Reading vs. Not-Reading What's Assigned

[Mel Belle]

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I've heard many opinions on this in books and whatnot, but since they're written as a general college point of view rather than pre-med and beyond, I figured it might be worth it to see if it's true that it's pointless to read assigned readings in science/math courses unless you have trouble with the material. I feel extremely hesitant to believe this. Just wondering what everyone else thinks and if anyone has any related tips for science/math reading.

 

[WingsFan]

I've heard many opinions on this in books and whatnot, but since they're written as a general college point of view rather than pre-med and beyond, I figured it might be worth it to see if it's true that it's pointless to read assigned readings in science/math courses unless you have trouble with the material. I feel extremely hesitant to believe this. Just wondering what everyone else thinks and if anyone has any related tips for science/math reading.

I never read the book for physics I and II (and I didn't have any advantage of taking AP Physics or anything like that) and I got an A in both classes. I did all the required readings in orgo I and II and got a B/B- in them. From my experience, if the subject is your thing, you don't need the book. If it isn't what you're naturally good at, use every resource available.

 

[Koalafied]

It's all PowerPoints/slides/whatever-you-call-em these days. Books are mainly for cross-referencing and to answer those "darn-it-I-could've-made-a-perfect-score-had-I-just-read"-type questions. At my interview last year, the dental students told me the same thing and even laughed at the mentioning of 'textbooks.' The same goes for much of my friends currently at medical school. Study effectively and efficiently is what was always told. The internet is greatest resource out there, so use it effectively and efficiently.👍

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Study smarter, not harder. Books will give you too much detail that you typically won't use anyhow.

 

[freakingoutabit]

Try studying with your books and with powerpoints/notes and see what works best for you. I strongly prefer to study with books, but that's because I remember material better if I read it in a paragraph/descriptive format rather than bullet points. Different people learn better with different material; figure out what works for you and stick with it.

 

[plumhill]

Completely depends on the class. Some profs will cover material that was in the book but not in lecture (in a lot of my bio classes) and some just go off of the lecture material. The only course that I used the book for where reading wasn't specifically required was Orgo.

 

[Mopitt16]

Completely depends on the class. Some profs will cover material that was in the book but not in lecture (in a lot of my bio classes) and some just go off of the lecture material. The only course that I used the book for where reading wasn't specifically required was Orgo.

This. I find it helpful to read through the book once just to get a new, memorable perspective on the material covered in the powerpoints/notes, but this is personal. It comes down to finding what works for you over time. Most often though the book has sections that have no bearing on the class or the exams.

 

[neekzg]

as others have said, some professors will test material in the books that's not covered in lecture or slides, but I've found that to be pretty rare.

In my personal experience, I'm usually just scared/paranoid that I'm going to miss something if I don't read the book (same reason I always try to go to lecture for important classes). I find reading the book is a great way for either pre-exposure before lecture or going more in-depth into topics that were covered/emphasized in lecture. Part of studying efficiently is learning when you're better off not reading the book because you can spend your time just memorizing the slides.

The most effective use of a textbook is cross-reference for difficult topics; it doesn't help much to read whole chapters thoroughly if a lot of the material is irrelevant or not going to be tested on, because that wastes valuable time and effort. For example, I rarely touched my organic chemistry textbook because the tests were based solely off lecture and learning how to do the problems on practice tests. However, in my bio classes, I tend to read through all or most of the assigned readings so I have a comprehensive understanding of the concepts.

 

[deleted303591]

The Guaranteed 4.0 plan says to do the assigned reading 1-7 days before the date it is covered in lecture and to do Bullet Point Reading (BPR part 2) while reading.

I have an illness that messes with my eyes so I use a screenreader (Kurzweil 3000 and Read2go--on iPad) to read the books aloud. This is a lot less taxing on me. This saves me a lot of time when I do BPR.

But, "knowing the book" in STEM courses has more to do with being able to work every single problem in the book rather than reading the book.

I would always supplement Guaranteed 4.0 with practice problems.

 

[slopes23]

I think it's really more of a class specific question. Some classes go by the book exclusively, and that's what will be tested, others do a mix, while others it's mainly ll in class material. Having said that I would say rule of thumb is science probably requires the book more than math. I got an A in Calc I & II and I don't think I read the book once. And that's not exaggeration only time I used it was to do practice problems assigned for HW. Keep in mind me not having to use the book was not so much a factor of me being good at math, as much as me having a really good Calc teacher. It may be a personal preference however how much everyone uses the book.

 

[Mel Belle]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! I just feel extremely paranoid about having holes in my knowledge or missing something. Admittedly I'm a perfectionist by nature. 😳 So it causes me great anxiety to imagine not reading the book and thus being out of "the know". Part of the study plan I devised over the summer was to read the book before the lecture. I have Tu/Th essentially free aside from a couple labs, so I will have plenty of time to set aside for reading.

