

[sc4s2cg]

I don't think there was one class during my college career that I did not self-study for. Well, except for my last Nursing class. That was certainly no joke. :|

 

[thedoctor8706]

Self study? Many call it "M1 + M2".

This

 

[sugarcrash56]

It's pretty hard to learn something from a 50 minute lecture. I've never relied on teachers for my grades or to learn the course material, and in university I find going to most classes is useless. High school was different though, my Calculus teacher was AMAZING for example and we had lots of 1-on-1 attention. In university I don't see how the professor helps at all; for me it is the teaching assistants, the internet, and above all, my peers that get me the grades I want.

So, yes, you can self-study anything, but I would take 4 of my smartest friends along for the ride.

 

[apumic]

It's pretty hard to learn something from a 50 minute lecture. I've never relied on teachers for my grades or to learn the course material, and in university I find going to most classes is useless. High school was different though, my Calculus teacher was AMAZING for example and we had lots of 1-on-1 attention. In university I don't see how the professor helps at all; for me it is the teaching assistants, the internet, and above all, my peers that get me the grades I want.

So, yes, you can self-study anything, but I would take 4 of my smartest friends along for the ride.

Your classes sound like they sucked or maybe you just don't learn well in-class. For me, I've found I can easily extract the instructor's points from the lecture and rarely have the slightest need to crack a book open. (I still do, but when I don't get to it, I still tend to maintain top scores on exams, etc.) IMO, the lecture is there for the prof to (usually implicitly) reveal what he/she considers important to know (i.e., let you know what NOT to learn).

 

[sugarcrash56]

Your classes sound like they sucked or maybe you just don't learn well in-class. For me, I've found I can easily extract the instructor's points from the lecture and rarely have the slightest need to crack a book open. (I still do, but when I don't get to it, I still tend to maintain top scores on exams, etc.) IMO, the lecture is there for the prof to (usually implicitly) reveal what he/she considers important to know (i.e., let you know what NOT to learn).

Agreed, and it is for that reason only that I do attend lectures. However, as for mastery/thorough understanding of the course material itself, I find a study group much more effective than a professor.

 

[SeminoleVesicle]

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r0OLoK0NZk&feature=fvst[/YOUTUBE]

 

[fullset]

I taught myself physics 2 for the mcat. Got an 11on it. certainly possible but need a lot of patience.

 

[hope_to_match]

I did not go to a lot of my classes in my fourth and fifth year. I self taught myself for organic 2, physics 1 and 2, statustics and other classes. It IS possible to handle exams and get As without a prof. But you have to be able to commit yourself, read the textbook many many times, and do a lot of problems and examples. Good luck!