How to study smarter and not harder.

[JustLookingforAnswers]

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Greetings members of StudentDoctor.Net,

Anyone have any advice on how to study smarter and not harder? I am currently in College and of course there is going to be a point in time where I will stumble across a course that requires a significant amount of material in a short amount of time. Any advice on how to handle a big course load but still get an A? I am ashamed to say this lol, but I am a perfectionist...So if a Professor tells me to read 1,000 pages the next day...I will read the whole 1,000 pages. I do end up getting the better grade but I feel as though there could be short cuts, if you know what I mean.

Advice?

Thanks in advance.

 

[AnonPanda1]

My advice for you is that the path you are on has no short cut. That being said, there are definitely longer pathways.

Do what works best for you for studying. There's a common advice that floats around saying that you should study with 1 or 2 people. For some people, group studying is actually detrimental even when the people you study with are more knowledgeable.

For each professor, figure out their "style". Figure out how they expect you to answer exam questions, what kind of questions they may ask, and where they might get them from whether it's from their practice problems online or in the textbook.

You learn to also make "sacrifices". For example, one of my professors would drop one of 3 exams given that the exam you drop wasn't that significantly different. In other words, you still had to try. I did well on the first 2 exams and did okay on the third. On the third exam, I was preoccupied with the MCAT and reallocated time for it. Time management is key for life. Needless to say, with my MCAT score, it was well worth the sacrifice. You can't maximize effort on everything. That's a recipe for burn out. You maximize what's important to you.

 

[Pyruvate]

I would highly recommend reading the blog Study Hacks. It has a gold mine of suggestions of ways to make your studying more efficient.

 

[confidentandgood]

For each professor, figure out their "style". Figure out how they expect you to answer exam questions, what kind of questions they may ask, and where they might get them from whether it's from their practice problems online or in the textbook.

+1 to this. Your study habits will change depending on the professor and course, especially if you're a non-science major (writing ten-page essays for two classes + organic chemistry = essential time management).

 

[JustLookingforAnswers]

Thank you guys for your help and suggestions. It really means a lot. I really want to excel and do well, but I always have that horrible urge to earn an A in everything...Like you have said, I will just have to make some sacrifices instead of being mentally burned out. I will use your suggestions of Study Hacks.

Thank you everyone.

 

[Goro]

Get to your school's learning or education center. They exist for the very question you're asking.

Greetings members of StudentDoctor.Net,

Anyone have any advice on how to study smarter and not harder? I am currently in College and of course there is going to be a point in time where I will stumble across a course that requires a significant amount of material in a short amount of time. Any advice on how to handle a big course load but still get an A? I am ashamed to say this lol, but I am a perfectionist...So if a Professor tells me to read 1,000 pages the next day...I will read the whole 1,000 pages. I do end up getting the better grade but I feel as though there could be short cuts, if you know what I mean.

Advice?

Thanks in advance.

 

[To be MD]

I'd say start with this, Marty Lobdell's "Study Less, Study Smart"

I'd reinforce it with this, Khan Academy's lectures on Memory & Encoding Strategies

After that thorough introduction, I would recommend Tim Ferris's 4-Hour Workweek
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I wish I had known about these materials when I was younger. Good luck.

 

[partypantss]

Greetings members of StudentDoctor.Net,

Anyone have any advice on how to study smarter and not harder? I am currently in College and of course there is going to be a point in time where I will stumble across a course that requires a significant amount of material in a short amount of time. Any advice on how to handle a big course load but still get an A? I am ashamed to say this lol, but I am a perfectionist...So if a Professor tells me to read 1,000 pages the next day...I will read the whole 1,000 pages. I do end up getting the better grade but I feel as though there could be short cuts, if you know what I mean.

Advice?

Thanks in advance.

I agree with the sentiment some others have said which is tailoring your studying to your professor. To me, the first exam of a class is a learning experience and often my lowest score of the semester. Once you have seen that first exam, the professor has revealed their hand. You should be paying attention to what it is they are focusing on, where they are getting their questions from, what level of detail they care about. Often printed out notes by the professor are MUCH more valuable than blindly reading textbook chapters. I also think that the main way being in class helps improve your score is that it's another chance to pay attention to what the professor emphasizes, what they do and don't care about and sometimes they will straight up tell you what is and is not on the test. Those are points you're earning on the next test just while paying attention in class.

The other side is figuring out what is the most effective for you. For me, explaining things out loud to myself helps me retain the information much faster than if I silently read. That saves time.

 

[Lucca]

I don't think there is a single magical method. However, there are many ways in which you can avoid studying badly. Turn off SDN, Facebook, Reddit, etc. stay off your phone. Download one of the apps that yells at you if you open your phone during a certain time period if you need to. Personally, I like to keep "work" and "play" spaces totally separate or at least keep a schedule whenever it is possible to do so (the latter is much easier said than done). It at least helps me stay as focused as possible when working and when I am goofing off on the Internet, playing video games, reading, or watching Netflix I do it guilt free because I keep my work and play separate from one another. Lots of people just seem to study for hours and hours but very inefficiently. Hell I know people who have Netflix in the background 100% of the day no matter what they are doing. That sounds like hell to me and all it tells me is that they are trying to avoid actually having to experience the work they are doing at all costs, even if they sacrifice all of their free time, which is even more depressing.