Study smart, not hard? How?

[Hiangle]

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Enlighten me.

 

[Pacna]

Study hard.

 

[OchemNerd]

Study regularly. Review constantly. Never cram.

No one trains for a marathon in one night; the same logic applies to studying.

 

[Hiangle]

Study regularly. Review constantly. Never cram.

No one trains for a marathon in one night; the same logic applies to studying.

I study regularly. I review constantly. I never cram. But I still fail. Idk what's happening. This is happening to me all of a sudden. I had a 3.9 GPA at the end of my 2nd year, but now, my GPA is dog sht.

 

[medskoolmaybe]

I study regularly. I review constantly. I never cram. But I still fail. Idk what's happening. This is happening to me all of a sudden. I had a 3.9 GPA at the end of my 2nd year, but now, my GPA is dog sht.

What have you done or not done differently between your 2nd year and now?

 

[snowflakes]

Focus on gaining a conceptual understanding and try to relate what you're learning to information you've learned in the past. Never memorize unless absolutely necessary. I think it helps to approach your classes realizing that it's your responsibility to learn the material and the textbook, lectures, and professor are just tools to help you gain that understanding. Look up outside material that presents the information differently. Do extra practice problems. Ask for help when you need it (from TAs, the professor, peers who are doing well in the course, tutors, upperclassmen, etc), and don't be afraid of looking stupid. Keep studying and seeking out more resources until what you're learning makes sense to you and you have a firm grasp of the big picture concepts. I like to use multiple passes where at first I focus on learning the big picture and then later I go back and fill in the details.

 

[MalachiteGreen]

Practice tests and quizzes! If you can get your hands on them. Otherwise, make your own.

 

[youmed]

Harder material?

 

[Papa Doc]

Surround yourself with the smartest kids in the class after you study and go over quizzes, tests, and problems with them. Also lecture each other on the topics and see the way they think. I have done this for all my very difficult classes and graduated with a 4.0. I had to study a lot but my grades would definitely have not been that high without this technique.

 

[Goro]

Your school should have a learning or education center; go seek them out.

Good time mgt is a must in medical school.

Enlighten me.

 

[moisne]

Determine how you learn best - for me, in undergrad anatomy (my toughest course) I had to rewrite the important parts of anatomy and draw them out. I revisited the material at least every other day.

For my major, I knew the material was going to be easy so I can cram the night before the exam. I would buy the answer keys to many of my textbook and read the answers to both assigned and not assigned problems and understand how the answer was approached and usually that was enough.

 

[OneTwoThreeFour]

Your school should have a learning or education center; go seek them out.

Good time mgt is a must in medical school.

Do you have that answer macro-ed?

 

[Goro]

It's in my "goro stickies" file!


Do you have that answer macro-ed?


Here are some tips that my really successful students use:

Be efficient at time mgt
Get a good night's sleep before exams
Study with friends
Go to class if you're struggling; conversely, if you really get nothing from being at lectures, then by all means, do something else in that time period
Seek out your professors if you're struggling; they're there for you
Have or develop good coping skills in case family or relationship issues intrude
Likewise, it's best to have or develop a support group.
Don't try to memorize everything; you can't
Always be able to look at the big picture
Repetition is the key to learning
If textbooks are required, buy them
Do as many practice questions as you can
If you have test taking anxiety, get help for it NOW
Enjoy what you study
If you feel you know particular material, it's OK to spend less time with it, and better to
bone up on what you're weakest in.
Do NOT learn by merely re-reading PPT files

 

[Thoroughbred_Med]

DONT PASSIVELY STUDY. (aka read your notes)
Do practice problems! questionssssssssssssssss only. Figure out what you don't know from that, and read that ****.

ACTIVELY STUDY. If you even feel remotely tired, don't study... it's practically worthless.