Grades improved when you stopped coming to class?

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I know it's a common thing -- people just stick to notes/handouts/recorded lectures, sleep in every day, go to class when the spirit moves them, and that's that -- but I'm just wondering how many c/o 2013ers have stopped coming to class and found it helpful, even if a little isolating. (Or M2/M3/M4s with such an experience...)

I was always a class-goer in undergrad but am wondering if I'd be better served by just sleeping in all the time and tearing through the notes/syllabus/PPTs.
 
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I stopped going after the first week, so I can't commment on grades.

But my mental health has greatly improved since I stopped going👍.
 
I went to class 90% of the time during M1 and got ok grades.

I stopped going to class the first week of M2 and have done much better.

YMMV
 
2013 here. Haven't gone to class since first week, other than "intro to ____" lectures and mandatory labs. Our syllabus is pretty cumulative, so reading through at your own pace/leisure definitely beats having someone read it to you.

Like the above post says, YMMV - don't start skipping if you're not motivated. It's wayyyy too easy to fall behind on things.
 
I went to class religiously during all of last year (except for gross lectures which were just people listing body parts). I stopped going for the last month, but my grades were just average. This year, the no class thing has been awesome. I have tons more time, and my grades have never been higher. Granted, a lot of that is probably due to a change in my approach to school, but having that extra 4-7 hours per day is very, very nice.
 
We only have 2 hours of class. I stopped going after about November or so last year in M1. My grades were good from the start, but they stayed up there all year despite me never attending class the rest of the year.

I'd simply stay up later and use those two hours to sleep in. Sometimes there were mandatory small group things 10-12, but I could still sleep in.

Second year we unfortunately have mandatory small group 8-10 almost every morning (and class 10-12, which I skip). So it works less to my advantage. But so far so good.
 
I stopped going around the spring of my 1st year. My grades didn't change, but I've got so much more time to relax. I usually go to the first few lectures of a class to get a feel for what they're going to emphasize, but I find them infuriatingly slow and selective in what they present. Textbooks give you a more careful explanation, more important details, better figures (the best figures shown in lectures almost invariably come from text sources), and you can learn at your own pace while skipping over the material you already know.

It may make tests harder if test questions revolve around esoteric points made in class, but I'm looking forward to the boards and would rather learn all the relevant material than what lecturers think is important.
 
I preview lectures and skip the useless ones. It's a small proportion, thankfully, since our curriculum is very clinically focussed. I tend to skip the basic science stuff since I have a fairly solid background and I get what I need by previewing the lecture and paying attention to the clinical implications of the material.

But overall, I learn well from lecture and I really notice when I miss a clinically oriented lecture. So I attend them very consistently.
 
I stopped going around the spring of my 1st year. My grades didn't change, but I've got so much more time to relax. I usually go to the first few lectures of a class to get a feel for what they're going to emphasize, but I find them infuriatingly slow and selective in what they present. Textbooks give you a more careful explanation, more important details, better figures (the best figures shown in lectures almost invariably come from text sources), and you can learn at your own pace while skipping over the material you already know.

It may make tests harder if test questions revolve around esoteric points made in class, but I'm looking forward to the boards and would rather learn all the relevant material than what lecturers think is important.

i actually used this strategy from day 1 thinking the same thing. It worked just fine up until my single most recent test where i failed by a few points. I guess I just wanted to warn you that it is possible, even with careful rigorous LCME accreditation, for a given test to be so far off the mark compared to gold standard textbooks that you could do poorly.
 
I went to class every day 1st year and got good grades. I stopped going to class one month into second year and grades stayed the exact same, but I went to the gym more, slept more, had more time w/ my wife, cooked better dinners, etc etc. I also felt that relying more on books had me very well set when I started Step 1 studying at the end of 2nd year.
 
I know you aimed the question for 2013ers, but as a 2nd year I figued I'd thrown in my 2 cents....


1st year: I went to class everyday, pretty much, but felt miserable as I studied the rest of the time and had little free time for myself.

2nd year: Never go to class except for mandatory sessions and quizzes/exams; I'm getting better grades, have more free time, and feel better.

