Good Grades, HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET THEM?

[Bluesanzen]

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So Im writing this post to help all other students who are struggling academically. This is not a post for a person to brag about their GPA and how little work they have to put in to achieve it. Dont BS with us saying that you only study for 20 mins before a test and get a A. ROLL EYES* But this is a serious post on how to get good grades using these studying tips. So far, I have asked around well achieved students what their tips are and here it goes:

These are tips from students who never has gotten anything lower than a 3.6..so here it goes:

1) They read the assigned pages, and look back and fourth to try to understand it

2) When they read, they take down notes, or at the end of the chapter they summarize whats the most important details.

3) After every lecture, they type out what they remembered, and write anything else they forgot. When its time for a test, they look back on these notes

4) Some students record the lectures and listen to the lectures over and over again...

5) Get tons of sleep before the test. Relax, and play some games. Then go back to studying.

6) During a test, slow down, and relax.


So there you go..there are some tips...what else do you well achieved students have?


Tips on how to take tests would be awesome great too. Im a bad test taker. I can remember all the material, but during a test I freeze up, and I dont know what 12 x 12 is. Simple as that. SO HELP US ALL! 🙁

 

[Waitlisted2009]

Read, Read, Read,

If it is a problems class to tons of problems.
If they tell you they studied for 20 mins there are two things.

1. They really did study for 20 minutes because they have seen the material in many many other classes, this happens alllllll the time

2. They lied to look cool.

 

[cybermech]

To be honest, study skills are something that takes years and years to learn, and really, it's one of those things that you have to figure out on your own. For example, for some, repeatedly going over the recorded material is useless. For others, it's the only way they can retain information.

Some people study better at night. Other study better in the morning. Some people learn by rewriting notes. Other learn by working through problems.

You need to figure out how you learn best. This is achieved by working through the school system and experimenting until you find the best way to study.

To be honest, studying 20 minutes before a test works for some people because they have a short-term photographic memory... I've seen this happen before.

I say again, do what's best for you, and not what's best for someone else.

I would say that the best advice would be to find someone who learns like you do, and ask them what they do to study.

 

[JamesOSU]

Take ridilin the night before the test and don't go to sleep.

problem. solved.

 

[mamelons]

Take ridilin the night before the test and don't go to sleep.

problem. solved.

When I was in undergrad I re-wrote my notes after class and I made flashcards for certain classes. I still do this in dental school for some classes, but not like I did in undergrad... there just isn't enough time to do this for every class.

 

[PDizzle]

After studying a subject for a while either actually teach the material to someone else in a study group, or in your mind pretend to lecture about it. Even go as far as pretend "students in your class" have questions, then you answer them by explaining the details of the material. If you can't explain the answer well, then you detected a weakness in your understanding. Go back and clear that up.

I know it sounds a little schizo, but if you can teach a subject, you will ace the test.

 

[dwd09]

As a sidenote, don't beat yourself up if you're pulling low 3.somethings at a prestigious school, but feel as though you are still busting ass. Trust me, when it comes to admissions, a 3.3 at, say, one of the UCs will be worth more than a 3.6 at a random ass liberal arts school that no one's ever heard of.

 

[eldirty]

Take ridilin the night before the test and don't go to sleep.

problem. solved.

As I remember it this thread got pretty intense:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=339914&highlight=adderall

 

[War Eagle]

Take a lot of breaks. Every 20-30 minutes I stand up and take a break. It seems to help.

 

[Frederico Albin]

I have a different approach.

I find that the best way of passing a class is to understand your teacher!
Some teachers will straight up tell you whats going to be on the tests/quizzes, while others don't but follow the same test format/patterns throughout the semester. After taking the first test, you should be able to recognize what kind of teacher you have. For example, in my BIO 2 class, my teacher would heavily rely on labeling pictures/definitions questions instead of those teachers whos tests are all multiple choice questions. I got a D on my first test, but in the second test, I got a 100%!!! because I studied all of the "pictures/charts" that he handed to us and the pictures in the chapters of the book! This is not a easy class... and I have to read and re-read the material over and over but focusing more on the pictures and charts because I already know that it will be on the test!