 

[Pattycake25]

I've heard many opinions on this in books and whatnot, but since they're written as a general college point of view rather than pre-med and beyond, I figured it might be worth it to see if it's true that it's pointless to read assigned readings in science/math courses unless you have trouble with the material. I feel extremely hesitant to believe this. Just wondering what everyone else thinks and if anyone has any related tips for science/math reading.

The general rule of thumb is: if the professor considers the topic important, they will cover it in lecture, and to the depth required. If they can't cover everything required in lecture, they will make a comment along the lines of "We won't get to this, but you need to understand..." If they have a "self-study" lecture, that is also usually need-to-know. That being said, the professor is a single resource - if they aren't conveying the information to you effectively, it's on you to get it from other references, since the problem is often (not always) on your end in those cases.

In a nutshell: get your topics from lecture, get your depth from lecture, get your comprehension from whatever works best for you.

 

[Koalafied]

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! I just feel extremely paranoid about having holes in my knowledge or missing something. Admittedly I'm a perfectionist by nature. 😳 So it causes me great anxiety to imagine not reading the book and thus being out of "the know". Part of the study plan I devised over the summer was to read the book before the lecture. I have Tu/Th essentially free aside from a couple labs, so I will have plenty of time to set aside for reading.

Here's a very big hint. If you see your professor record his/her own lectures. Bring your own recorder, but only if you've asked for permission to record his/her lectures. Listen to what's said with emphasis and/or repeated many times.😉

 

[487806]

I've heard many opinions on this in books and whatnot, but since they're written as a general college point of view rather than pre-med and beyond, I figured it might be worth it to see if it's true that it's pointless to read assigned readings in science/math courses unless you have trouble with the material. I feel extremely hesitant to believe this. Just wondering what everyone else thinks and if anyone has any related tips for science/math reading.

I didn't have any assigned readings in my science/math courses. Only in social science/humanities courses and they were fun to read (for the most part). Prof's lecture slides (or lecture notes) will usually suffice.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone! I just feel extremely paranoid about having holes in my knowledge or missing something. Admittedly I'm a perfectionist by nature. 😳 So it causes me great anxiety to imagine not reading the book and thus being out of "the know". Part of the study plan I devised over the summer was to read the book before the lecture. I have Tu/Th essentially free aside from a couple labs, so I will have plenty of time to set aside for reading.

Get rid off that perfectionist attitude and you'll be better off. Otherwise, I wouldn't advise applying to medical school.

 

[Mel Belle]

Get rid off that perfectionist attitude and you'll be better off. Otherwise, I wouldn't advise applying to medical school.

I'm willing to bet there are plenty of successful perfectionists in medical school. I'm not OCD, there's a difference. I can deal with things I know can't be perfect. But it can bother me.

Also, easier said than done telling someone to get rid of a part of their personality. Being a perfectionist is not necessarily a bad thing. Would you want a neurosurgeon with an attitude like, "Eh. Good enough." when he's operating on your spine where he could easily paralyze you? We need people in this world that are meticulous. We certainly don't want the opposite, now do we?

The same goes for research. (I plan to apply MD/PhD.) A perfectionist will have the attitude that the amount of knowledge we have is not enough and strive for "perfect" knowledge. Knowing it's not obtainable, at least the drive is there. You act like it's such a bad thing.

 

[qavaler]

If I take a class, I usually grab one additional book. I go to amazon, and look for the highest quality book that maches the subject. Usually, that is the book that stays on my shelf, and not the book.

Perfect example would be: Organic Chemistry by David R. Klein. This book was not assigned for my class, but I am sooo glad that I bought it.

 

[sunflower18]

I read all of the textbooks religiously for the first few weeks of class. If I decide that any of them are not actually benefiting me, I'll stop reading and just do homework problems. But I know that for organic chemistry, for example, I read the chapter(s) and took notes before every class, and it was super helpful. I used class as an opportunity to verify my knowledge rather than learn fresh material. I did very well in the class, so it worked for me! But not everyone learns best this way.

 

[487806]

I'm willing to bet there are plenty of successful perfectionists in medical school. I'm not OCD, there's a difference. I can deal with things I know can't be perfect. But it can bother me.

Also, easier said than done telling someone to get rid of a part of their personality. Being a perfectionist is not necessarily a bad thing. Would you want a neurosurgeon with an attitude like, "Eh. Good enough." when he's operating on your spine where he could easily paralyze you? We need people in this world that are meticulous. We certainly don't want the opposite, now do we?

The same goes for research. (I plan to apply MD/PhD.) A perfectionist will have the attitude that the amount of knowledge we have is not enough and strive for "perfect" knowledge. Knowing it's not obtainable, at least the drive is there. You act like it's such a bad thing.

in regards to research, perfectionist attitude is usually the case in repeating an experiment several times, hoping to get optimal results, which we know can lead to...

in regards to the neurosurgery example, i'm not sure why would that be perfectionist. It's rational, like any field of medicine, since the objective is to resolve the cause and minimize the side-effects. Just saying it's "good enough" means that side-effects are there knowingly, ehich is an irrational decision. As you said, it's rather meticulous, which is perfectly fine.

