Reviewing Notes After Lecture

[uoguelph]

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Does anyone actually do this? I heard people that do get really good marks, they go to lecture and after each lecture they review/study the lecture notes for about an hour. Does it work for you? I am thinking about trying it this year. 😎

 

[cowgirla]

Does anyone actually do this? I heard people that do get really good marks, they go to lecture and after each lecture they review/study the lecture notes for about an hour. Does it work for you? I am thinking about trying it this year. 😎

There are not enough hours in the day for me to even think about doing that. Unless I want to give up personal hygeine or eating.

 

[heylodeb]

Does anyone actually do this? I heard people that do get really good marks, they go to lecture and after each lecture they review/study the lecture notes for about an hour. Does it work for you? I am thinking about trying it this year. 😎

This is what I do my best to do. I try to review every lecture in the day we get it. I can't always fit in every one but there is always a difference in retention when I compare the ones that I went over the day of and the ones that u had to wait to go over.

It's a lofty goal but I do my best! 😳

 

[DVMDream]

Does anyone actually do this? I heard people that do get really good marks, they go to lecture and after each lecture they review/study the lecture notes for about an hour. Does it work for you? I am thinking about trying it this year. 😎

I am in class from 9AM to 5PM (wake up between 6-6:30AM, catch bus at 7:20AM, catch second bus at 8:20AM). I usually have about 3 lectures followed by either a husbandry/handling practical or an anatomy practical. By the time I get home at night it is around 6:30PM. 3 lectures= 3 hours of study over notes= 9:30PM. If I had anatomy lab that is another hour of study (probably should be more since anatomy lab is 2-3 hours long) so now I am looking at 10:30PM. If I had an animal handling practical, I could still study proper animal handling techniques, so I am still looking at 10:30PM. Could I do it? Yes. But then I would have to give up something else that keeps me sane such as sleeping, showering, eating, etc, etc.

It is not impossible. It would just take up every single waking moment that you have focused on school only. Is that bad? No, Maybe... Depends on the person... I would personally rip my hair out.

 

[SnowyRox]

I read the OP inccorectly the first time... and I think an hour/day TOTAL of reviewing lecture notes is extremely reasonable. An hour of studying/hour of classtime doesn't sound practical for everyday...

Our classes last from 9-5 or 9-6 everyday, with a lunch break. I will 100% go insane if I try to study for many hours every single day when I return home.

I definitely plan to review everything nearly every night. (First real week optimism!)

 

[Coquette22]

I'm going to try very hard to review nightly this year. Nothing major, just a quick read-through of the day's notes. An hour, hour and a half at most. Trying to cut down on some of the exam time "oh my god I've never seen this before!" stress.

 

[orca2011]

I read the OP inccorectly the first time... and I think an hour/day TOTAL of reviewing lecture notes is extremely reasonable. An hour of studying/hour of classtime doesn't sound practical for everyday...

Our classes last from 9-5 or 9-6 everyday, with a lunch break. I will 100% go insane if I try to study for many hours every single day when I return home.

I definitely plan to review everything nearly every night. (First real week optimism!)

I'm impressed. My roommate and I have already contemplated taking a nap before wings/drinks tonight. I'm being productive though and reading over the dissection guide.


And in regards to this topic, I keep telling myself I'm going to do something like this. And I think I will do some variation of it since I don't think I'll do well cramming like I did in undergrad, but I don't think I'm going to end up holding to it as well as I think.

 

[uoguelph]

Yeah it would be a lot I guess but I am still going to try it and see how it works. 😛 One day per week I won't do anything. Vet school is looking at this year that's why I ask. I need to do really well.

 

[uoguelph]

My classes are pretty spread out and I only have 4 classes this semester because mammalian physiology is worth double the credits.

 

[skittles12]

When my class started vet school, they told us to plan to study for 4 hours a night.
If class gets out at 5, that means studying will last until 9 pm minimum. I would have already gone totally insane if I studied 4 hours a night.

I am, however, trying to stay more on top of things this year. I try to review notes from class for about an hour or two. So far it's manageable, but I know it won't last. Usually about midway through the semester I end up dedicating one night to a certain subject, and playing catch-up on the weekends. It may not be the most efficient system, but it works for me.

 

[Bismarck]

We were told ~6 hours a night to stay on top of things (kinda high for weeknights but I do 7-8 a day on weekends). I basically use the time after class to do a quick prelab for anatomy/dissection and write up a quick summary of key points from other lectures/labs as study aids and to reinforce my learning. I don't have to give up hygiene to do this though I probably study more than other classmates (especially those who are married).

Bottom line: strike a work/life balance. I find that being comfortable with my academics makes me more relaxed and ready to go out and grab a few beers.

 

[Jamr0ckin]

When my class started vet school, they told us to plan to study for 4 hours a night.
If class gets out at 5, that means studying will last until 9 pm minimum. I would have already gone totally insane if I studied 4 hours a night.

I am, however, trying to stay more on top of things this year. I try to review notes from class for about an hour or two. So far it's manageable, but I know it won't last. Usually about midway through the semester I end up dedicating one night to a certain subject, and playing catch-up on the weekends. It may not be the most efficient system, but it works for me.

I don't think I've studied 4 hours total yet, haha!

I'm trying to stay on top of things and even ahead, but I work best under pressure and there isn't any yet, so that hasn't kicked in yet.

I'm trying to make daily studying goals and if I adhere to them, I get a reward like 30 minutes of reality TV uninterrupted, or a extra play-time with the pups.

