Yea I guess between what that girl told me and this post I underestimated how much of a difference it would be for different schools. Maybe i should have gone to Rutgers lol. At least my school an an 85% acceptance rate into med school.
How many hours do you study per day?
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Yea I guess between what that girl told me and this post I underestimated how much of a difference it would be for different schools. Maybe i should have gone to Rutgers lol. At least my school an an 85% acceptance rate into med school.
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I'm a student at Stony Brook University. I've been doing pretty well in my opinion and I probably study about 1-2 hours a day. However, the week before a test I can study for a good 5+ without any breaks. Core Pre-Med classes here are a horror and studying the day before will definitely not help you. My friend who attends the same school (Pre-Med as well) studies about 5 hours a day ( I kid you not) and needless to say, he has a 4.0. I guess if you really want to do well you have to put in a good amount of time into your daily schedule.
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If that's the case, then why do you bother outlining it? It sounds like you're just rewriting the book. Spending 20 minutes per page on an undergrad biology book is insane. That's how long it took me to webcast a full bio lecture. That's half a game's worth of playing time for a college basketball game.
Well what's the alternative..? I'd do something else if it still resulted in A's but can't think of anything faster that would. I'm about to outline the chapter on photosynthesis...that'll be fun
. I mean sure I could just learn the general process but what if questions like "what molecule is transported to the 2nd photosystem after oxidation of whatever" (just an example as I don't really remember the whole process), I'd be screwed unless I meticulously studied that. Also, I'd say average for chem is about 10 minutes per page and bio is 10-15, depending on the subjectI'm a student at Stony Brook University. I've been doing pretty well in my opinion and I probably study about 1-2 hours a day. However, the week before a test I can study for a good 5+ without any breaks. Core Pre-Med classes here are a horror and studying the day before will definitely not help you. My friend who attends the same school (Pre-Med as well) studies about 5 hours a day ( I kid you not) and needless to say, he has a 4.0. I guess if you really want to do well you have to put in a good amount of time into your daily schedule.
Is that total work for you and your friend per day, or time actually studying the material? If it's just studying then how much work total outside of class are you doing?
D
da8s0859q
wait till you get to med school and they're claiming that they pull off the same crap...
people don't change...
This. But in all fairness, med school is full of people who were "that guy/girl" in undergrad -- studied much less than their peers, still did well. Oddly enough, so many people coming into medical school think they're going to be the Chosen One who can blow off weeks of material, study everything the night before tests, and reliably do well every time. No, no, you're not.
Maybe you'll study less than your fellow M1s. Maybe more.
Righto.
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8+. Fml. I've been up for 18 hours today. At school for 15 of them. In class for 5 or 6. Homework the rest of th time. Decompressing before bed atm.
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, a true FML. My longest day is 10 am to 8 pm, practically back to back. It sucks. Like a lot.
I study I think 4-5 hours a day during the week and a lot more during the weekend (6-8). But of course like most you all said it ebbs and flows with the demands on the week (papers,research projects, exams etc etc). I try to stay consistent and study something everyday or at least read a book. This may sound horrid to some of you guys who study the day or hour before an exam but I have developed such a bad habit with this "studying" thing that it is quite natural for me to focus and grind it out. I hope this type of habit really pays off when the MCAT comes around.
Hopefully the same can be said for me.
I really just don't understand how some people could do so little. I mean yesterday before I went to sleep I wanted to get through my bio reading, finish my lab, and do a section of calc. The calc took an hour and I didn't even get to the problems, just finished the "instruct" section, bio reading took 2 hours to read and take notes, and then I got maybe halfway through the lab after 2 hours or so (making figures, finding background info, etc..). So there's 5 hours right there outside of class without even getting mostly done what I was hoping to finish. And I didn't even do any work in my other 3 classes.
That's rough, what classes are you taking/what's your major?
