I don't know how to study effectively.

[World of Worlds]

There are many posts here about studying. The thing is, most of them are vague, rather eye-rolling success posts, like "Oh yeah I learned how to do 30 credit hours per semester, just time management. I still party 4x / week," or maybe "I only study 2 days before the exam. I also volunteer 169 hours each week and had research published in my senior year of high school; no biggie."

My scenario is this:
I am just starting the second semester of college (4.0 last semester, but little free time). My plan is to CC the first 2 years, then transfer to a state college to earn a BS in something to do with biology and possibly architecture... but anyway, I am having trouble studying. I study every day, one chapter of a subject at a time, then a short break, then on to the next chapter. I am taking 15 credits. It just seems like no matter how many subjects/chapters I study for the day, I'm always a little behind in something. I have to be extremely attentive in class to avoid missing something. A good chunk of my learning happens in class when I hear something for the first time and then have to learn additional knowledge based on the new thing that I just learned (relating concepts, hierarchical learning, etc). It's very frustrating to be on my toes all the time.

Am I picturing this the wrong way? Ideally I would like to be one chapter ahead in every class, and just attend lectures to reinforce knowledge / see what the professor values in/out of the book / pursue TA or research opportunities. As it is, my free time now revolves around 15-45 minute breaks in-between studying, and sometimes 11 hours of hanging out after work at a friend's house, including sleeping.

I haven't even started volunteering yet. Where does all of this time in the week come from??

To make a long story short, basically my question is this: Am I pursuing education the right way, and, how does everyone else have time to party twice a month? I hope this isn't one of those newbie neurotic posts. Gaaaah, it probably is. Just ignore me. I'll go away.

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[Doctor Strange]

Your problem is trying to read ahead. Don't. Nine times out of ten, the professor will want to highlight his own points in a chapter and will merely skim over other parts or not mention them altogether. Go to class, pay attention, absorb information, and then review within twenty-four hours.

 

[Titus Times]

I dont know whats different exactly in your case from others who party 4x a week, but I will say this, most of those students simply study early and focus on whats important. But I don't know what your study schedule is/ how much time your putting in to retain the information. It is about knowing the content thats important, and different students used varied methods like note cards, study guides, ect. and they work differently for each class and what the professor wants you to focus on.

 

[BABSstudent]

The first thing I do is find out what the teacher tests. In most (but not all) cases, the professor will test on his lecture. That means any additional information in the book is extra stuff that you don't need to know and is there if you want to learn more or are confused.

Therefore, instead o focusing chapter by chapter, go lecture by lecture. If you want to preread for class, check the lecture for the next day first. If you notice that the topics of the day are XYZ but the chapter covers A-Z, the professor probably will only teach the last bit of the chapter.

Hopefully that helps a little.

 

[JennWolf]

Read this book - http://www.amazon.com/Become-Straig...5&keywords=how+to+become+a+straight+a+student

It may sounds silly but this book completely changed how I work and how I study. I get distracted easily (like right now I should be working on chem homework) but honestly the tips and tricks in this book have helped me by leaps and bounds.
Things I took away from it was how to plan and organize by only taking 5 minutes a day to do so.
How to study efficiently instead of for hours and hours, which in the long run helps to retain more information.
How to take kick butt notes for both science and non-science classes.
Lastly how to write and edit papers far better without over working them.

Other than the book my suggestion and how I study for lecture classes is I skim over the topic we are going over, be it the power point or the book. I make note of the parts I think are important for me to pay special attention to which is usually things that I really know nothing about. From there I go to lecture and takes notes. I then go back through my notes, the book and power-points and put notes together from all three sources. It sounds like a lot but the outside class time I spend in a week on one class is perhaps 4 hours without counting review on test weeks.

 

[World of Worlds]

That sounds like good advice. I will read by lectures instead of by chapters, and see how it goes. Thanks!

