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How much do you study everyday?
Started by dz88
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dz88 said:
eh heh... um, will you accept "not much" as an answer???
seriously though 😳
Who studys EVERY DAY? That's just killing yourself...
I study for 2 days per exam, total of 10-15 hours. Time management and focus are the keys to studying. You can ask my near perfect GPA if you got any questions. 😀
I study for 2 days per exam, total of 10-15 hours. Time management and focus are the keys to studying. You can ask my near perfect GPA if you got any questions. 😀
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I did my studying in full day bursts + all nighters, so I would end up doing totally nothing for at least three days out of the week and then setting aside the rest of the days to read/write papers/cram. I escaped with 4 A's and 2 B's last semester, and vowed never to study like that again 😳 Next semester, I'm reverting back to anal pre-med mode where I'll do some sort of reading everynight including weekends. My chances to graduate magna will be destroyed if I get more than one B, so I gotta bring my A game all the way when classes start in a couple weeks. 👍
It depends on what type of class it is. But if it is a heavy memorization class, or even a class with important conepts I will rewrite all my notes onto notecards. I know a lot of people rewrite their notes after lectures to keep it in their memory but my system allows me to put the info back into my brain but to also provide with me an excellent method of study before the test.
So depending on the class, I will write 3-5 pages of notes onto note cards a day. Also by a day I mean Monday/Wednesday/Friday because I don't take tues/thurs classes except for labs. So I suppose I study about an hour a day, and probably about 5-10 before the exam.
Also this is 1 hour a day all together, not 1 hour per class.
So depending on the class, I will write 3-5 pages of notes onto note cards a day. Also by a day I mean Monday/Wednesday/Friday because I don't take tues/thurs classes except for labs. So I suppose I study about an hour a day, and probably about 5-10 before the exam.
Also this is 1 hour a day all together, not 1 hour per class.
About a week or two ahead, I tell my manager at work that I won't be working 1-2 days before the exam date. Then I make sure that I won't have ANYTHING those two days besides classes/lab/research. During those two days, after I'm done w/ classes/research, I just start studying... that's it! If I have two exams on the same day, I'll make 4 days empty before the exam date & such. Most important thing is staying away from distractions during those 2 days before the exam. If you plan ahead, you can do it!
oh my goodness, i studied so bloody much. soooo bloody much in college.
I tended to do it in spurts though. really ramping it up a week before the tests, studying 5 hour blocks. but .... i had so many classes all the time, and so many tests, i was pretty much like that all the time. So while it felt like i wasn't studying every day for everything, i was studying every day a lot for something, and i'm meticulous so... wow.... no wonder i never slept.... i can't wait for med school.... at least all my classes will be related to each other! none of this dual major in two different deparments business 🙂
I tended to do it in spurts though. really ramping it up a week before the tests, studying 5 hour blocks. but .... i had so many classes all the time, and so many tests, i was pretty much like that all the time. So while it felt like i wasn't studying every day for everything, i was studying every day a lot for something, and i'm meticulous so... wow.... no wonder i never slept.... i can't wait for med school.... at least all my classes will be related to each other! none of this dual major in two different deparments business 🙂
I only study the day before an exam (or quiz sometime), the time depends on the material. Like ochem it was 6 hours or so, gen chem 2 hours, biochem 4hours, cell bio 2 hours, anatomy 10 hours, physiology 2 hours. Over the course of my undergrad I've tried to reduce those numbers because I think I should be able to learn and retain information from either a lecture or reading the book. So I usually use a combo of those two so I read the book on stuff I either slept through or didn't go to, and pay attention to the stuff in lecture. Sometimes this method bites me in the ass becuase it only gives me enough information to know conceptually what is going on and some of the key memorization required by the course (ie reagent, mechs, landmarks, ect..) but more often than not it gives me plenty to be problemsolver with so even if I didn't study the material before hand I just figure it out during the exam, some mechanisms for ochem for example don't need to be memorized if I have the starting and end products they are easy to just fill in the steps. Thats my method, I like it because I can spend more time watching tv and playing xbox, but I also think that people that work their asses off in undergrad are setting themselves up for a bad experience in medschool because the volume of material is much different and they wont have the luxury of pouring over every detail of the material before exams unless they spend countless hours studying it. I think it is better to be an efficient learner to hone in on important material and create patterns in the material that give you the right answers rather than just stamping it into your brain to repeat verbatim on an exam. I guess I just don't see the relevance to a real world situation.
i stopped studying last semester. I am serious.
For Biology-type classes where reading is more stressed than chemistry and physics (more questions based less reading): Read chapter before chapter quickly (spend 1 hour at most), attend lecture, sometime after lecture (at least an hour or two afterwards 'cuz that's how i ride) reread chapter thoroughly (3 hours or so), 1 hour of practice questions at the most if necessary. When weekend comes, do a cumulative review of chapters that will be tested on (will be easy since everything was mastered by a combination of pre-lecture reading, lecture, and close reading). Usually by the end of the cumulative review i do not feel like ever touching the chapters again until the night before the test where I pull an allnighter (but it's better to do it in the morning and get sleep, I want to study during the day but its hard).
Guaranteed me an A as I maxed out with highest scores.
