How to consistently perform well?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Turkishking

Turkishking

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2015
Messages
2,446
Reaction score
1,215
Members don't see this ad.
Recently took a Bio exam. I got the second highest in the class with a 94. I missed two questions. But the answers I missed, I overthought. Someone else got a 100. How do I improve? How do I consistently stay on top? Seems like whenever I take a MCQ exam, I always miss one or two questions. I want to minimize that mistake.
 
Last edited:
Take a deep breath. go for a walk. Its spring, go find some flowers and smell them.

I am being slightly sarcastic here but also serious - a 94 is great, especially if it's the second highest score. Don't beat yourself up, learning to relax might help you with the overthinking problem.
 
Turkishking said:
Recently took a Bio exam. I got the second highest in the class with a 94. I missed two questions. But the answers I missed, I overthought. Someone else got a 100. How do I improve? How do I consistently stay on top? Seems like whenever I take a MCQ exam, I always miss one or two questions. I want to minimize that mistake.
Click to expand...
Missing one or two questions on an MCQ exam is minimizing the mistake. Stop gauging your success by whether someone else does better. There will always be someone who does better.
 
You got an A... the best you can do is realize you overthought it and not do that again. But more importantly You’re never going to be happy always trying to do better than someone else. In fact, it’s likely to make you severely unhappy and make others resent you. Try to be the best person you can be and realize that goes beyond grades
 
TelemarketingEnigma said:
Take a deep breath. go for a walk. Its spring, go find some flowers and smell them.

I am being slightly sarcastic here but also serious - a 94 is great, especially if it's the second highest score. Don't beat yourself up, learning to relax might help you with the overthinking problem.
Click to expand...
I have a lab report to finish, then I need to study.
 
Are you saying a 94% isn’t performing well?
 
Part of scoring well is being smart about the test, not just studying the most. Ask yourself if the professor is really trying to trick you with the answer that looks correct on first read. The answer is probably no, they're not trying to trick people, so don't overthink it if there's a straightforward correct option.
 
If you spend less time worrying about bull**** (you got an A anyways) and posting on SDN for something we can't even help you with, maybe you can review your notes or find practice questions online to test yourself more often. If you get them wrong when doing practice questions, you won't get them wrong during the real exam.
 
I think you should focus on spending time having more fun so that missing two questions on an exam doesn’t result in posting on SDN, I promise you’ll like your life more.
Very serious and not trying to be a dick
 
Welshman said:
I think you should focus on spending time having more fun so that missing two questions on an exam doesn’t result in posting on SDN, I promise you’ll like your life more.
Very serious and not trying to be a dick
Click to expand...
I do enjoy my life though 🙂 I do spend 20 minutes maybe every Friday or so and take a nap or watch a funny video.
 
1. Be intelligent
2. Don’t be unintelligent
3. Be smart

Jk, I guess hard working also. The most productive study method is questions and more questions, used profitably with attention to the reasons why the right answer is right and the wrong answers are wrong and what cognitive biases are leading you to select the wrong answer when you do. If you find you are choosing correct answers to start with then overthinking your way into choosing incorrect answers, stop changing your answers.
 
siliso said:
1. Be intelligent
2. Don’t be unintelligent
3. Be smart

Jk, I guess hard working also. The most productive study method is questions and more questions, used profitably with attention to the reasons why the right answer is right and the wrong answer is wrong and what cognitive biases are leading you to select the wrong answer when you do.
Click to expand...
I look at the professors sample example, and rewrite a question once I've finished studying, and write out why it's correct or false.
 
Welshman said:
I’m sorry if it’s not, but this thread sounds like a late April fools joke...
Click to expand...
I'm kidding. Maybe every Friday I'll visit my family members and hang out for a couple of hours and sleep. I'm not sure why I have to defend my social life when my question was directed toward how to consistently perform at the top or be the highest scorer on exams.
 
Last edited:
Turkishking said:
I look at the professors sample example, and rewrite a question once I've finished studying, and write out why it's correct or false.
Click to expand...

Good stuff. The resources for qbanks aren’t so developed for undergrad but practice/study questions from your textbook or other (ethical, don’t go stealing old tests) resources could still be worthwhile. There are only so many topics per exam and ways they can be tested, and advanced practice will still be profitable. There’s no study method that can eliminate 1 or 2 missed qs though really - so it’s good that you don’t need a 100% to get an A.

Don’t listen to people who claim it’s unreasonable to shoot for an A+ and tweak your process to get one. Of course it is reasonable and they’re shooting for As too if they’re wise. It’s a profession that uniquely rewards MCQ exam success from start to finish, so if you’ve got a native talent for them and capacity to improve performance even more then good for you.
 