I learned that going to class was more of a social thing for me (as it is for many people), but if you can find a way to get together with friends outside of class, besides partying, during the week (ie. study group) it will allow you to not go to class and still study better + more efficiently.
 
I too was a class goer in undergrad, but that was because most of the material wasnt accessible from any other venue.

After the horrible 8 hr/day week long horrible experience known as orientation, I immediately stopped going to class after the first day. Scored at the mean on my first test and well above on my second. I KNOW id be doing worse if i was going to class full time, its just too taxing and time consuming.
 
I was one of those "go to class, read ALL the reading assignments,make the notes/outlines they tell you to and then try to review/do practice Q's" types....I did it through M1/M2 and I can tell you the result.....I'm having to go back in M4 and put together the big picture stuff that I never had time for in M1-M3. Do not do this.......

If I had it to do over again:
1) Maybe go for the first week, sitting in a different spot each time so no one could place me if I wasn't there, to get a feel for the class/lecturers. If one was particularly good (most aren't - they like to read PPTs and think that's awesome teaching) I'd continue going to their lectures.

2) Get a mandatory 8 hours of sleep per night. Better for retention.

3) Break study blocks up into 2 hour segments. Gets you ready for boards.

4) Set a prioritized list of what I needed to know for each exam. Then work from big picture -> fine details. You will be tested over fine details as most profs have no clue how to write a valid test question. The purpose of exams should be to verify that the student has adequately covered the material in preparation for 3rd year and understands IMPORTANT nuances (not like which Hb chain a sickle cell gene is located on) of the CLINICALLY RELEVANT material. You can forget ever seeing that kind of question on an exam. For your actual learning/professional life, get the big picture now and repeat it over and over until you can spit it out with no prompting.

5) Get a mandatory 1 hour exercise break.

6) Study no more than 10 hours a day, maybe 12 if I had an exam within 4 days.

Don't know if this helps. A tip: part of the game is figuring out what's important. If you get a copy of First Aid, that gives you a clue. Memorize that book section for whatever you're covering and you'll at least pass and probably score in the high B range. I didn't figure that out (I didn't understand what a good friend who was a senior at the time meant) until my OB rotation. Wish I'd have had it earlier.

Again, YMMV, standard disclaimers apply...
 
so far I am going to every single lecture. We have extremely good lecturers. THis is the case for most people in our class.

BTW, I am NOT a lecture goer in undergrad.
 
I have done the not going to class experiment, and really my grade is about the same. It seems like you end up at a certain grade range and you never go past it. I decided not to go to class because I seem to get much more done in the day. Listen to lectures at 1.5x, studying/reading, etc. However, its a double edge sword if you get lazy or sick and fall behind.
 
I actually go to class because otherwise I'd be isolated at home all day. Sad, isn't it?
 
I know it's a common thing -- people just stick to notes/handouts/recorded lectures, sleep in every day, go to class when the spirit moves them, and that's that -- but I'm just wondering how many c/o 2013ers have stopped coming to class and found it helpful, even if a little isolating. (Or M2/M3/M4s with such an experience...)

I was always a class-goer in undergrad but am wondering if I'd be better served by just sleeping in all the time and tearing through the notes/syllabus/PPTs.

i tend to go to about half of the scheduled classes. some lectures are useufl to go to, and some are not. It all depends. I like going to histo bc i like to see when they point at stuff on slides. I havent gone to one immuno lecture b/c I dont like his lectures and his core notes are amazing and teach you everything you need to know. So it all depends. I think to say "im not going to any class ever" is kinda dumb b/c youll misss out on some good lectures probably. Its different for every class and every lecturer. No matter what tho, i still go to school at 8am. If i dont go to that class, i just go to a study room near the lecture hall and i just read/review that powerpoint and core notes taht is being lectured on. I like going to school to socialize with my classmates, so whenever they have a break from class i tend to take a break from reading. Its also my way of exercising cuz i ride my bike to school 8 miles. As far as grades going up, i dont really know b/c ive been doing it like that since the beginning. Ive passed all my tests thus far so it appears to be working just fine.
 