Another tip, many students don't take as much time to study for a test because they have a friend who already took the class and have copies of the tests/quizzes, which makes it extremely easier to obtain good grades. (Im so lucky lol)

Hope that helps

 

[hellonurse]

Go above and beyond for everything you do. Read your entire organic chemistry book. If you are not naturally as smart as some, then admit it to yourself and work twice as hard. I do not feel like I am brilliant, so I put in twice as much work for the same A.

 

[hellonurse]

As a sidenote, don't beat yourself up if you're pulling low 3.somethings at a prestigious school, but feel as though you are still busting ass. Trust me, when it comes to admissions, a 3.3 at, say, one of the UCs will be worth more than a 3.6 at a random ass liberal arts school that no one's ever heard of.

Although you are making a valid point, you seem angry about it. I know UCSD is pretty intense b/c I have friends that go there. But all in all, UC's can't be impossible, tons of people have awesome GPAs there.

 

[hellonurse]

To be honest, study skills are something that takes years and years to learn, and really, it's one of those things that you have to figure out on your own. For example, for some, repeatedly going over the recorded material is useless. For others, it's the only way they can retain information.

I don't think it takes years and years to learn. I did not study at all in high school and had a 3.3. I studied hard in college and have closer to a 4.0...so it's not something that took years, maybe like one bad exam?

 

[DrReo]

As a sidenote, don't beat yourself up if you're pulling low 3.somethings at a prestigious school, but feel as though you are still busting ass. Trust me, when it comes to admissions, a 3.3 at, say, one of the UCs will be worth more than a 3.6 at a random ass liberal arts school that no one's ever heard of.

If only the admissions comittee thought that way. Five dollars is five dollars, regardless where you got it from, right?

A 3.6 is a 3.6.

 

[PandaXpress]

OKay here is the secret:

1. TIME MANAGEMENT! Learn how to manage your time right. If you want to wait till the last second, you have to learn how to study right at that moment. You can absorb massive amount of information if you could only put your mind into it. After class sit down and study what you learned. Make sure to take good notes so you would have less to write. Just review the previous material that you studied and learn the new stuff pretty well by just going over it during the week. By the time the test rolls around, you already have a good grasp of he material and you just have to review it 2-3 more times.

2. If that doesnt work, just do what I do. On the day before, just wake up and memorize. If you are good at relating concepts you will be able to understand the material and memorize everything for the test. Study from 8a.m. until 10 p.m. Get some good sleep! Then go to your test (only do this is you are good at memorizing and grasp concepts relatively fast). Redbull helps too!

 

[Sephisabin]

If only the admissions comittee thought that way. Five dollars is five dollars, regardless where you got it from, right?

A 3.6 is a 3.6.

The admissions committees do think that way. Grade inflation and grade deflation are very common practices and dental schools are wise to it. Call up a couple of adcoms and ask if they look at which school you went to for undergrad. Most will tell you that it does factor into the equation.

 

[enfuego]

1) Active studying. Every psych professor I've ever had said that the more senses you use when studying, the more you'll remember. Examples:
- write/type notes
- explain concepts outloud in a teaching style

2) Study a little bit every day. This is something I'm still struggling with. I work best when under pressure - when there's less than a week before the test. I can concentrate and focus and not even think about other things because of the stress. If it's more than a week before a test, I can't get anything done at all no matter how hard I try. I'll always get distracted or bored. And of course, 2 days before the test I start kicking myself because I have assloads to do and not enough time, and I always say "I should do a little studying every day, damnit!" So if you have more self-discipline than me, review a little bit every day. Start making flash cards or chapter outlines after every lecture so you don't waste time doing all that just before the test.

The admissions committees do think that way. Grade inflation and grade deflation are very common practices and dental schools are wise to it. Call up a couple of adcoms and ask if they look at which school you went to for undergrad. Most will tell you that it does factor into the equation.

I've heard this too. Our school brought in a dental school professor to talk to us, and he also works on the admissions committee. He said his school does rank school programs based on difficulty and they take that into account.

 

[JamesOSU]

I heard that the way memory works, if you're say chewing peppermint gum while you study o-chem, you'll remember it better (on test day or w/e) while chewing peppermint gum because the memories can be linked to the peppermint flavor... so there's an idea for you.

Get 5 flavors of mints for your 5 subjects ;-)

 

[dwd09]

Although you are making a valid point, you seem angry about it. I know UCSD is pretty intense b/c I have friends that go there. But all in all, UC's can't be impossible, tons of people have awesome GPAs there.