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Chemical engineering. You know how everyone says don't blame your professor for bad grades? They've never had Dr. V (name edited) for thermodynamics AND bioengineering at the same time. 1 Dr. V class is usually ~20 hours per week. Thermo is his specialty so it's been 20 so far, but will bump up to ~40 now that we're doing learning ALL of mechanical engineering thermo in the first few weeks and will move on to ChemE thermo. Plus I have him for bioengineering. On top of that, transport phenomena, pchem, and pchem lab. Pchem lab takes way more time than you'd think, too. I really don't understand why they schedule all of these classes on top of each other, or why Dr. V gets away with the massive amounts of homework. All I know is that I went on two dates last week and they put me behind such that the homework I turned in yesterday and will turn in today have been half-assed. Most semesters are not this bad and the graduating classes before mine haven't had Dr. V this many times, but we will have had him 4 times, instead of the usual 2. Sorry for the rant =X
That sucks man, definitely a tough position to be in. I don't know what year you're in but if it's that bad maybe consider a less intensive major? Shouldn't matter much if your goal is to get into med school anyway, and slightly easier classes with much higher grades would look better since it's not like the admissions boards can be like "hm...well he had Dr. V so we should give him some slack"
Luckily we had a snow day today so I could actually get a little time to chill with friends
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That sucks man, definitely a tough position to be in. I don't know what year you're in but if it's that bad maybe consider a less intensive major? Shouldn't matter much if your goal is to get into med school anyway, and slightly easier classes with much higher grades would look better since it's not like the admissions boards can be like "hm...well he had Dr. V so we should give him some slack"
Luckily we had a snow day today so I could actually get a little time to chill with friends
I'm a Junior, it wasn't too bad previously. Mostly just this year. Too late to switch now =P Just gotta grin and bear it
Yup. It is crazy how people can get by with doing so little. If you tack on ECs' work it is even crazier.
I talked to a kid in the 7-year med program here and asked how much work he does outside of class, he said maybe 2 hours or a little more, unless there's an exam coming up. I scored higher than him on our chem test (I should be in that program ) but still, only by 2 points so I wonder if he's just naturally smarter. He got near perfect SAT scores if that means anything...(1530/2300). 23 students in the program and 21 are Asian lol
what about all school work, not just studying?
Just finished my lab...probably took over 5-7 hours total (although some distractions were definitely thrown in there)
) but still, only by 2 points so I wonder if he's just naturally smarter. He got near perfect SAT scores if that means anything...(1530/2300). 23 students in the program and 21 are Asian lolwhat about all school work, not just studying?
Just finished my lab...probably took over 5-7 hours total (although some distractions were definitely thrown in there)
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I am currently studying about 3 hours per day during the week but I hardly do anything at all on the weekends hah. Before exam weeks I bump up the study time on Saturday, and there is the occasional paper or quiz that I put a little extra into.
In the past I have also tried the "cramming" method of just studying for a few hours right before a test. This worked for me nearly as well as my current method grade wise. However I have definitely found my actual LEARNING and retention of the material to be much better when I study consistently and over longer periods of time. If all I cared about was the grade then I would probably stick with the cramming method. I actually like the learning though, and I like retaining all of this stuff so I prefer the longer, deeper approach.
In the past I have also tried the "cramming" method of just studying for a few hours right before a test. This worked for me nearly as well as my current method grade wise. However I have definitely found my actual LEARNING and retention of the material to be much better when I study consistently and over longer periods of time. If all I cared about was the grade then I would probably stick with the cramming method. I actually like the learning though, and I like retaining all of this stuff so I prefer the longer, deeper approach.
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In undergrad I only studied about 1-2 days before an exam with the excpetion of my Organic Chemistry course. I would study for 4-5 hours a test total... Did fairly well. I nannied, volunteered, did numerous other EC's and am so glad I did...
Now that I am medical school I usually do about 5-6 hours a day (which includes listening to my audio lectures since I don't go to class. I amp up the study time to 8-10 hours a day for the 4 days before an exam.
Now that I am medical school I usually do about 5-6 hours a day (which includes listening to my audio lectures since I don't go to class. I amp up the study time to 8-10 hours a day for the 4 days before an exam.
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da8s0859q
Add biochem to the undergrad part, and this is pretty close to me. And I didn't nanny. I went to class, took notes from lectures, didn't touch books except where absolutely necessary, and did well. Other people did opposite things and did well. It's all preference.