The problem I see is two fold... It seems like learning the material for the eventual step 1 would be WAY easier to not go to class. However, it seems like if you want to get good grades you have to go to class at some schools. At mine they really test heavily from what they actually say and stress in class.

So I wish I could stop going to class, and I'm sure I could learn the material outside, but that wouldn't necessarily translate to knowing the specific minutiae they think is important to test us on.
 
I actually go to class because otherwise I'd be isolated at home all day. Sad, isn't it?

I go to (almost) all my classes (with the exception of statistics) for a couple of reasons:
1) Like somebody said above, otherwise I would be cooped up all day in my studio apartment alone with a fridge near me - very very dangerous (I eat when I'm bored/stressed) - going to school is the only way I get any form of a social life (or exercise)
2) I'm lazy/ineffective studying completely on my own, and tend to procrastinate a lot. Since we don't have quizzes in most of my classes and exams are spread about, falling behind is dangerous - even if I don't retain everything from lecture, the active process of typing things into powerpoint slides helps me to know what's going on
3) As DrJD says, there tends to be some classes (notably physio) where there is a lot that is tested from the lectures and it would be difficult to figure out from notes alone

I know it depends on the school too, I live in walking distance from school on a college campus, while I have friends at other schools that have to drive 20-30 minutes to get to school, which particularly in the winter could have swung me the other way.
 
Our school started podcasting lectures with video and audio, and I am so happy.

I also have a job, so I'm going to try going into work in the morning and "go to class" in the afternoon and see how it goes. It will really help my schedule if it works out.

I would definitely be going to class though if this was not an option.
 
I went to class much of first year, but I never went second year. As other posters have said, I don't know how much it helped my grades, but I know for certain that it didn't hurt them.

What I would challenge is your assumption that you can be a homeschooler and sleep in every day. Home schooling is successful only if you have some discipline. I had to get myself out of bed at the same time every morning - and I worked most of the day and into the evenings. But not having to get dressed, come to campus, etc - did reduce my stress. OU has one of the oldest and most successful streaming audio/video programs as well as online notes - so, while I didn't watch lectures for the easy classes, I certainly did take the time to watch lectures for the harder ones. I just did so in the comfort of my home, and I never had to shave.

As far as becoming undersocialized - yes, I did become that way a little bit. Sometimes going to the grocery store was a major outing for me and I felt almost a little uncomfortable in the "real world." But most medical schools, including mine, had mandatory-attendance small groups so I was on campus at least one half-day a week and I would usually get caught up with my friends then.

The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Tulsa - 2010
 
What I would challenge is your assumption that you can be a homeschooler and sleep in every day. Home schooling is successful only if you have some discipline.

Good luck in your interviewing / in the match. 👍

As far as the assumption bit, I see no reason why I can't sleep in to my heart's content and get the notes/handouts/lectures covered for that day. My school has video and audio for every lecture posted online usually later the same day, and the PDFs/PPTs provided are frequently sufficient for testing purposes. Suspect I'd probably head to the nearest whiteboard in a classroom or conference room at school for studying.

The two biggest reasons I go to class are force of habit (always did that, would feel bad for awhile if/when I change) and just to be around my classmates.
 
Good luck in your interviewing / in the match. 👍

As far as the assumption bit, I see no reason why I can't sleep in to my heart's content and get the notes/handouts/lectures covered for that day.
Thanks - I'm looking forward to getting on the road - it'll be fun.

Every student is different - if you can stay caught-up every day and still sleep late, go for it. I couldn't. I think it has to do with the fact that I was a business major undergrad and grad; brute-force memorization was a new skill for me in med school that took considerable effort and pain (plus, I turned 45 years old the third week of first year). It was easier for me second year, but I was never the fastest studier in the class. I'm the type that was usually one of the last to leave the room during exams, but I generally scored higher than the people who were quicker. 😛

And, just food for thought - if you just look at the PDFs and PPTs, you may get enough for the exam, but you'd be surprised at how many board questions you answer because of some dumb fact that you were never tested on before - but you remember reading something about it. Remember - Step 1 is the exam that really counts!
 