 

[911 Turbo]

Step 1) open the book

Step 2) read

I find this method to work well

 

[World of Worlds]

Step 1) open the book

Step 2) read

I find this method to work well

 

[HughMyron]

Stop playing DotA, chatting on facebook, and fapping.

Some people work best in short bursts, such as 40 minutes on, 5-10 minutes off. Maybe you're one of these people.

Make sure you're getting healthy amounts of rest.

 

[CrimsonKing]

Stop playing DotA, chatting on facebook, and fapping.

Some people work best in short bursts, such as 40 minutes on, 5-10 minutes off. Maybe you're one of these people.

Make sure you're getting healthy amounts of rest.

1. DotA is a waste of time.
2. Facebook is a waste of time.
3. Fapping is good for your health, don't stop doing that.

Definitely make sure you're getting sleep. Also, try to lift.

 

[911 Turbo]

1. DotA is a waste of time.
2. Facebook is a waste of time.
3. Fapping is good for your health, don't stop doing that.

Definitely make sure you're getting sleep. Also, try to lift.

DotA is actually a really good game

 

[HughMyron]

DotA sucks mad balls. I mean, League is really boring, and I couldn't bring myself to keep playing it, so I tried DotA...it's like they took all the good stuff out of league, raised the mechanical skillcap to infinity, and made the community even worse (if that was possible). It's impossible to get into.

 

[carnelian]

Try balancing out your classes -- take a mix of science and humanities courses. If you're taking an English class, pre-read some of the books before the start of the semester. For math-heavy/problem solving courses (eg. chem, physics, orgo), do practice problems during short breaks (eg. did you get to class early and have 15 extra minutes?). The mix can also prevent burnout. If you get tired after studying 2hrs of orgo, switch to a different subject for a while.

There's also down-time during research if you're doing projects that involve incubations. Use the time to study. Transportation time to get to your volunteer site? Take out those flash cards! These short intervals add up.

Someone mentioned this before, but it's not always necessary to read the textbook. For lecture-only classes, you don't even have to buy a textbook (as long as you're following along). Study smart.

Once you start volunteering, you'll make it work somehow. It was quite surprising the amount that I can accomplish once I commit to it. It doesn't feel that way now, but it'll work out.

Good luck!

 

[Planes2Doc]

Here's what I did to succeed in undergrad... Find out who your professors are!

Not all professors are the same. I used whatever sources I could to get the info on how their classes are run, whether talking to upperclassmen, using Ratemyprofessor.com, or other sources.

I found out that a majority of my professors ended up testing solely from the notes provided in class. In that case, a whole lot of time was saved instead of reading chapters. That's why it's usually a good idea to go to class in undergrad, unlike in medical school.

Otherwise, professors usually specify what parts of the chapters they want you to read. Reading extra material can throw you off. I learned this the hard way in medical school in certain classes. Even if there is assigned reading, make sure you find out if the reading will even be relevant to the exams! If you can come to class every day, take notes, and then study from those notes. It will make your life much easier.

 

[911 Turbo]

DotA sucks mad balls. I mean, League is really boring, and I couldn't bring myself to keep playing it, so I tried DotA...it's like they took all the good stuff out of league, raised the mechanical skillcap to infinity, and made the community even worse (if that was possible). It's impossible to get into.

It requires actual skill brah.... Unlike LoL

 

[MedPR]

I suggest picking up a copy of D2 and LOD.. or Diablo classic. Both are excellent for learning how to focus for hours nonstop.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using SDN Mobile

 

[IslandStyle808]

There are many posts here about studying. The thing is, most of them are vague, rather eye-rolling success posts, like "Oh yeah I learned how to do 30 credit hours per semester, just time management. I still party 4x / week," or maybe "I only study 2 days before the exam. I also volunteer 169 hours each week and had research published in my senior year of high school; no biggie."