Turkishking said:
I'm kidding. Maybe every Friday I'll visit my family members and hang out for a couple of hours and sleep. I'm not sure why I have to defend my social life when my question was directed toward how to consistently perform at the top or be the highest scorer on exams.
Click to expand...

I guess the issue is that nobody really sees why you’re angry. A 94% is an objectively good score. You aren’t going to get 100% on every exam and it doesn’t make sense to think you will.

When your professor inputs that 94 average into blackboard and then prints your grades at the end of the semester, it’ll say ‘A’.

They don’t differentiate between an “94%” A and a “Super 100% and I got the extra credit question right too because **** everyone else’s curve” A for medical school.

Just relax.
 
FlavivirusProtease said:
I guess the issue is that nobody really sees why you’re angry. A 94% is an objectively good score. You aren’t going to get 100% on every exam and it doesn’t make sense to think you will.

When your professor inputs that 94 average into blackboard and then prints your grades at the end of the semester, it’ll say ‘A’.

They don’t differentiate between an “94%” A and a “Super 100% and I got the extra credit question right too because **** everyone else’s curve” A for medical school.

Just relax.
Click to expand...
Yeah but then when you walk out of that exam room, and see the silly mistakes you made you get mad. And you try harder. At least I do. I'll try 1000x harder from now on.
 
Turkishking said:
Yeah but then when you walk out of that exam room, and see the silly mistakes you made you get mad. And you try harder. At least I do. I'll try 1000x harder from now on.
Click to expand...

I agree.

You should go through the thought process of how you made that answer choice and avoid making the same mistake again.

On the other hand, you should not kill yourself over this.

It’s an A by the most stringent of rules. The highest A you’ll ever see is 94%. I’ve had a bunch of biology classes with an A from 90. Hell, my Ochem 4 class had an A from 70%.
 
Don’t try to pretend we’re not all mostly perfectionists by temperament. OP you’re doing fine though, obviously, and I think you know it. If you’re consistently pulling As then you are consistently performing well, though it’s admirable to consistently strive for your maximum potential.
 
siliso said:
Don’t try to pretend we’re not all mostly perfectionists by temperament. OP you’re doing fine though, obviously, and I think you know it. If you’re consistently pulling As then you are consistently performing well, though it’s admirable to consistently strive for your maximum potential.
Click to expand...
I do have a semester where I slipped up.. But I learn from my mistakes, at least I think.
 
I could make an argument though that if you are consistently pulling As in your courses then your perfectionist time might be more profitably spent maximizing your chances to murder the MCAT. Which is questions but also wide critical reading from high quality literature and social sciences.

Rewriting and rereading tends to be on the low yield side, all things considered. Application and synthesis more fruitful. But everyone is different in what works for them.
 
siliso said:
Don’t try to pretend we’re not all mostly perfectionists by temperament. OP you’re doing fine though, obviously, and I think you know it. If you’re consistently pulling As then you are consistently performing well, though it’s admirable to consistently strive for your maximum potential.
Click to expand...

Striving for perfection is not the same as being a perfectionist.

I always strive for perfection in my studies.

I would never call myself a perfectionist.

Being a perfectionist has to do more with how you deal with failure than how you work towards success. It’s a very nuanced difference.
 
Last edited:
siliso said:
I could make an argument though that if you are consistently pulling As in your courses then your perfectionist time might be more profitably spent maximizing your chances to murder the MCAT. Which is questions but also wide critical reading from high quality literature and social sciences.
Click to expand...
For the MCAT, I am going to go all out, and see how I do. I've been reading a plethora of high quality literature. I've also taken so many social science classes and English classes where I am writing papers every 3 days. And I've been scoring 100's on each one. But after a while, writing and reading so much gets tiring.
 
For instance. Me and my people have no problems whatever with say CARS and social/behavioral sciences and welcome them as the easy ass parts of the tests. I think this is because of broad interests and consistent reading in novels, current events and nonfiction for pleasure.
 
I agree you could construe perfectionism in a negative or pathological way, a trait that keeps you paralyzed from doing what needs done in a timely manner. As a temperament (not a rigid personality disorder) disposed to pursuing the best possible outcome though, I think it’s good for doctors.
 
21Rush12 said:
@HomeSkool do they make midazolam that you can administer by email?
Click to expand...
No, but you can pick these up at your local pharmacy or in specially marked boxes of cereal:
c31e055db93e749d31c211bfdfcaa902.jpg
 
The difference between a 90 and a 100 isn't going to affect anything in the future. There are diminishing returns to studying such that you could spend 100 hours memorizing every small detail before an exam but you're going to forget the small stuff afterwards and it's not going to be useful to you in the future. Your time is better spent doing other things.
 
aldol16 said:
The difference between a 90 and a 100 isn't going to affect anything in the future. There are diminishing returns to studying such that you could spend 100 hours memorizing every small detail before an exam but you're going to forget the small stuff afterwards and it's not going to be useful to you in the future. Your time is better spent doing other things.
Click to expand...
90=3.7 at my university
 
Ribonucleic Acid said:
Have you tried being smarter?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Click to expand...
You know speaking of that, I've actually had times where I would think about that for hours. Do I start to blame my parents? This was during my deep thinking phase, which I have quite a bit. I've just accepted the fact that, I am who I am 🙂
 
Turkishking said:
You know speaking of that, I've actually had times where I would think about that for hours. Do I start to blame my parents? Who can I blame? This was during my deep thinking phase, which I have quite a bit. I've just accepted the fact that, I am who I am 🙂
Click to expand...

