Horrible study habits/time management

[2411t]

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If any current pharmacy students have experienced this, please chime in.

Lets face it... during my undergraduate education, I was not an ideal student. I barely studied ahead, sometimes only showed up for exams, and pulled a hell of a lot of all nighters. I know I'll need to change that come Fall, but any of you current pharmacy students transition easily from breezing through undergrad with little studying/poor study habits to developing fine time management skills/good study habits?

I guess I just need some reassurance that its not too late to change my ways!

 

[veyep]

If any current pharmacy students have experienced this, please chime in.

Lets face it... during my undergraduate education, I was not an ideal student. I barely studied ahead, sometimes only showed up for exams, and pulled a hell of a lot of all nighters. I know I'll need to change that come Fall, but any of you current pharmacy students transition easily from breezing through undergrad with little studying/poor study habits to developing fine time management skills/good study habits?

I guess I just need some reassurance that its not too late to change my ways!

I didn't have that problem, but it's never too late! I was faced with other challenges that i wasn't faced with in undergrad and had to develop those skills to deal with it in grad school! Life is a process of trial and error called experience. Look back at your mistakes, learn and move on!

 

[crazybob]

I've pulled close to an all-nighter before an exam before. I did worse than I would have if I had gotten some sleep.

I'd rather study few hours for a week than to pull an all-nighter.

 

[misfire200]

I have been able to change my study habits(or I should say gain some😀) as i went from not studying or studying right before a test to studying in small sessions with breaks. Although I was an A student beforehand, it was all based on the fact I was able to short-term manage a lot of information in my brain but then I would just let it go. Worked for getting A's, but not recommended for subjects that are for your career. Now I do 30-45 minute sessions with 15 minute breaks on a daily basis, and I actually retain most of the information for the long term👍 I actually received the advice from an Anatomy and Physiology instructor, and I pulled off a 97 average for the class and a 99 average in lab. From what I heard, all-nighters are the worst, and I would prefer to just sleep instead. Your brain just does not function correctly with no sleep, and all that studying you did all night never gets a chance to "download" into the brain since you never slept. It's one reason a lot of people who do all-nighters get to the test, and then go completely blank while taking the test even though they studied "8+ hours the night before"...

But as long winded as that was...the answer is yes, you can change your study habits but it takes a lot of effort. But you can do it, and it's better to start now then wait till you are in Pharmacy School.

 

[liebht90]

Hah I am in the same situation as a pre-pharm student, I definitely need to change my study habbits. I typically stay up until 1-2am every night and until at least 4am before an exam. I have tried to study earlier but it seems as if I have programmed my brain to study that late at night and I study so much better then. I may have had my first encounter with blanking out on a test though, it was on a calc I exam last week, although the prof wrote an extremely hard test in general that nobody finished...

 

[CJay]

Ive found that if you just go to the library and find a nice spot to sit down, youll start to study because there aint nothing else to do there

 

[dudecoolname]

Ive found that if you just go to the library and find a nice spot to sit down, youll start to study because there aint nothing else to do there

THIS

I find productivity skyrockets when im at the library because there are basically no distractions. When im trying to study in my room every 15 minutes: "time to take a break!" followed by a series of unproductive tasks

 

[Shadii]

Ive found that if you just go to the library and find a nice spot to sit down, youll start to study because there aint nothing else to do there

I can't study at the library because its so quite and usually cold that I fall asleep. I need a little background noise to study. And in my house, no way can I study in my house, its my sanctuary to relax not be productive.

 

[honeybee763]

If any current pharmacy students have experienced this, please chime in.

Lets face it... during my undergraduate education, I was not an ideal student. I barely studied ahead, sometimes only showed up for exams, and pulled a hell of a lot of all nighters. I know I'll need to change that come Fall, but any of you current pharmacy students transition easily from breezing through undergrad with little studying/poor study habits to developing fine time management skills/good study habits?

I guess I just need some reassurance that its not too late to change my ways!

Hi, I am currently a 1st year student and I went through undergrad very similar to you-bad study habits. I am still working on changing mine to fit pharmacy school workload, but if you are really dedicated to the pharmacy profession, you will be bale to do it!

 

[josh3479]

im pretty sure most of us have pulled all nighters a few times getting through undergrad its normal. my study habits sound similar to yours in regards to cramming and poor time management but the way I look at it is I've always been the type to play up or down to my level of competition. less effort was put forth for undergrad since less was needed and I will put in more for pharm school since more will be needed. Don't worry too much about it I'm sure you'll be the same way

 

[Namishin]

I never studied more than a day in advance for any exam in undergrad. These habits will stick with you in the beginning of pharmacy school, and it's difficult to change your ways. However, as time progresses every student becomes better at time management not because they want to, but because so much is thrown at you that you have no choice but to adapt.

 

[2411t]

im pretty sure most of us have pulled all nighters a few times getting through undergrad its normal. my study habits sound similar to yours in regards to cramming and poor time management but the way I look at it is I've always been the type to play up or down to my level of competition. less effort was put forth for undergrad since less was needed and I will put in more for pharm school since more will be needed. Don't worry too much about it I'm sure you'll be the same way

I really like your take on this and believe there's more than a grain of truth to what you say, especially with regard to my mentality as well.

Hi, I am currently a 1st year student and I went through undergrad very similar to you-bad study habits. I am still working on changing mine to fit pharmacy school workload, but if you are really dedicated to the pharmacy profession, you will be bale to do it!

This is encouraging. I'm sure I'll adjust accordingly.

I never studied more than a day in advance for any exam in undergrad. These habits will stick with you in the beginning of pharmacy school, and it's difficult to change your ways. However, as time progresses every student becomes better at time management not because they want to, but because so much is thrown at you that you have no choice but to adapt.

I was just speaking to someone a few days ago. He said the same thing you mentioned; change is inevitable if you are going to get through pharmacy school.

 

[chase1]

If any current pharmacy students have experienced this, please chime in.

Lets face it... during my undergraduate education, I was not an ideal student. I barely studied ahead, sometimes only showed up for exams, and pulled a hell of a lot of all nighters. I know I'll need to change that come Fall, but any of you current pharmacy students transition easily from breezing through undergrad with little studying/poor study habits to developing fine time management skills/good study habits?

I guess I just need some reassurance that its not too late to change my ways!

I am in the same situation as you. For every exam in undergrad I have studied some the night before, but I get the majority of my studying done the day of the exam. I usually wake up 3 to 4 hours prior to the exam and study the entire time. I'm sure I will change this greatly when I am pharmacy school though, because I will be surrounded by people with the same goal as me. Right now there are many more distractions, but I choose a school with less distractions (ex no football team) for the very reason of motivating me to spend more time studying.

 

[sweetasianpear]

I was the same as you. I don't know how I got into pharm school. I guess it was my PCAT and a lot of praying and bugging the admission's office. But now I am in. I am telling you. You need to learn how to study. I am the type that needs to repeat my notes over and over again - at least twice. I try to study everyday and I still feel it is not enough. My grades are fair in pharmacy school, but I also put in a lot of studying time. I know people that do nothing but study, and they have 4.0. And I know people who study less than me and they have 4.0. You just have to see. But you cannot get by with just cramming the night before it will not work.

PS: Our first "real" module in second year. Had close to 200 drugs on it. And all you have to know where brand, generic, and mechanism -- work on alpha or beta receptors for example. Then in the second module, they added all the rest of the info like metabolized by CYP enzyme this, dosing schedule, dosing for different disease states. It is not easy. And a good bit of the students know they have to study this stuff ahead of time.

Don't mean to be scary. But it is the truth.