My scenario is this:
I am just starting the second semester of college (4.0 last semester, but little free time). My plan is to CC the first 2 years, then transfer to a state college to earn a BS in something to do with biology and possibly architecture... but anyway, I am having trouble studying. I study every day, one chapter of a subject at a time, then a short break, then on to the next chapter. I am taking 15 credits. It just seems like no matter how many subjects/chapters I study for the day, I'm always a little behind in something. I have to be extremely attentive in class to avoid missing something. A good chunk of my learning happens in class when I hear something for the first time and then have to learn additional knowledge based on the new thing that I just learned (relating concepts, hierarchical learning, etc). It's very frustrating to be on my toes all the time.

Am I picturing this the wrong way? Ideally I would like to be one chapter ahead in every class, and just attend lectures to reinforce knowledge / see what the professor values in/out of the book / pursue TA or research opportunities. As it is, my free time now revolves around 15-45 minute breaks in-between studying, and sometimes 11 hours of hanging out after work at a friend's house, including sleeping.

I haven't even started volunteering yet. Where does all of this time in the week come from??

To make a long story short, basically my question is this: Am I pursuing education the right way, and, how does everyone else have time to party twice a month? I hope this isn't one of those newbie neurotic posts. Gaaaah, it probably is. Just ignore me. I'll go away.

The notes and what is said in class is HIGH YEILD. The book is LOW YEILD.

I have commented on these threads about this quite a bit, so I will cut and paste a strategy I have mentioned in a previous thread.

It is good to be meticulous at first and then try to make your study methods more efficient later on. You will find later on, through college, that reading the book and "every detail" is low yield (however, keep what you are doing for now). A more effective method would be to print out the lecture notes, go over it before class, then go over it after class, and then look into the books for detail the lecture notes you don't understand. When you take more classes, you will find that most professors don't follow the books very much. The high yield material is usually stuff that is gone over in class. The low yield material will be all the miscellaneous material in the book that has not been mentioned in class.

My suggestion is the following:
1) Continue what you are doing for now
2) Now integrate what I have mentioned in the paragraph
3) This means printing the powerpoint/lecture notes (if there are any)
4) Skim over the note before class and make question points for material you don't understand or have questions on
5) Listen to lecture to see if these question points are answered and add in extra detail from the lecture
6) Review the material after class.
7) Those questions not answered from the lecture notes (whether printed or written in class) look in the book for answers to these questions
8) Have mini reviews at the end of the week for all the material (nothing too intense)
9) Study for the exam (use the best study techniques in your arsenal)
10) Take the exam and get the results back
11) From there, see what way of studying was most effective (was just looking at the notes enough or was reading every detail in the book necessary?)
12) Use the most effective strategies from here on out.

Hopefully the study tips have helped you though.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Here's what I did to succeed in undergrad... Find out who your professors are!

Not all professors are the same. I used whatever sources I could to get the info on how their classes are run, whether talking to upperclassmen, using Ratemyprofessor.com, or other sources.

I found out that a majority of my professors ended up testing solely from the notes provided in class. In that case, a whole lot of time was saved instead of reading chapters. That's why it's usually a good idea to go to class in undergrad, unlike in medical school.

Otherwise, professors usually specify what parts of the chapters they want you to read. Reading extra material can throw you off. I learned this the hard way in medical school in certain classes. Even if there is assigned reading, make sure you find out if the reading will even be relevant to the exams! If you can come to class every day, take notes, and then study from those notes. It will make your life much easier.

This statement has so much WIN!

Ask the professors for their syllabi the semester before you plan to take the class. This will show around when you tests could potentially be and if the class is a ridiculous amount of work or not.

 

[TheVillain]

One of the best ways to study is 90 minutes of intensive work followed by a 15-20 minute break. What matters is discipline and effective time block management. Get a planner, write down all due dates, projects, and other important material you need to cover. Afterward you create a block of time dedicated to your studying time and soon enough you will get into a disciplined regime..I've started doing that and noticed impressive results.