I think they showed general intelligence was mostly genetics based. So blame away at your parents.

Source: Genome-wide association studies establish that human intelligence is highly heritable and polygenic
 
Goro said:
Your UG's GPA system doesn't count..it's what AMCAS takes that counts
Click to expand...

In this case I believe his UG system would make a difference. Say at someones schools a 90 is an A- and at another school it is just an A, AMCAS only sees the letter grade so the schools system would matter. Or for example, if his UG is on a percent system a 90 according to AMCAS is a 3.7 if his school uses that scale (they have different scales depending on what percent system your UG uses). There are some cases though in which AMCAS does overrule UG system, for example, my UG uses a 3.67 for an A- while AMCAS uses 3.7. So my AMCAS GPA is slightly higher than the GPA my school calculates. However, I could be using this wrong.

https://wayne.edu/advising/pre-health/pdf/amcas_grade_conversion_guide.pdf
 
FlavivirusProtease said:
I think they showed general intelligence was mostly genetics based. So blame away at your parents.

Source: Genome-wide association studies establish that human intelligence is highly heritable and polygenic
Click to expand...
Gilakend said:
In this case I believe his UG system would make a difference. Say at someones schools a 90 is an A- and at another school it is just an A, AMCAS only sees the letter grade so the schools system would matter. Or for example, if his UG is on a percent system a 90 according to AMCAS is a 3.7 if his school uses that scale (they have different scales depending on what percent system your UG uses). There are some cases though in which AMCAS does overrule UG system, for example, my UG uses a 3.67 for an A- while AMCAS uses 3.7. So my AMCAS GPA is slightly higher than the GPA by school calculates. However, I could be using this wrong.

https://wayne.edu/advising/pre-health/pdf/amcas_grade_conversion_guide.pdf
Click to expand...
Oops, A- at my University is a 3.67 I was going based off of AMCAS.
 
Chillax man. Absolutely no reason to beat yourself up. It's not healthy to obsess over grades this much. If you won't accept anything less than perfect I don't know what to tell you.We are human. We make mistakes. It's okay.
 
Scoring 94% is good enough. Learn to distinguish between what's a problem and what's not. Relax, and practice forgiving yourself and others for being human. As a physician, you'll have to forgive certain patients for a lot sometimes with patience and compassion. Read @HomeSkool 's latest blog post and start volunteering at the hospital if you don't know what I mean.
 
Nobody’s prefect, when you make mistakes learn from them. Try not to make the same mistake twice.
 
Prometheus123 said:
Scoring 94% is good enough. Learn to distinguish between what's a problem and what's not. Relax, and practice forgiving yourself and others for being human. As a physician, you'll have to forgive certain patients for a lot sometimes with patience and compassion. Read @HomeSkool 's latest blog post and start volunteering at the hospital if you don't know what I mean.
Click to expand...
I have over 400 hours of clinical volunteering, as I started before College.
 
Turkishking said:
I have over 400 hours of clinical volunteering, as I started before College.
Click to expand...

Good.

Being driven to improve is good. However, chronic anger is not. We need to remember why we're doing this. Ultimately, we serve the people.

This is always a fun challenge for me that you might enjoy too: next time you volunteer, try to empathize with a patient. Try to connect. Once you can see what they're feeling, do what you can to make them feel some kind of positive emotion, even though you have no medical scope of practice. Then, never tell anyone about it.
 
Turkishking said:
90=3.7 at my university
Click to expand...

AMCAS standardizes everything. Also, 3.7 vs. 4.0 doesn't matter that much in the long run. I know it seems like it matters a lot now but in the future, you'll look back and think "Wow, I was worrying about that???"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

idkwhat
  • Question Question
how to do well in Orgo II?
Replies
11
Views
1K
idkwhat
idkwhat
premedbarista
How to write “gap year” secondary well if all I’m doing is working?
Replies
1
Views
499
wysdoc
wysdoc
P
How to shadow a psychiatrist?
Replies
2
Views
307
LizzyM
LizzyM
B
How to split up activities section?
Replies
1
Views
141
Catalystik
Catalystik
Q
  • Question Question
How to answer research interest questions?
Replies
3
Views
427
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Top