General tips: when feeling groggy or sleepy doing this stuff, take a 20-40 min rest (40 min being the absolute max) don't put a blanket over you or take your shoes off or anything you just want to sleep lightly. You don't want to get into deep sleep because then you can end up sleeping for like 8 hours.
Most importantly, exercise and eat healthy. You'd be amazed at how easily you become hyperactive and lose your attention span when you don't exercise for a long time. This semester took me forever to study long because i just didn't have the endurance and energy to sustain me. Run for 40 minutes at the most. You have to find the will-power and motivation to do this though. But oncey ou do this, you will save dozens of hours when studying (and will be more productive while studying).
Leave partying for friday nights only and don't drink too much otherwise it'll mess you up and stay away from girls or guys because there just isn't enough time for a relationship.
Get old tests, quizzes, answers from older students.
Find the motivation why you want to study these classes because will-power alone can only work for a limited time. Even if you don't like a subject that much, consider how it will affect you are as a physician because every class you take adds to your medical experience.
Guaranteed me an A as I maxed out with highest scores.
General tips: when feeling groggy or sleepy doing this stuff, take a 20-40 min rest (40 min being the absolute max) don't put a blanket over you or take your shoes off or anything you just want to sleep lightly. You don't want to get into deep sleep because then you can end up sleeping for like 8 hours.
Most importantly, exercise and eat healthy. You'd be amazed at how easily you become hyperactive and lose your attention span when you don't exercise for a long time. This semester took me forever to study long because i just didn't have the endurance and energy to sustain me. Run for 40 minutes at the most. You have to find the will-power and motivation to do this though. But oncey ou do this, you will save dozens of hours when studying (and will be more productive while studying).
Leave partying for friday nights only and don't drink too much otherwise it'll mess you up and stay away from girls or guys because there just isn't enough time for a relationship.
Get old tests, quizzes, answers from older students.
Find the motivation why you want to study these classes because will-power alone can only work for a limited time. Even if you don't like a subject that much, consider how it will affect you are as a physician because every class you take adds to your medical experience.
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shinenjk said:
i used to think the same way when I was in undergrad....
...sigh, those were the days! 🙁
Depends what kind of test i'm taking:
For essay exams in the humanities, the professors are usually looking for specific examples from the readings. To study for these I spend a few hours (more if the professor is very demanding) digging through the readings looking for choice quotes, statistics, arguments, anything that I can use as an example. After that, I spend an hour or 2 memorizing and planning out my essays.
For biology/history multiple choice/short answer exams, I outline all the chapters, making sure to write out all the bold-faced words in the text and their definitions. This usually takes me about 5-15 minutes/page. When the exam comes I find just looking over the outlines a few times, sets me up fine to recall all the needed material. Make sure to understand any charts in bio textbooks.
For Chemistry/Physics/Math I generally skip all the reading material and go right to the problem sections, and, ideally, do them until I understand them all. Results and mileage may vary.
In terms of time required for each, Chem/Physics studying takes the longest, Bio/History 2nd longest, and Essay Exams are the shortest.
I don't think an average would be clear for me because its not really a day by day number. It is something like short bursts depending on the type of exam and other stuff I have going on at the time. Each of the above indicates ideal circumstance.
Hope this helped.
For essay exams in the humanities, the professors are usually looking for specific examples from the readings. To study for these I spend a few hours (more if the professor is very demanding) digging through the readings looking for choice quotes, statistics, arguments, anything that I can use as an example. After that, I spend an hour or 2 memorizing and planning out my essays.
For biology/history multiple choice/short answer exams, I outline all the chapters, making sure to write out all the bold-faced words in the text and their definitions. This usually takes me about 5-15 minutes/page. When the exam comes I find just looking over the outlines a few times, sets me up fine to recall all the needed material. Make sure to understand any charts in bio textbooks.
For Chemistry/Physics/Math I generally skip all the reading material and go right to the problem sections, and, ideally, do them until I understand them all. Results and mileage may vary.
In terms of time required for each, Chem/Physics studying takes the longest, Bio/History 2nd longest, and Essay Exams are the shortest.
I don't think an average would be clear for me because its not really a day by day number. It is something like short bursts depending on the type of exam and other stuff I have going on at the time. Each of the above indicates ideal circumstance.
Hope this helped.
hummm im not sure, i think it will be more this term.
I plan on doing research along with my classes and i want to go snowboading.......idk if i will have time for all 3?????
I plan on doing research along with my classes and i want to go snowboading.......idk if i will have time for all 3?????
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shinenjk said:
med students
I haven't studied anything since April 16th.
Me think gooey pink stuff in round hairy beachball has atrophied.
Me think gooey pink stuff in round hairy beachball has atrophied.
I'll admit it. . I'm a person that studies every day, and on weekends. Pepers are what drain time for me, I am such a procastinator when it comes to writing papers, but keeping up with material for classes is like a given.
It's a waste of time to worry about how much another person studies. Do what works best for you. Who cares if you spend six hours studying for calculus, when it only takes another person an hour? I study for about 5 hours a day, I never study on Friday and I usually study on the weekends for about 10 hours +. That's what works best for me. I only increase my study time slightly when finals are approaching.
