PS-1 Grades

[PreciousThings9]

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Hey fellow PharmD Candidates -

I am half way through my first year and feeling a little anxious about my grades. I guess I'm trying to get an idea of whether I am overreacting or not. My average exam scores have been in the B- / C+ range. My undergrad GPA was 3.7, so I'm just not used to working my tail off and ending up with such low scores.

Our course load is at about 19 hours right now (quarter hours) and I would estimate that I spend about 30 hours outside of class studying. When I talk to my classmates, most of them seem to be spending a lot less time than that. I just feel like I'm putting in more book time and getting not so great scores - so I am frustrated. I feel like I must be doing something wrong!

If anyone had any practical study tips on how to use time more effectively and achieve higher scores, please share.

thanks 😕

 

[winter32842]

Hey fellow PharmD Candidates -

I am half way through my first year and feeling a little anxious about my grades. I guess I'm trying to get an idea of whether I am overreacting or not. My average exam scores have been in the B- / C+ range. My undergrad GPA was 3.7, so I'm just not used to working my tail off and ending up with such low scores.

Our course load is at about 19 hours right now (quarter hours) and I would estimate that I spend about 30 hours outside of class studying. When I talk to my classmates, most of them seem to be spending a lot less time than that. I just feel like I'm putting in more book time and getting not so great scores - so I am frustrated. I feel like I must be doing something wrong!

If anyone had any practical study tips on how to use time more effectively and achieve higher scores, please share.

thanks 😕

Do not worry, I got B-\C+ range too in my P1 year. I actually thought I was not going to make it and I wanted to transfer to another college. I made a post about it too on this board, you can check it out. The difference between you and me is I never studied (I did not even look the notes or attend lecture) till the night before the exam. I constantly used to pull all-nighters and crammed all the materials in. I always used to say to myself, "I pulled a miracle".

I am in P2. Last semester was my best semester in my profession year. To me, P2 is way easier than P1. The material, I believe, is easier than P1 and P2 year requires less studying. Basically, if you know everything for one class (say pharmacology), you are good for all of your other classes (ie therapeutics, medicinal chemistry). Basically, there is lot of repetition of the materials and thus it requires less studying.

 

[FarscapeGirl]

The GPA of everyone just about drops for pharmacy and grad school. Think about it, the students that actually got in are the best of the best.

Grades aren't as important. I still shoot for above a 3.0, but as long as I get above a 2.0, I'll be happy.

What is important is learning. And improving.

 

[Style]

Hey fellow PharmD Candidates -

I am half way through my first year and feeling a little anxious about my grades. I guess I'm trying to get an idea of whether I am overreacting or not. My average exam scores have been in the B- / C+ range. My undergrad GPA was 3.7, so I'm just not used to working my tail off and ending up with such low scores.

Our course load is at about 19 hours right now (quarter hours) and I would estimate that I spend about 30 hours outside of class studying. When I talk to my classmates, most of them seem to be spending a lot less time than that. I just feel like I'm putting in more book time and getting not so great scores - so I am frustrated. I feel like I must be doing something wrong!

If anyone had any practical study tips on how to use time more effectively and achieve higher scores, please share.

thanks 😕

Depends on if you want to do a residency as to whether or not grades would be important in the long run.

First year is usually an adjustment to the workload so not getting As on everything isn't uncommon.

It's about learning how the professor tests, what they focus more on during lecture and if the material covered is based more from textbook reading or lecture material. Recording lectures can be helpful if you feel like you have a hard time capturing the information. Also, some organizations may have "study guides" so ask around, esp the upperclassmen. Ask the upperclassmen how they best studied and see what may work for you.

Some people learn better in a group environment. Try that, but keep the groups small or else you'll just have a lot of people talking about various things that aren't related to the subject at hand.

In the end, grades are grades. You're in pharmacy school now so it's not so much about competition like it was in undergrad but more about learning the material, getting through pharmacy school, and getting that license to practice pharmacy.