But it's good you can deal with things that aren't perfect, since humans are imperfect by nature. The idea is to brush aside the flaws, learn them and do better next time, not tk always worry about it incessantly. Things won't be perfect in upper level courses, MCAT, app process, med school, etc. so it's bettet to be flexible and tolerant with losses in college itself before it's too late

 

[Mel Belle]

in regards to research, perfectionist attitude is usually the case in repeating an experiment several times, hoping to get optimal results, which we know can lead to...

in regards to the neurosurgery example, i'm not sure why would that be perfectionist. It's rational, like any field of medicine, since the objective is to resolve the cause and minimize the side-effects. Just saying it's "good enough" means that side-effects are there knowingly, ehich is an irrational decision. As you said, it's rather meticulous, which is perfectly fine.

But it's good you can deal with things that aren't perfect, since humans are imperfect by nature. The idea is to brush aside the flaws, learn them and do better next time, not tk always worry about it incessantly. Things won't be perfect in upper level courses, MCAT, app process, med school, etc. so it's bettet to be flexible and tolerant with losses in college itself before it's too late

I honestly don't think my level of perfectionism is a problem. I have some type C personality traits but nothing that is significant enough to hold me back. I realize some things can't be perfect. Though it might cause me anxiety if I think too much about it. So I just don't. Either way, pseudo-exposure therapy will only make it better with time. I don't expect perfection or freak out if I can't obtain it. But I certainly do try to get as close as sanely possible.

 

[BlueLabel]

I honestly don't think my level of perfectionism is a problem. I have some type C personality traits but nothing that is significant enough to hold me back. I realize some things can't be perfect. Though it might cause me anxiety if I think too much about it. So I just don't. Either way, pseudo-exposure therapy will only make it better with time. I don't expect perfection or freak out if I can't obtain it. But I certainly do try to get as close as sanely possible.

As a new fan of her blog I can attest to the above

 

[487806]

I honestly don't think my level of perfectionism is a problem. I have some type C personality traits but nothing that is significant enough to hold me back. I realize some things can't be perfect. Though it might cause me anxiety if I think too much about it. So I just don't. Either way, pseudo-exposure therapy will only make it better with time. I don't expect perfection or freak out if I can't obtain it. But I certainly do try to get as close as sanely possible.

Whew that's good to hear.

 

[prithvi123]

I agree with sunflower. Towards the beginning of the semester, I tend to read all the textbooks religiously while taking notes. If it seems as if it is not worthwhile, then I will shift focus to slides/lecture notes. So far, I've found reading most useful for my biology classes because it helps to develop a cohesive picture of the material.

 

[Redpancreas]

I've heard many opinions on this in books and whatnot, but since they're written as a general college point of view rather than pre-med and beyond, I figured it might be worth it to see if it's true that it's pointless to read assigned readings in science/math courses unless you have trouble with the material. I feel extremely hesitant to believe this. Just wondering what everyone else thinks and if anyone has any related tips for science/math reading.

For some classes the book will be completely useless. For others it will be your sole resource. Each class will vary based on professor preferences. Find rating of your professor on the web or from former students.

 

[Koalafied]

Capitalistic economy/society.

There's only so many ways to convey an idea/thought/concept via print without infringing on others intellectual property. This is my personal rationale for not religiously reading any particular assigned textbook, especially if you want to gain a deeper understanding.

 

[Mel Belle]

I was watching some blogs from a guy who is now a med student. He started posting videos as a premed (find them here) and from his newer videos (and those similar to his from other med students) it seems like reading the books a lot is super important. I would assume people do read them in medical school. So I figure getting into a habit of reading books efficiently would be good prep for med school.

 

[yehhhboiii]

I was watching some blogs from a guy who is now a med student. He started posting videos as a premed (find them here) and from his newer videos (and those similar to his from other med students) it seems like reading the books a lot is super important. I would assume people do read them in medical school. So I figure getting into a habit of reading books efficiently would be good prep for med school.

it'd probably be better to learn how to read pdfs efficiently

 

[Strudel19]

If it's assigned, read it. If it's not assigned, then only read it if you need more detail - usually you can even find a diagram online that will suffice.

 

[BlueLabel]

If it's assigned, read it. If it's not assigned, then only read it if you need more detail - usually you can even find a diagram online that will suffice.

Good use of bold text, I really understood what you were trying to emphasize in that remark.

 

[Mel Belle]

I read all of the textbooks religiously for the first few weeks of class. If I decide that any of them are not actually benefiting me, I'll stop reading and just do homework problems. But I know that for organic chemistry, for example, I read the chapter(s) and took notes before every class, and it was super helpful. I used class as an opportunity to verify my knowledge rather than learn fresh material. I did very well in the class, so it worked for me! But not everyone learns best this way.

That's why I felt like reading the books before class would be a good thing! If lecture instead becomes a review that's perfect.