The only exception is that some lectures in med school, in my opinion, have great notes and are self-sufficient (and thus don't need to be watched or listened to). Of course, there's still some benefit to be had -- it's another pass through the material from someone who knows more about it than you do -- but I will admit to having not watched a few lectures for past exams and still doing well on the questions from those lectures.
Your mileage may/will vary.
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I spend the first half of the term studying like crazy until I know everything the book can teach me. Then the second half is all much easier - looking over notes, doing assignments, working practice problems, the works. Just enough to keep sharp. Works pretty well for me!
Until last term, though, I'd outline the chapters as they came up, rewrite my class notes (combining them with my book ones), do practice problems only on the current unit, etc. I worked way too hard all term and burnt out after finals. I mean, I seriously would take a week off work and all other responsibilities to just rest.
There are some classes that my new method doesn't work as well for (foreign languages, anyone?), but it can be adjusted.
So. First half of the term: 5-6 hours per day.
Second half of the term: 1-2 hours per day, if that.
Pretty handy!
Until last term, though, I'd outline the chapters as they came up, rewrite my class notes (combining them with my book ones), do practice problems only on the current unit, etc. I worked way too hard all term and burnt out after finals. I mean, I seriously would take a week off work and all other responsibilities to just rest.
There are some classes that my new method doesn't work as well for (foreign languages, anyone?), but it can be adjusted.
So. First half of the term: 5-6 hours per day.
Second half of the term: 1-2 hours per day, if that.
Pretty handy!
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When I was a freshman, I probably studied 2-4+ hours a day. Now I'm a senior and I pretty much don't study.
This is mostly a combination of 1) becoming more efficient at studying and absorbing material the first time through, 2) classes being a little bit easier now that I have all the requirements out of the way and 3) me stressing out less about school and actually living!
So yes, it is totally possible to be in the 0-1 group.
This is mostly a combination of 1) becoming more efficient at studying and absorbing material the first time through, 2) classes being a little bit easier now that I have all the requirements out of the way and 3) me stressing out less about school and actually living!
So yes, it is totally possible to be in the 0-1 group.
Damn, if that's how much you had to increase workload I don't even know what I'm going to do. You got almost all A's doing that?
even 5-6 hours per day in med school isn't that much since you're including "class" time in with that, that's like 10-12 hours a day still to do what you want.
I spend the first half of the term studying like crazy until I know everything the book can teach me. Then the second half is all much easier - looking over notes, doing assignments, working practice problems, the works. Just enough to keep sharp. Works pretty well for me!
Until last term, though, I'd outline the chapters as they came up, rewrite my class notes (combining them with my book ones), do practice problems only on the current unit, etc. I worked way too hard all term and burnt out after finals. I mean, I seriously would take a week off work and all other responsibilities to just rest.
There are some classes that my new method doesn't work as well for (foreign languages, anyone?), but it can be adjusted.
So. First half of the term: 5-6 hours per day.
Second half of the term: 1-2 hours per day, if that.
Pretty handy!
What you used to do is what I did last semester. Out of necessity I've had to drop the work a little bit because I just wouldn't have time to do that much for each class, but now it's probably somewhere between the 2 methods you mentioned.
Are you still taking difficult classes senior year? It seems like it would be necessary to get in some extra classes (like biochem, microbiology, etc..) but would med schools even see classes you took after Junior year?
On a side note, we just had 2 snow days in a row and I could actually get some free time
...I literally didn't even know what to do with the time since I haven't really had time for anything other than an hour or so on my computer previously. It's hard for me to relax and enjoy it at this point knowing how much I'll have to do in this coming week
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This thread is useless without pics!!
But really though, it's kind of useless unless the person responding includes their GPA along with the hours they study.
You have people saying they study 0-1 hrs a day, who could be getting a 4.0 or a 3.0, and you have people who study 6-8 hrs a day who could be getting a 4.0 or a 3.0, etc...
Unless everyone here has 4.0's, you really shouldn't be mocking anyone else's studying habits. Because as they say, different strokes for different folks!
But really though, it's kind of useless unless the person responding includes their GPA along with the hours they study.
You have people saying they study 0-1 hrs a day, who could be getting a 4.0 or a 3.0, and you have people who study 6-8 hrs a day who could be getting a 4.0 or a 3.0, etc...