Personally, it is a little bit scattershot. I probably attend 75-80% of lectures. I think always getting a good night's sleep and 30-40 min of working out is more important than going to every lecture.

Some classes have proven more "missable" than others. For example, I missed a fair amount of physio and still made some damn good grades. (thanks, BRS) However, biochem="lots of board irrelevant minutae said only in lecture", so gotta attend to make high grade.

Plus, sitting alone all day studying is just too lonely. I like to be around people, after all. Sometimes passive learning while sitting in lecture is nice.....
 
Are you medical students suggesting that it's better to skip classes as long as you're disciplined enough to study every single day? Do you think it would be easier to understand the topics if you heard them from the professor or can you just read them on your own?

If I skipped classes but studied 8 am - 11:30 am and then from 2 pm - 8 pm, do you think I'd be ok and finish with high honors?
 
Are you medical students suggesting that it's better to skip classes as long as you're disciplined enough to study every single day? Do you think it would be easier to understand the topics if you heard them from the professor or can you just read them on your own?

If I skipped classes but studied 8 am - 11:30 am and then from 2 pm - 8 pm, do you think I'd be ok and finish with high honors?

I think that the only person who can answer that is you, to be honest. Some people don't get a damn thing from having someone read it off of a PPT slide to them -- hence the lack of class attendance. Other people listen, annotate notes, whatever, so they're the people who benefit from attendance. Works both ways, really.

Whatever works for ya. 👍
 
wow...great thread.

Many of my classmates have stopped going to class. I am contemplating joining the ranks.

But I am kind of afraid to leave for reasons stated throughout this thread. Furthermore, I was not a bio major, so much of this stuff is completely new!

We will see
 
well I'll buck the curve.. my grades went down (slightly) last year after I stopped going to class. I'm still totally happy with how last year turned out, my rank is fine and everything but basically when I stopped going to class I just went out a lot and got up at noon the next day, didn't study at all until like a week and a half before exams. Basically it was "3 weeks of total vacation" then "2 weeks of med school hell".

This year I've gone to most classes and made it an effort to study at least an hour or two each day, and I feel a LOT more "with it" which is good cause MS2 stuff is important in the long run. And our lecturers for the most part are better this year so I learn more when I go to class. If I go to lecture with the attitude that I'm going to pay close attention, get good sleep the night before, and take notes on everything the prof hints will be on exams, I leave lecture with the feeling that I understood/memorized ~50% of the important stuff, which is a BIG step up from not going, not studying, and trying to make it all up the week before. JMO, YMMV etc
 
wow...great thread.

Many of my classmates have stopped going to class. I am contemplating joining the ranks.

But I am kind of afraid to leave for reasons stated throughout this thread. Furthermore, I was not a bio major, so much of this stuff is completely new!

We will see

Let me know when you're ready to take the plunge ... I've been seriously thinking about it too.
 
After my exams are done, I'm gonna try out not going to lecture. Sometimes I wonder how much anatomy I could have memorized if I had spent two hours in the library rather than in lecture. I don't remember details from lecture, and I'm quickly realizing that getting the "big picture" is way overrated and does not contribute jack toward making good grades. Rote memorization seems to be the only way to make the grade, and I don't need lecture for that.
 
After my exams are done, I'm gonna try out not going to lecture. Sometimes I wonder how much anatomy I could have memorized if I had spent two hours in the library rather than in lecture. I don't remember details from lecture, and I'm quickly realizing that getting the "big picture" is way overrated and does not contribute jack toward making good grades. Rote memorization seems to be the only way to make the grade, and I don't need lecture for that.

If you want "big picture", you might contemplate getting one of those board review books for the particular course. If I didn't have my Lippincott's for biochem, I really don't think I'd have any idea how any of what we were learning in class ties together. I'm wondering if that is an issue prevalent in medical school curricula in general.

I guess there's just so much detail, so many departments involved, so many different lecturers, coordination and really gaining a sense of "big picture" (or conceptual framework) is really difficult... unless someone makes a conscious effort to do so.

Ha.