Oh not at all. I attend a random ass liberal arts school. I'm trying to be as objective as possible. Actually, one of main reasons I'm doing a two year master's program is to "wipe the slate clean" in terms of establishing a good school reputation.

 

[Hysteria24]

After studying a subject for a while either actually teach the material to someone else in a study group, or in your mind pretend to lecture about it. Even go as far as pretend "students in your class" have questions, then you answer them by explaining the details of the material. If you can't explain the answer well, then you detected a weakness in your understanding. Go back and clear that up.

1) Active studying. Every psych professor I've ever had said that the more senses you use when studying, the more you'll remember. Examples:
- write/type notes
- explain concepts outloud in a teaching style

Bingo! I don't care if you read your text book 37 times in a row. Nowhere during that process are you able to identify what you know/don't really know because it is all there in front of you the entire time. Take a section/individual theory/reaction, what ever it may be, and walk through it out loud or on paper. You will soon reach a point where you will get stumped and have to re-reference the book. This is generally the exact point where you would have normally been stumped on your short answer question during the test.

Once you get through it, you then know you know it!

 

[hellonurse]

Oh not at all. I attend a random ass liberal arts school. I'm trying to be as objective as possible. Actually, one of main reasons I'm doing a two year master's program is to "wipe the slate clean" in terms of establishing a good school reputation.

Haha I had you all wrong. 🙂 Best of luck.

 

[NyCzPeter]

You don't need to study if you know how to kiss ass. I kissed the hell out my professors' asses and it really paid off.

 

[cl24uw06]

If only the admissions comittee thought that way. Five dollars is five dollars, regardless where you got it from, right?

A 3.6 is a 3.6.

I can remember where I got this, but it is a list of all colleges and their rankings so that dental admissions committees can weight GPAs accordingly. A rank of 1 is highest. So to answer your question, yes admissions committees do think this way.

 

[Northside]

I can remember where I got this, but it is a list of all colleges and their rankings so that dental admissions committees can weight GPAs accordingly. A rank of 1 is highest. So to answer your question, yes admissions committees do think this way.

What does a rank of 0 mean?

 

[cl24uw06]

What does a rank of 0 mean?

I am pretty sure it is equal to or lower than a 5. Basically unranked schools.

 

[DrReo]

I can remember where I got this, but it is a list of all colleges and their rankings so that dental admissions committees can weight GPAs accordingly. A rank of 1 is highest. So to answer your question, yes admissions committees do think this way.

Is it ranking costs?

 

[iJackTeeth]

After studying a subject for a while either actually teach the material to someone else in a study group, or in your mind pretend to lecture about it. Even go as far as pretend "students in your class" have questions, then you answer them by explaining the details of the material. If you can't explain the answer well, then you detected a weakness in your understanding. Go back and clear that up.

I know it sounds a little schizo, but if you can teach a subject, you will ace the test.

what if your afraid of public speaking?

 

[eternalxdemon]

what if your afraid of public speaking?

Nobody said u had to do it in front of fellow classmates.... u can talk to a mirror!!!! or i heard some ppl talk to babies (if somehow they have a young one at home and are feeding them breakfast)

 

[sddat]

I am pretty sure it is equal to or lower than a 5. Basically unranked schools.

Yeah if you notice, a lot of community colleges are 0. Is a 4 okay?

 

[Northside]

Yeah if you notice, a lot of community colleges are 0. Is a 4 okay?

So are UofToronto, UofBritishColumbia and McGill University 🙄

 

[Waitlisted2009]

A ton of schools are at 0, Minnesota, Michigan to name a few of the larger ones....

 

[enfuego]

The adcom I spoke too said they used one of the Barron's college books to rank schools. Worth heading over to Barnes and Noble to check it out.

 

[iJackTeeth]

Nobody said u had to do it in front of fellow classmates.... u can talk to a mirror!!!! or i heard some ppl talk to babies (if somehow they have a young one at home and are feeding them breakfast)

look behind you, something just flew over your head

 

[sddat]

The adcom I spoke too said they used one of the Barron's college books to rank schools. Worth heading over to Barnes and Noble to check it out.

At this point, who cares? You are already in your degree program. unless you are planning on packing your bags by next semester, does it really matter? I don't understand that pdf file list though. How is UF undergrad a 2 and UCSD, UCLA rank lower?

