How Do You Study?

[RNtoDO]

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Hey Everyone,
I was wondering if i could get some diiferent ideas for studying so i can see what works for everyone else and come up with a program for me from your suggestions.
I Appreciate All Suggestions

 

[MaggieD]

What I have found to work well for me is re-writing my notes ASAP after class. This cements the concepts into my pea-sized brain. I also try to read the chapter before I attend the lecture. I'm a big fan of highlighters, also. Some people do not like them, but they work well for me. My professors will often assign a chapter to be read, and then only lecture on bits and pieces of it. I usually see them in their office hours to get a solid grasp of what they are emphasizing, and then highlight that in my text. This prevents me from wasting time and burying myself in un-needed minutiae.

Don't feel bad if your studying sometimes feels unproductive. I'm studying physics for the MCAT right now and I feel like leaping off a bridge. I can't beleive how much I have forgotten since taking it a semester ago.

 

[Bevo]

studying in general or for the mcat.

I like to find friends to study with, to keep me motivated and stuff.

but in general I study by reading, then taking notes on what I read. Or making flash cards. Finding problems to do or map out a system if Im doing biology.

 

[blike]

Heres how I do it:

A couple of days before each lecture [actually usually ends up being night before] I go through the chapter(s) and highlight important things. Then I read over them once before class. In class, I use a different color highlighter to highlight things the professor goes over. Then soon after I type everything up on the computer. Note the things the professor went over with a different color font. Print them out and study 🙂

By the time you've printed them, you've seen the material at least four times.

Thats what works for me. A lot of people do well with notecards, or just reading out of the book, though. Some people work well in study groups, others do better alone.

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

if all of the above doesn't work....you can always try cheating!

I've seen quite a few people doing it, and some of them are in med school now!!!

Ugh! ( sorry....just felt like venting ) 😡

 

[SawBones]

Here's the system I developed to enable me to excel in medical school... but the system would work well for any level of study.

Let's take my Cardiology course, for example, which had a midterm and a final. Once I got a syllabus with all of the topics which would be covered for the exam, I would make up a "Track Sheet" which would have all of those topics for the upcoming exam listed in the order they would be given in class. My sheet would also have little boxes next to each topic which I would bubble in each time I reviewed a particular topic. At the start of the Cardiology course, my track sheet would look something like this:

CARDIOLOGY - MIDTERM TRACK SHEET

Cardio Pathology I [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Heart Failure [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pharm I [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardiac Arrhythmias [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pathology II [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pharm II [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Valvular Disease [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pathology III [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pharm III [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
.
. (and so on, for about 60-70 lectures)
.


Then, each time I would review a particular lecture I would bubble in one of the boxes. Like:

CARDIOLOGY - MIDTERM TRACK SHEET

Cardio Pathology I [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]
Heart Failure [X] [X] [X] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pharm I [X] [X] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardiac Arrhythmias [X] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pathology II [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pharm II [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Valvular Disease [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pathology III [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Cardio Pharm III [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
.
. (and so on, for about 60 lectures)
.


My goal would be to review each lecture five times before the test. Usually, my first pass was a quick "read only" review, meaning that I would not highlight or draw anything on the notes. The next pass I'd highlight, the third I would write in, and by the end I was attaching post-it notes to my pages which would emphasize material I thought I would have difficulty recalling. People would often comment on how "digested" my notes were.

The benefit of this system is that you can monitor your studying such that you give equal attention to ALL areas of the exam. How many times have you gone into an exam only to be asked a question and you think to yourself "Shoot! I didn't study that section enough!" This system helps you avoid that. It also helps you to keep your studying interesting because you can skip around and study things in different orders, without the risk of missing important material. I can think of nothing more boring than sitting down and reading a pile of notes from start to finish. Skip around, make it interesting -- but keep it balanced!!

Again, this worked great for medical school. But variances of this system would work for premedical courses as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[DrMom]

Originally posted by SawBones
The benefit of this system is that you can monitor your studying such that you give equal attention to ALL areas of the exam. How many times have you gone into an exam only to be asked a question and you think to yourself "Shoot! I didn't study that section enough!" This system helps you avoid that. It also helps you to keep your studying interesting because you can skip around and study things in different orders, without the risk of missing important material. I can think of nothing more boring than sitting down and reading a pile of notes from start to finish. Skip around, make it interesting -- but keep it balanced!!

I like your tracking method! I study in a similar manner, but didn't have such a clear way to keep track of it.