Fortunately, all of those BR books seem to do fairly well in this respect. I just have to figure out how to use'em effectively in conjunction to figuring out what lecture details to rote memorize (always the nastiest part of the learning process... distilling what's given to us to what we have to memorize).
 
I'm an M2 - I went to class last year. I go to class this year. My grades are good. I think the posters on SDN disproportionately don't attend class. I actually like most of my classmates and enjoy seeing them everyday. I also don't have the will power to sit and watch lectures everyday without getting behind in school.

Why not just watch them live? You can re-listen to parts later if you feel that you missed something important.
 
I'm an M2 - I went to class last year. I go to class this year. My grades are good. I think the posters on SDN disproportionately don't attend class. I actually like most of my classmates and enjoy seeing them everyday. I also don't have the will power to sit and watch lectures everyday without getting behind in school.

Why not just watch them live? You can re-listen to parts later if you feel that you missed something important.

My biggest reason for attending class is, well, the presence of classmates -- may not like all of them equally, but I do enjoy seeing many of them in lecture.

Am just wondering if I could have my cake and eat it too: go to class selectively, spend time going over the PPTs/PDFs otherwise, ... .
 
i did worse when i didn't go to class (2-3%) so i'm going to start going again.
 
Ok, my Q to you guys is... how do you stay social with your classmates when you stop going to class? (Or conversely, when THEY stop going to class and you keep going...)

It's like there were some people I talked to in class, but now that they don't go at all anymore, I don't see them at all anymore. And they weren't like good friends who I'd hang out with on the weekends, necessarily, but it was still nice to talk to them most days in class. And now when I go to class, there's few people to chit chat with. So maybe I should stop going to class too... :laugh:
 
If I know the lecturer is going to be droning on the entire time, I skip. Fortunately that has been most of my 8am lectures thus far 👍
 
Ok, my Q to you guys is... how do you stay social with your classmates when you stop going to class? (Or conversely, when THEY stop going to class and you keep going...)

It's like there were some people I talked to in class, but now that they don't go at all anymore, I don't see them at all anymore. And they weren't like good friends who I'd hang out with on the weekends, necessarily, but it was still nice to talk to them most days in class. And now when I go to class, there's few people to chit chat with. So maybe I should stop going to class too... :laugh:


Call them.

you:"Hey, I own a tv and am capable of purchasing large quantities of alcohol. Wanna watch the football game?"
friend or friends: "yes. I desire to drink alcohol and watch foosball. I shall provide the hot wings."
you: "great. bring [insert other people here]. I have to listen to 4 lectures and workout but I should be done by 3pm, leaving me the rest of the day to do something other than memorize crap."
 
I stopped physically going to class during the first week. I now watch the lectures online, double speed. We have lecture from eight to noon most days. That's four hours. I can get through four lectures online in one hour forty-five minutes by double speeding the lectures and losing the ten minute breaks between lectures. I was miserable the first few days, and now I'm much happier. I'm doing great in all my classes, so it doesn't appear to have hurt me. I think this is the perfect balance between not wanting to go to lecture, but also not wanting to miss material they cover in lecture only and test on it.
 
Call them.

you:"Hey, I own a tv and am capable of purchasing large quantities of alcohol. Wanna watch the football game?"
friend or friends: "yes. I desire to drink alcohol and watch foosball. I shall provide the hot wings."
you: "great. bring [insert other people here]. I have to listen to 4 lectures and workout but I should be done by 3pm, leaving me the rest of the day to do something other than memorize crap."

errrr... except I don't watch football and neither do they. And while I drink a little bit, those ppl I socialize w/ in class aren't drinkers at all. So there goes that train of thought...:laugh:

But yeah, it would be a lot easier to socialize if I were one of the football/beer drinking crowd. Instant friends, I guess...

I do take your point though. It takes some effort.
 
I stopped physically going to class during the first week. I now watch the lectures online, double speed. We have lecture from eight to noon most days. That's four hours. I can get through four lectures online in one hour forty-five minutes by double speeding the lectures and losing the ten minute breaks between lectures. I was miserable the first few days, and now I'm much happier. I'm doing great in all my classes, so it doesn't appear to have hurt me. I think this is the perfect balance between not wanting to go to lecture, but also not wanting to miss material they cover in lecture only and test on it.