Unless everyone here has 4.0's, you really shouldn't be mocking anyone else's studying habits. Because as they say, different strokes for different folks!
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Most premeds I knew do 0-1 hours during the week and we just cram it all in the weekend before exams.
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1) my school has virtually zero homework in the lower div core classes.
2) we don't use textbooks as well. they are suggested, but we have lecture slides, course readers, etc, so they are not necessary.
3) i really only need to read through something once to understand and retain most of it.
4) i don't waste time when doing practice problems. if i clearly know how to do something, i won't waste time writing out the next 30 problems on the same topic. i will either do them quickly in my head or skip them entirely.
5) quarter system imo means less studying for me. the finals don't cover much material as well.
these factors allow me to study the day/night before tests and pull off close to a 4.0 here at ucla. i will admit, though, that im very lucky to be doing well. i doubt i would be able to change my study habits even if i started doing poorly...until med school, that is.
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I disagree with the bold. I would much rather be on a semester system because with the quarter system it is a bunch of material in a short time. Plus there is always some sort of test coming up because that is just the nature of it. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
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That's funny. I just said the same thing without seeing that you wrote it.
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i suppose we do have a lot of tests, but still, there is barely any material for each of them. moreover, i only need to take 3 classes at a time...no problems here.
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If you learn the CONCEPTS, trends, and theories, then you don't have to spend 2+ hours a day memorizing pointless crap. This may also help you finish your homework really really fast so you can get back to more important things like enjoying life.
YES! That is the way to go for sure. I don't ever study during the week, unless there are midterms/exams/quizzes...in which case I'll study, at most, a week in advance for a couple hours a day. But I find I really don't NEED to study that much anyways because once the concept is clear in my head, I can just reason my way through any questions on any exam. Obviously it's a little different for detail-heavy courses like Anatomy, but in general, I really don't see the need to be studying so much! I've been studying like this for the last 4 years (I'm a Senior now) and I've had a stellar GPA every single year...I've always thought the people that review all the lectures notes right away, re-listen to recorded lectures, study every day and review every week are just way too intense =P
Hm, unfortunately I don't really have any of those benefits, except maybe the possibility of not doing many problems
Are you taking longer to graduate?
Out of curiosity, what school do you go to?
As I mentioned, I guess I just don't see how learning concepts is going to help you enough when you get very specific questions (like what hormone is released from which organ under xyz conditions) or when there are 20+ equations involved like in chemistry
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Yea, but even if you know the concepts you still need to know the terms. That's what I usually do; get the concepts down then memorize the terms and fit it all together. To say you don't need to know the terms is false IMO.
By the way, for those of you who do almost nothing during the week and apparently cram over the weekends, do you never go out on weekend nights? It almost seems like it should be the opposite (cramming all week so you can enjoy your weekends and go out)
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I see no reason to study on the weekend nights if you use your time wisely. Study a lot during the week when you're in school mode, and then 4 hours each weekend day should be good unless you have a project or something. Just beware of staying out TOO late on a Fri or Sat because that could kill half your day the next day. Minimize distractions (TV, talking, internet) and your study time will be cut in half.
I do 2-3 hours 4-5 days a week. Most of my time studying is spent doing assignments, hw, etc. I also try to do exercises from the new material that i learn everyday so that i don't need to cram come test time. It has worked fine for now. I work part time and i still have time to hang out and have fun. It's all about managing your time wisely.
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I took microbio, but other than that it's mostly humanities and gen eds. Some of them are relatively difficult. If you're applying after junior year, senior year classes won't be on your application. Fortunately for me, I'm taking a year off
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no. quarter system typically means 15 units a quarter to graduate. classes are usually 4 or 5 units each. for my major, i can get by with mostly 3 class quarters with a few 4 class quarters mixed in (have yet to take 4).
Same here. It seems like it would require more time to study and make the grades (mostly A's), but it really is all about time management. I don't study everyday. I said 2-3 hours per day because it probably averages out to be near that. However, I obviously study more during exam time and less so between exams. As long as I'm moderately keeping up with the material, which usually requires moderate/low studying most of the time, I do fine come exam time and have more than enough time to spend with friends or have a lazy day in bed and surf SDN (like today) or EC's.