 

[Style]

Do not worry, I got B-\C+ range too in my P1 year. I actually thought I was not going to make it and I wanted to transfer to another college. I made a post about it too on this board, you can check it out. The difference between you and me is I never studied (I did not even look the notes or attend lecture) till the night before the exam. I constantly used to pull all-nighters and crammed all the materials in. I always used to say to myself, "I pulled a miracle".

I am in P2. Last semester was my best semester in my profession year. To me, P2 is way easier than P1. The material, I believe, is easier than P1 and P2 year requires less studying. Basically, if you know everything for one class (say pharmacology), you are good for all of your other classes (ie therapeutics, medicinal chemistry). Basically, there is lot of repetition of the materials and thus it requires less studying.

To you P2 may be easier than P1 but it shouldn't be a generalization. I understand you're just talking about your experience.

Every school has their course work set up differently so you'll have to ask the current pharmacy students of your pharmacy school to see what they think the hardest or easiest year is.

For example, some may think Law is a hard class and I've seen it taught during the first year for one pharmacy school but in the third year for another pharmacy school.

 

[winter32842]

Hey fellow PharmD Candidates -

I am half way through my first year and feeling a little anxious about my grades. I guess I'm trying to get an idea of whether I am overreacting or not. My average exam scores have been in the B- / C+ range. My undergrad GPA was 3.7, so I'm just not used to working my tail off and ending up with such low scores.

Our course load is at about 19 hours right now (quarter hours) and I would estimate that I spend about 30 hours outside of class studying. When I talk to my classmates, most of them seem to be spending a lot less time than that. I just feel like I'm putting in more book time and getting not so great scores - so I am frustrated. I feel like I must be doing something wrong!

If anyone had any practical study tips on how to use time more effectively and achieve higher scores, please share.

thanks 😕

What kind of courses are you taking?

I can not give you study tips since I do not know the courses and the nature of your professors.

If the professor test you solely based on lectures that he/she presented, then record the lecture and listen to it. Most of my fellow classmates including me record the lecture and listen to the lecture over again for better understanding.

These are the steps that I do for studying, just follow them and you will do really good, trust me. Unfortunately, I never finish the steps because I always ran out of time (yes, I am very lazy).

1) Study and memorize the material first. If you are reading from a book, go sentence by sentence and make sure you understand a sentence before going to the next sentence

- Always have paper and pen with you and write down any question you have (write down page number also)

- if you do not understand a word or concept, stop and look it up online (wikipedia) before proceeding

2) make very small notes for yourself (try to condense big section to small sentences or small paragraphs; keep deleting words that are not necessary)

- also make flashcards

3) After you know all the material really good, go to the web and find same material (usually power point) from different school and study them. Those materials are usually stated different ways, which help you to understand the material better.

4) go to wikipedia and youtube and look up videos and articles relating to your material

5) look for practice exam online and try to complete the exam. If you get any question wrong, try to find out why you got it wrong

6) read all of your small notes before the exam and take the exam

 

[winter32842]

PreciousThings9, follow my steps that I listed above and I promise you that you will get above 85.

Every time I competed the steps, I got above 90.

**I forgot mention above, always make flashcards when you are making your notes.

 

[littlepooh]

This is how I study...

1st... I don't read any books in pharmacy because I think reading is a waste of time. Also, I don't even have time to read. I just bring the recorder to class, and I type down word by word..i type down everything they say in class..it takes time to do that but it worth it... i always get above 85% on every exam. Everything is from the lecture..and nothing from the book at all. Just record the lecture and type down word by word....also..DO NOT COMPARE WITH other students in class.it's so redicolous to compare with them..i don't even care about them at all. I just know if I get above class average..i am happy.

