how do you study and manage time?

[denty]

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Looking at the schedule of dental school i cant help to question how everyone time manages their studying. I know i will work hard and it might be difficult, and that maybe bio majors might have an easier time ( i was a spanish lit major), but how did you manage classes and studying?

 

[rsweeney]

Hey Denty, the best thing you can do is prioritize, restudy the material even if it seemed easy in lecture, stay rested [don't stay up late into the night studying, as it will ultimately affect your performance in a negative way 😱 ]. It is really difficult to keep up with every class every day. Try and remember to reserve time for yourself. Dental school is definately a new experience, as you are in school from 8 to 5, and get home by 6ish. By 6, it's time for dinner. After you eat dinner you get tired and lazy 😴 , and it goes on and on. Obviouslly it is managable, but it is a definate adjustment. Some schools are certainly different than others.

I have really lucked out at UNC, as our class is pretty close, and we help each other out. The same goes for the faculty and staff. That is really the key. If you go to a school where the total environment is positive and positive relationships exist between you, your classmates, and the faculty and staff the experience will be much more managable. Time management is one aspect. I'm sorry about that digression, but I could not help but think how glad I am to be at a place where the faculty, staff, and [most] students are just so genuine.

Anyway, the point of the last paragraph is to point out that just as much can be accomplished in school as out of school. Since you are in school all day, it is even more imperitative that you try to learn as much as you can at school, and let what you do at home be a review. I hope it makes since. Good luck!

Richard

 

[leafhound16]

Looking at the schedule of dental school i cant help to question how everyone time manages their studying. I know i will work hard and it might be difficult, and that maybe bio majors might have an easier time ( i was a spanish lit major), but how did you manage classes and studying?

hey denty my fellow liberal arts major, don't worry i majored in philosophy before i entered dental school. you'll adapt fine - i'm sure you did well on your pre-dent classes like bio, chem, physics, or dental schools wouldn't have accepted you. what you will notice that might be different from undergrad is the sheer VOLUME of work they put onto you - your anatomy classes, embryo, micro, etc. is all piled up - and what you should learn is to be very organized throughout dental school. even in clinics, they grade you for organization, so it's important to start early. i'd say be organized and try to have a schedule for studying, but don't kill yourself with it. alot of the academic classes in dental school is pure memorization and application of what you've memorized, which is different from what you and i studied in undergrad- but going through things over and over will get easier over time. everyone learns to adapt their first semester of dental school, and most do fine, as you will too.

 

[drPheta]

Denty, you just do. Just like in high school, when studying never happened, you adjusted to college. The same thing happens in dental school. You will end up dropping a few of the things you like to do, but the sacrifices are temporary.

 

[denty]

Thanks I know that i probably will have to make some kind of schedule in order to stay on top of things. hopefully it will be fine when i get there.

 

[ItsGavinC]

Find the #1 thing you do to waste time, and cut that out, at least in the beginning. If your grades are great then you can add that activity in slowly.

 

[LITTLED]

From my perspective...
There are two types of students at dental school for the most part. Those who are really smart, and those who work really hard. Me? I'm definitely a worker. The time management isn't so bad. When exams pile up it gets crazy. Pretty soon into the semester you will feel out how/how much to study for exams in order to do ok. Secondly, you can't be 100% productive all of the time. You have to make time for yourself. I've found that there is usually one or two things that a person holds sacred (for me, its the gym...). When you start to sacrifice that which is really important to you in order to study, you go craaaazy! For instance, If I take an hour each day to work out, I feel better, sleep better, study better....etc. So I do! Whether its church, gym, reading, video games...whatever. Whatever it is that keeps you sane, do it, a little each day. Don't sacrifice what is important to you to study all the time....its not worth it. There is so much information presented that you that it would take forEVER to learn it all!
HTH
littled

 

[denty]

Whatever it is that keeps you sane, do it, a little each day. Don't sacrifice what is important to you to study all the time....its not worth it. There is so much information presented that you that it would take forEVER to learn it all!
HTH
littled

good point 👍

 

[adamlc18]

I'm sorry about that digression, but I could not help but think how glad I am to be at a place where the faculty, staff, and [most] students are just so genuine.

Richard

So who exactly are you thinking isn't genuine? Hopefuly not me. Everyone I have talked to seems cool. Of course, I still haven't met everyone.

 

[novacek88]

This is a great thread for anyone so I'm placing my input here. Managing your time and being organized requires discipline. Everyone knows how to manage their time but how many people actually do it? How many of you strictly adhere to the schedule you write down? I learned that you need to discipline yourself first before you can prioritize and be organized. Anyone can write a schedule and organize their notes etc. But if you lack the discipline to actually follow that schedule and not veer off it, it does no good to have one.

If you want to prioritize your time, find out what gets your distracted? Does watching television and playing on the internet take a huge chunk out of your time? Do you spend too much time with your friends? Do you play video games? Do you talk a lot on the phone? Do you spend too much time cooking or shopping?

I know I was addicted to television. That was hard for me to quit. It was easy to get distracted with T.V. I would come home from class and before you know it, 3 hours went by in front of the tube. I had to learn how to give up television. It seems so easy to admit this now but at the time it was like a drug. It was such a part of my life. I think we all have some addiction that we aren't ready to admit. I know a lot of people are addicted to hanging out with their friends. It's so easy to go play basketball, go to the gym, or grab a beer or play video games with them that they lose sight of their goals.