 

[Dsmoody23]

Not sure about post grad, but I find that rewriting notes in some format or other helps a lot. I usually try to either turn my written notes into a text file, or put terms and concepts into a flash card program at least once a week for each class.

Then I promptly never look at them again, but it still helps.

Also, I tried recording lectures on my phone, and then listening to them on the way home ( as I have a bit of a drive.) I'm not entirely sure if this helps yet, but I do find myself making more associations and increasing retention thus far.

 

[equineconstant]

Not sure about post grad, but I find that rewriting notes in some format or other helps a lot. I usually try to either turn my written notes into a text file, or put terms and concepts into a flash card program at least once a week for each class.

Then I promptly never look at them again, but it still helps.

This is what I do. I take my notes in a binder with whatever shorthand/abbreviations I feel like. Then later I go back and type them into word documents, in a different file for each exam. Going back to type them up also makes sure I have a reason to go back and check the slides on blackboard if I didn't have time to copy something in class.

I don't necessarily look back at them, but it means I can study from my computer instead of carrying multiple binders to wherever I'm studying. Also, it makes my notes Ctrl+F-able, which is really convenient. And the typed version is a lot clearer than my shorthand if I need to go back to notes from an earlier semester.

 

[squirrelsrule]

I feel like a slacker so far. I'm on top of things, but it feels like everyone else has already jumped ahead of what we've covered in anatomy and is like studying all the bones in the forelimb and I'm like 😕 we haven't covered that in class yet, why are you studying it. For Pathology, though, we're taking it with the second years and first lecture was pure torture for us firsties, we were sooooooooooooooooo clueless. I wanted to run. Finally sat down over the weekend and spent 5 hours looking up the new terms I didn't know and piecing together what we learned and I finally understand 😀. It wasn't that complicated of a process at all (just hematopoiesis). I combined the class notes packet and my handwritten notes and included all the definitions and pulled out the important stuff and condensed the 7 pages of notes from class down to 3 pages handwritten (I do write small though) with the definitions I needed in there too. Was pretty happy with my progress there. Had that class again today and it actually made sense (of course we went over research methods instead of actual processes, but I think no matter what it will go better).

Overall, I haven't done much though. Tried to get into the Anatomy studying this weekend, but other than going to the lab for 2 and a half hours and studying the bones for 2 hours with a group, it was pretty much a fail. I feel like I get in the mood to study certain course material at certain times and if I'm not in the mood I just don't get anything done so I just kinda wait til I feel like it 🙂. I don't typically review info. the same day, I find it more helpful to let it sink in for a day or two then go back over it and try to remember what was covered.

I never procrastinate on assignments or projects, but I feel like I'm a natural procrastinator when it comes to studying for tests and I tend to cram the morning of the test. Has always worked well for me, but I can already see we're gonna cover way too much for that to work in vet school. I'm really glad that our Anatomy professor has small clicker quizzes almost weekly so I'll feel the need to keep on top of it even if it's only 5-10 points.

And I have now just wasted like 20 minutes typing a response instead of studying Anatomy , maybe in the morning 😎

 

[marino0213]

I am right there with you squirrels! I don't feel like I am behind, but I definately have not studied as much as everyone else in our class. I spent some time this weekend going over anatomy. I made notecards for why certain structures are important (spine of the scapula, etc). I also reviewed the location of the muscles that we were required to know from the first lab. I have read the dissection guide for tomorrow and watched the video, but I really won't learn anything until I see and feel it in person.

As far as everything else, I read what I feel like. I haven't touched cell bio or histology. Mostly because they are review at this point (although some of it I need a refresher on). I read through the clinical pathology notes (I spent about an hour or so on the first lecture, skimmed the one from today) and I read through radiology.

I feel good about where I am, although I admit that I could study more. I think I pick things up a bit once we get more into a groove.

 

[squirrelsrule]

I am right there with you squirrels! I don't feel like I am behind, but I definately have not studied as much as everyone else in our class. I spent some time this weekend going over anatomy. I made notecards for why certain structures are important (spine of the scapula, etc). I also reviewed the location of the muscles that we were required to know from the first lab. I have read the dissection guide for tomorrow and watched the video, but I really won't learn anything until I see and feel it in person.

As far as everything else, I read what I feel like. I haven't touched cell bio or histology. Mostly because they are review at this point (although some of it I need a refresher on). I read through the clinical pathology notes (I spent about an hour or so on the first lecture, skimmed the one from today) and I read through radiology.

I feel good about where I am, although I admit that I could study more. I think I pick things up a bit once we get more into a groove.

I think some of the people in our class are like headed down the road of either craziness or burnout because they are like freaking out about everything. Looking ahead to the next lecture and stuff, I'm like I'll look at it after we cover it in class! Only class I prepared for ahead of time ever was O. Chem because if I didn't read through before I'd be totally lost after. By second semester though, I wasn't reading at all, though, and I still did good. I am just way more laid back about studying than I was when I was in undergrad. I have to review some of the basics again because like organelles I haven't studied since 2005! I remember almost everything, but the little details will trip me up on the test if I don't look it over. Glad I'm not the only one that isn't blazing ahead and spending like 50 hours a week studying!

 

[katryn]

I was a make flashcards for each lecture as we had lecture kind of person, and it worked reasonably well for me the last two years. I didn't always get to a lecture the day we had it, but would catch up on lighter days or weekends. But, I found that I rarely go back and look at them, so this semester I'm trying just rereading my notes for each class at logical intervals. So, if we have three lectures on reproductive pathologies, read through all the notes after the third lecture, and then skim through them again before the exam. We'll see how it goes.