Seconded
 
I'm an M2 - I went to class last year. I go to class this year. My grades are good. I think the posters on SDN disproportionately don't attend class. I actually like most of my classmates and enjoy seeing them everyday. I also don't have the will power to sit and watch lectures everyday without getting behind in school.

Why not just watch them live? You can re-listen to parts later if you feel that you missed something important.

Why not watch them live? Because it is physically impossible to do the reading BEFORE each lecture, and therefore watching them live is largely a waste of my time.

I get up at 7 am and study for 5 hours; take a break; spend the rest of the day/night watching the lectures, and stopping them to read the text if I don't understand something. It is very time-consuming, but very effective for me.

Of course, I go to small group, which provides social interaction. I also stay involved in school activities and try to get out one night a week with friends.

Oh, I'm an MS2.
 
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I dont know why I still go to class.
I'm an M1, and all I do in 80% of my class is..youtube, facebook, dontevenreply.com, bbc, cnn, usatoday..you get the point.
Idk I just feel like the one class that i'd decide to miss, would be the one class that the prof gives them all the info for the exams... 🙁
We have just audio recording of lecture, and I wld hate to spend 2-3 hours just listening to that.
But I never pay attention in class anyways..

When will I learn??
 
2013 here, stopped going to class after the first block. It has helped a lot.
 
I dont know why I still go to class.
I'm an M1, and all I do in 80% of my class is..youtube, facebook, dontevenreply.com, bbc, cnn, usatoday..you get the point.
Idk I just feel like the one class that i'd decide to miss, would be the one class that the prof gives them all the info for the exams... 🙁
We have just audio recording of lecture, and I wld hate to spend 2-3 hours just listening to that.
But I never pay attention in class anyways..

When will I learn??

Take notes on paper. 🙂 With your laptop closed.
 
just start skipping already exi 😀
 
I didn't go to class the last 3 weeks or so and noticed my workouts at the gym were "better", I ate healthier, I got quality sleep, spent less money, and did very well on our midterm a few days ago. Only downside is that it is lonely sometimes even though I live with other people in my class.
 
MS-1. Stopped going to class after our first block.. Didn't go to a single class for biochem, didn't listen to the lectures, just stuck to 4-6 solid hours of studying the notes, doing flashcards, practice problems, etc and so far so great. I've noticed I'm much more relaxed about things in general because I have plenty of spare time.
 
Let me know when you're ready to take the plunge ... I've been seriously thinking about it too.

Heyyyy what's up! I think i am going to stop going to BHD. Ha...we only have like 2.5 weeks left, but hey that's a start!
 
I dont know why I still go to class.
I'm an M1, and all I do in 80% of my class is..youtube, facebook, dontevenreply.com, bbc, cnn, usatoday..you get the point.
Idk I just feel like the one class that i'd decide to miss, would be the one class that the prof gives them all the info for the exams... 🙁
We have just audio recording of lecture, and I wld hate to spend 2-3 hours just listening to that.
But I never pay attention in class anyways..

When will I learn??

I totally agree... Well, I don't surf the internet during class, but it's just so early and boring sitting there for four hours listening to a bunch of facts that my attention dwindles rapidly. Then, after several afternoon group sessions planned, I have little time to work out, make dinner, and study. We just got our first midterm scores back today and I sucked major donkey balls (aka: I failed) :scared:. As weird as this sounds, I'm seriously contemplating for the next half of the term to skip class and just study on my own. I know I have the motivation, as I still studied A LOT when I went to class, but I just feel that I will get more out of my studying by actively reading the material/taking notes/doing practice problems than over half of my day being consumed by class and then having little time to do this type of studying.

Then again, as someone else stated, I still find myself getting up every morning and going to class due to my fear that the one class I miss the professor will provide us with relevant material for our next upcoming exam.

One things for sure, I have to change my approach to studying the material. I can't f* up like I did on midterms for our finals 🙁
 
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