 

[malpractician]

Cal Newport wrote two books on college, more importantly, how to really do well and live well at the same time.

I've read both How to Win at College and How to become a Straight A student. In HTWAC, he interviewed tons of students at various ivy and private schools, and if they seemed to only do well based on a "grind" study style, he threw out their input. He only kept the people's habits who maintained top GPAs and also did things like ran clubs, were Rhodes scholars, ran businesses etc at the same time.

I followed his advice about not doing all of my reading (or more specifically, prioritizing reading and going from there), and I got an A in the class. I didn't read everything assigned either.

To anyone with doubts about their study habits, i highly recommend both of his books, I did a 180 after reading them.

 

[ralex333]

At this point, who cares? You are already in your degree program. unless you are planning on packing your bags by next semester, does it really matter? I don't understand that pdf file list though. How is UF undergrad a 2 and UCSD, UCLA rank lower?

Exactly. I was asking myself the same question.

 

[enfuego]

At this point, who cares? You are already in your degree program. unless you are planning on packing your bags by next semester, does it really matter? I don't understand that pdf file list though. How is UF undergrad a 2 and UCSD, UCLA rank lower?

I think it'd just be interesting to look at. But Barnes and Noble is just down the block from me, so it's not out of my way 😉

I agree, though. Scrolling through that list, it doesn't seem really accurate.

 

[khmaiDDS]

At this point, who cares? You are already in your degree program. unless you are planning on packing your bags by next semester, does it really matter? I don't understand that pdf file list though. How is UF undergrad a 2 and UCSD, UCLA rank lower?

This list is BS! For sure UCLA and UC Berkley should be ranked #1 because I have friends who told me that its almost impossible to get an A!

 

[y0ssarian]

Awesome thread title 😀

I think the view with good public schools like Berkeley and UCLA is that there are still some crappy people attending, so the grading scheme is harder to let the smart people stand out. In contrast, ivy league schools give out easier grades (I saw pdf on Brown's grade breakdown, and it was ~45% As across subjects) and the assumption there is that there are a larger group of smart people, so grading is adjusted accordingly. I'm not saying I agree with this, but I think, taking any grade inflation into consideration, that's how the schools are ranked.

 

[MolarExpress]

1) Active studying. Every psych professor I've ever had said that the more senses you use when studying, the more you'll remember. Examples:
- write/type notes
- explain concepts outloud in a teaching style

This is very good advice! 👍

 

[DrReo]

I am pretty sure it is equal to or lower than a 5. Basically unranked schools.

Brown and Stanford dropped the D and F grades entirely out of their system during the 70's. Ever since, a Brown student has yet to fail a course. If a course is not 'satisfactorily completed,' no record of the failure shows up on the student's transcript. Some say this has lead to a 'grade compression.' Without the D and the F grades, professors are forced to give the poorest students at least a C.

http://dartreview.com/archives/2002/03/01/grade_inflation_at_the_other_ivies.php

Must be nice.

 

[youngmc27]

I think that for me repitition is the way to go.
I think that for me repitition is the way to go.
I think that for me repitition is the way to go.
I think that for me repitition is the way to go.
I think that for me repitition is the way to go.

 

[orihime]

I can remember where I got this, but it is a list of all colleges and their rankings so that dental admissions committees can weight GPAs accordingly. A rank of 1 is highest. So to answer your question, yes admissions committees do think this way.

According to this chart, UC Davis AND UC Santa Barbara are ranked above UCLA and UC San Diego. Does anyone else think this is a little strange?

 

[yuppers]

What is a good # for a school according to the rankings?
Also I wonder how the adcoms factor in the different ranking with the GPAs of the students. Is there a formula they use?

 

[yuppers]

You don't need to study if you know how to kiss ass. I kissed the hell out my professors' asses and it really paid off.

Its funny how no one seemed to notice this.

 

[2school4cool]

I heard that the way memory works, if you're say chewing peppermint gum while you study o-chem, you'll remember it better (on test day or w/e) while chewing peppermint gum because the memories can be linked to the peppermint flavor... so there's an idea for you.

