Normal to forget?

[currentlypremed]

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I took a really tough gen chem class last semester with a professor that supposedly prepares you for organic chemistry and the MCAT however the problem is that I forgot nearly everything I learned. I have noticed that I don't retain information for long and I just want to know whether this is normal? Is there any way of increasing retention of material over a long period of time? An example was my biology final last semester where our final exam was cumulative. Is it normal that I couldnt remember any of the material from the beginning after 3 months?

 

[Praefectus]

Study a small amount every day (~1 hour or two) and try to tie the material into daily life somehow.

 

[ShenanigansMD]

Lol, I definitely forgot most of what I learned. I just need refreshers though and I can get right back into the game.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Hah, just wait till you're in Ochem2 and learn about 140 mechanisms that you'll forget within 3 months. But no it's normal, it's the use it or lose it principle.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Not only is it normal, it's textbook cognitive psychology. Your memory declines at an inverse exponential rate until you hit an asymptote at around 3 months at which point you've forgotten most of what you'll forget. The only way to stave it off is to keep recalling the information; ie "if you don't use it, you lose it".

 

[mulberry]

I took gen chem 2 in 5 weeks over the summer. Believe me, I forget just about everything I learned in that class.

 

[grapepopsicle]

Yeah, but if you did well in the class it won't take too long to re-learn the important content for the MCAT.

 

[currentlypremed]

Well thats a relief, I though my brain was shutting down on me

 

[kpcrew]

I think it's more important to learn all the fundamentals. Instead of memorizing that this does that, try finding out why and how things happen. It will help you with information recall for the exam and in the future.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

I took a really tough gen chem class last semester with a professor that supposedly prepares you for organic chemistry and the MCAT however the problem is that I forgot nearly everything I learned. I have noticed that I don't retain information for long and I just want to know whether this is normal? Is there any way of increasing retention of material over a long period of time? An example was my biology final last semester where our final exam was cumulative. Is it normal that I couldnt remember any of the material from the beginning after 3 months?

I felt like this when I first started studying for the MCAT. After a day or two, everything started clicking again. You don't lose it all, I promise. You just have to force yourself to remember it.

 

[Black Mamba24]

I took gen chem 2 in 5 weeks over the summer. Believe me, I forget just about everything I learned in that class.

Same here. Except it was biochem for me over 6 weeks... and I just finished this past friday.