On a different note (sort-of) I do not understand how/why people study 8+ hours per day in undergrad. Unless of course they have unusual circumstances (i.e. taking a much higher than average course load, work full-time, have children etc.).
I went to a fairly prestigious school for undergrad and while you could get away with studying 2-3 hours a day for gen ed. and core classes, the higher level classes were always much harder and required more. Take organic for example, our professor gave us a ton of homework everyday,probably 1-2 hours worth after each class, which isn't a lot if you do it everyday like I did. But of course there were people who stuck to their habits of studying the weekend before or a couple days before and that would hurt them because there would be no way to do the homework AND review the lecture material at the same time, so he would put in trick questions from the homework that were very similar and if you didn't do the HW then you didn't get those 10 points and therefore had no chance of making an A on the test. These weren't easy HW problems either, these were exceptions to the rules and such that everyone would complain about and say "how the heck are we supposed to know that?" Bio professors did pretty much something similar but with book material where they would ask about in depth material hidden away in the book somewhere.
So my point is, in the first two years (at my school at least) you could have got away with 2-3 hours daily total but once you got to upper level classes in your major (especially science) you were studying 2-3 hours per class on a daily basis and if you took a hard semester this easily ballooned up to 6-8+ per day every day. Of course, this is if you want to do good in classes (read A's). Some people don't care as much, which is fine too, and probably can get by with a third to half as much time studying.
So my point is, in the first two years (at my school at least) you could have got away with 2-3 hours daily total but once you got to upper level classes in your major (especially science) you were studying 2-3 hours per class on a daily basis and if you took a hard semester this easily ballooned up to 6-8+ per day every day. Of course, this is if you want to do good in classes (read A's). Some people don't care as much, which is fine too, and probably can get by with a third to half as much time studying.
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Yea that's rough, some of my friends have told me that that's how their "Biology of the Eukaryotic cell" is, lots of "hidden" info you have to extrapolate from other sources.
As mentioned I had a double snow day this last Thursday and Friday and even today I still pretty much haven't gotten any work done...definitely the least amount I've done since coming to college honestly. I'm sure it will change to how it was before once spring break is over...hopefully I can learn to be a little more efficient though.
I don't really set out to do a set number of hours or anything, but i'll just start goin and after I see 3 or 4 hours has passed, I stop. Thats if i even reach that far. I don't seem to have to study as much as alot of other folks to get high grades. I don't know. Does anyone else find that happening? I mean, if you're a pre-med you should possess some kinda better than average intelligence in most instances.
D
da8s0859q
1. That's a fairly common thing. By and large, people who successfully apply to medical school are the ones who, for whatever reason, didn't have to study nearly as much as their peers for good grades. That's one of "the big changes" when you get to medical school. Granted, the fact that some people study less than others will always hold true, but it seems like quite a few people matriculate thinking, "hey, I don't have to study, I'll be fine." Yeah, lemme know how that works out for you.
2. Being "pre-med" doesn't necessarily mean you're among the brighter crayons in the box. Some people might be, sure, but... I remember being a freshman in college, where damn near everyone was "pre-med", wanting to go to medical school and save the world, one third-world baby at a time. There were a few bright people, a few stunningly clueless people, and a whole lot of people somewhere between.
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Definitely about 3 hours a day. I work part time too so I need time for that. And my mental health isn't the best so taking breaks from school and work is important to me. I try studying every day because it makes it easier once tests come up; less cramming and freaking out.
Probably 3-4 hours per day last semester and ~8 a day on weekends if I'm not at a volleyball tournament. Although now with my Mondays off and taking gross anatomy and neuro anatomy and physiology, I'll probably be studying 5-6 hours per day and the whole day Monday as well.
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Do people actually study everyday (or almost everyday) for that long? I don't consider myself to be super smart, but I only studied in big chunks before exams, unless it was a class with a weekly quiz. I'd usually study a few days before an exam for 7 hours or more a day. Sometimes a week or so before if I had no idea what was going on. Otherwise I never studied during non-exam times. I did homework and lab reports of course, but that's not really studying if you were doing it just to finish without actively learning.