Get 5 flavors of mints for your 5 subjects ;-)

haha this must be a tame version of what i've heard from a couple of my friends, except in their circumstances, they are actually high. apparently they used to blaze up when they were studying and went to class in the same state they were in when they studied and i swear, they swear by this umm... rather unorthadox method. oh, and believe it or not they were engineering majors too.

ummm... i don't really recommend the high thing but i think there's a psychological association coorelation with like... music, eating, or even being in the lecture room that triggers some memory recall. like... i heard about a study where people were tested in the room they were lectured in and others were tested in a completely different room... the former group of kids did significantly better.

anyways, other tips that i've used:

1. record lectures and actually listen to them. i did this for 1 of classes and when i re-listened to them (i'm talking every single lecture) i didn't write any notes but just listened. this really helped clarify pts in lecture. if you don't have the time, just put the recording on fast paced and you can crank out a 50 min lecture in 30 mins. yay. i got an a+ in this class.

2. take classes that you're interested in. i had to take some upper div ecology classes that were boring as hades and i didn't do too well in them, versus biochem/cell bio/physio i loved and didn't mind studying at all.

3. does your school offer free tutoring? mine had at least 2 free tutoring programs for a lot of the science classes. this was awesome b/c it was group and problem based as opposed to lecture based.

4. find old midterms/ study guide questions and work through them. a lot of my classes had these b/c they were written by the professor and were tougher than the textbooks and really tested if you knew the material.

5. this one girl (uckkk i hated ther though) gave advice about repetition. she was a soc major and learned in one of her classes that if you look at the material for a minimum of 3 times, it should get stored into your long term memory.

6. i did this more often than i'd like to admit but don't cram. one of my prof. said to know the material at least 3 days before the test to ensure it would be stored in your long term memory. cramming sometimes worked for me but i realize that i should've retained the information b/c it probably will be semi useful in dschool

7. the same prof. claims to get a lot of sleep b/c memory gets put into the long term storage when you sleep. i don't know about this one. never tried it.

8. OH! also, study with friends and take a lot of breaks. there was this other study done, where a person studied by themselves and for like 3 hours at a time and did worse on tests than a group of students who goofed off/took a few mental breaks during their studying and apparently did significantly better.

9. hmmm if you're just are interested in the good grade and not necessarily the content of the class, i would look for professors who are notorious for grading "easy" and then take their classes.

 

[2school4cool]

Brown and Stanford dropped the D and F grades entirely out of their system during the 70's. Ever since, a Brown student has yet to fail a course. If a course is not 'satisfactorily completed,' no record of the failure shows up on the student's transcript. Some say this has lead to a 'grade compression.' Without the D and the F grades, professors are forced to give the poorest students at least a C.

http://dartreview.com/archives/2002/03/01/grade_inflation_at_the_other_ivies.php

Must be nice.

hmm.. i've heard rumors about ivy leagues/top ranked schools being less competitive one you matriculate, but...wooow. thanks for the link

yeah one dentist was telling me about his patient who attended an ivy for undergrad for a few years and transferred to cal and said that cal was so much more competitive than his 1st school. hmmm.

 

[Northside]

Its funny how no one seemed to notice this.

That's because it's pathetic... and shows that most people here have some dignity

 

[pandabearrr]

One thing that seems like a miracle worker for me, especially if there are diagrams (such as anatomy) is a find a blank diagram of what you need to know and draw lines coming from each muscle, bone, etc. and test myself over and over and over. It is the best tip I have ever learned. Hope it helps!

 

[enfuego]

7. the same prof. claims to get a lot of sleep b/c memory gets put into the long term storage when you sleep. i don't know about this one. never tried it.

Yes. Memory is consolidated during sleep. At the very least, you're able to think clearer and focus better when you're not tired. I'm trying to study right now, but I'm dying because I didn't get much sleep last night. Night before the test - SLEEP. It won't do you any good if you're falling asleep in the middle of an exam.

hmm.. i've heard rumors about ivy leagues/top ranked schools being less competitive one you matriculate, but...wooow. thanks for the link

yeah one dentist was telling me about his patient who attended an ivy for undergrad for a few years and transferred to cal and said that cal was so much more competitive than his 1st school. hmmm.

If you ask around other schools in Boston, people (including professors) will probably tell you that anyone with a pulse can get an A at Harvard undergrad. The inflation over there is really a joke. Nearly half the class has an A- or higher average, and the vast majority of students graduate with honors - and those stats come from a book by a former Harvard dean.