Even when i go to class, I don't even understand what are they talking about at all, but when i go home to listen to the lecture carefully and take a really good notes, it helps out A LOT A LOT...exams are from the lecture 90%

 

[littlepooh]

My roommate and I always team up. I always bring laptop to class and a recorder. I type very fast. Everything they say in the class, I don't understand anything, but I just type type type type...when i go home, i listen to the lecture again and type what i missed in class. If you have a complete note..u study super fast ....for others..they have to ask their friend for help b/c they don't have a complete note..and when they read the power point, they don't even understand at all. In pharmacy, we just want to focus on the main points to study..we don't want to read book before class b/c 20 credits hours..we don't even have time to read before class..even u read before class..u don't understand 100%everything from the book...anyway...it works for me!!

 

[PreciousThings9]

Thank you for all of the positive feedback. I really appreciate hearing about everyone's study tips / methods. I'm going to keep trying differnt things and see what works for me. A couple of people mentioned recording the lectures, so I will probably invest in a recording device.

My school is really good about providing us notes and not making us buy books. The only time I spend time reading a textbook is if there is something specific that I need more detail on - otherwise there is definately no time for that. I have already heard from some PS-2 students that 2nd year is much more difficult, so I'm nervous.

The main two classes that I am concerned with right now are Biochemistry and Physiology. I was also working full-time and completing my undergrad part-time, so I think this is partly a transition for me too.

If anyone has any more study tips to share, please do.

thank you SDN!

 

[type b pharmD]

Different things work for different people as far as studying goes. I feel like some pharmacy students may come in having not really needed to study very efficiently in undergrad to do well, and have questions or problems working out how to organize their study time when they hit p1. At least in my first semester, I know a lot of people were kicking themselves over a lot of effort to do barely as well as they did in undergrad, but as we all gained experience we ended up spending much less time to get the same grades.

My best method of studying is to just read the notes they provide me, and then rewrite the information into my own sentences. I have a very "global" learning style, or so I have been told, so in order to learn fastest I have to look at the big picture.

Consider taking a learning style inventory online somewhere. I used to work for a tutoring center and we did these quizzes on everyone who came in for tutoring so we could help figure out how to best improve their level of studying.

I'm lazy as hell when it comes to studying, so that motivated me to become as efficient as possible. Start by only learning the information related to the learning objectives (should be stated in the syllabus or lecture). Ideally , if i have time, I'll try to write a paragraph about each learning objective in my head or in a word document before the test.

When you come across new facts, ask yourself immediately if it is relevant to what you need to know in the long run. If it isnt, dont come back to it again. Half of professors I feel like include a LOT of extra material that may or may not be on the exam, and if you only end up studying the relevant half of the information, that'll cut down on your time significantly right there. Pre-reading, i have also found to be a huge net time saver. Even though it requires an up front investment, getting to hear it in lecture having already read about it, allows me to focus on connecting the learning objectives to the relevant facts or pieces of information during the lecture instead of just having to organize it all in my mind for the first time.

Good luck! I'm sure with more targeted and/or efficient studying you can decrease time spent or improve your grades. But it takes some experimentation to get there.

 

[fungikid]

I'm doing worse and worse in pharmacy school as the amount of material to absorb increases. To those of you who can basically transcribe the lecture word for word and to those of you who can listen and summarize the points right then and there during the lecture, how do you keep up after listening for > 45 minutes? Back to back classes can sometimes end up going on for 3 to 5 hours straight and I don't find those 10 minute breaks in between classes to be sufficient for recovery. I tend to be really attentive for the first 30-45 minutes, then I doze off or become distracted. Any tips for a fellow pharmie?

 

[Farcus]

p1 here

well i find what we learn interesting so i don't see any point in dozzing off... well there are filler classes like say marketing -___-' but i mean dynamics or kinetics its really interesting so i don't really get distracted.

as for grades i study at least 5hr a day this semester since we have test every week and we're taking kinetics, dynamics 2, pharmeutics 2, a&p 2 and a few filler classes so the test never stops, i manage to be pretty well so far but i dont know how long i can do this 1 test per week thing -___-' getting olddd quick