studying dishonesty...why?

[johncarter]

Hi everyone

I may be socially inept or something for asking this question....but.


Why do people feel the need to lie about how much they study?

For example, we have a major exam coming up, and people are saying "oh my studying is going terrible etc..." you know how it goes...

meanwhile these are the kids are who getting high grades and such.


As for me, if I say my studying is coming along poorly, or that I did bad on an exam. I actually did.

Is it just me? or does this happen everywhere??

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[AbbyNormal]

Some classes I went to class and absorbed what I needed. I retain concepts well. Little study outside class needed.

Rote memorization takes more work. Fair amount of time studying.

I did well with the concepts in chemisty and physics but mathematics... beat myself silly trying to do the math and usually asking for help in my professor's office.

And then there were a couple of classes when I wasn't interested, I could understand the assignments but didn't really care so I didn't do the work and guess what, I flunked.

 

[phospho]

Some classes I went to class and absorbed what I needed. I retain concepts well. Little study outside class needed.

Rote memorization takes more work. Fair amount of time studying.

I did well with the concepts in chemisty and physics but mathematics... beat myself silly trying to do the math and usually asking for help in my professor's office.

And then there were a couple of classes when I wasn't interested, I could understand the assignments but didn't really care so I didn't do the work and guess what, I flunked.

LOL, you sure you're replying to the right thread in the right forum? Your post has nothing to do w/ pretty much anything...

OP, I completely understand what you're talking about. It's actually more frustrating when good friends who are classmates do that. I mention that they are friends because I know they have nothing malicious in mind, but they do it because it seems like it's something wired in them - as if they will expose some sort of vulnerability if they admit that they had to pull an all nighter.

If they're talking about a test, before they mention how their studying is going, I sometimes try telling them that I studied 12 hours the day before (to make them feel like they won't be the only ones who did it), but most of the time that also doesn't work. After feeling stupid a few times, I started seeing myself doing the same thing.

It's a vicious cycle that perpetuates itself.

 

[StIGMA]

1) I dont know people who mention specific amounts of time they spend studying.
2) People who get high grades often put higher stress on themselves, and their opinion of 'how it is going' is skewed.
3) So even if they study 12 hours a day and are completely on top of the information, they do not feel as good as they want to about their studying.
4) Hence, 'oh my studying is going terrible.'

This is my experience at least. Part of it is also just sympathizing with each other... misery loves company, and it is cool to disregard doing schoolwork. Moreover, you look like a douche if you are on top of things all the time (and they confirm this to people).

 

[AbbyNormal]

LOL, you sure you're replying to the right thread in the right forum? Your post has nothing to do w/ pretty much anything...
.

LOL

Well phospho I have moments like that.

Sometimes it gets really confusing because I will eight to ten tabs open on Firefox and will be in conversations in various communities and end up forgetting where I am and then it really gets silly and folks say, what are you talking about? I have ADHD and sometimes my head spins in circles and I start with clear concept but they don't always make it from the brain to the keyboard.

And then there is the sleep deprivation... I have very odd and inconsistent sleep patterns.

So I guess in a nutshell the answer is I am strange. Do you still love me?

 

[Bartelby]

2) People who get high grades often put higher stress on themselves, and their opinion of 'how it is going' is skewed.
...
Moreover, you look like a douche if you are on top of things all the time (and they confirm this to people).

Yep. How good your studying is going is subjective, if you are insecure or a worrier you are likely to say it's going poorly regardless. Also if whenever you are asked how studying is going you smile and talk about how you feel like you have practically mastered everything you just come across as arrogant.

 

[njbmd]

Hi everyone

I may be socially inept or something for asking this question....but.


Why do people feel the need to lie about how much they study?

For example, we have a major exam coming up, and people are saying "oh my studying is going terrible etc..." you know how it goes...

meanwhile these are the kids are who getting high grades and such.


As for me, if I say my studying is coming along poorly, or that I did bad on an exam. I actually did.

Is it just me? or does this happen everywhere??

Time to get out of the premed syndrome. Worry about what you are doing and what is working for you. What anyone else in your class is doing or not doing doesn't impact YOUR career. Either you are getting the job done or you are not. Even taking the time to consider what another student is doing just takes away from time that you could be using for your own work.

If what other people in the class "say" bothers you, then don't listen. Find some earphones and good music so you can ignore them and get back to your work.

 

[MossPoh]

You really have to go out of your way to not listen. It isn't something you can do passively. I still feel frustrated when I hear about how "bad" someone is doing or how the class will "be the death" of them and in the same breath say that it "might" be their only B.

I'm one of those people who invests freakish amounts of time when studying. I do it because I have to. I don't brag about it and am actually somewhat embarassed when I mention how much time I invested. (I do get asked since I keep a fairly rigorous study schedule) That being said, I've taken on the whole mantra that someone may be more talented or smarter than me, but they will never outwork me......but that is also because I feel a solid work ethic pays off better in the long run.

Anyway, it is frustrating but just got to ignore them and do your own thang. What else can you do?

 

[thepoopologist]

Hi everyone

I may be socially inept or something for asking this question....but.


Why do people feel the need to lie about how much they study?

For example, we have a major exam coming up, and people are saying "oh my studying is going terrible etc..." you know how it goes...

meanwhile these are the kids are who getting high grades and such.


As for me, if I say my studying is coming along poorly, or that I did bad on an exam. I actually did.

Is it just me? or does this happen everywhere??

If they're not lying then it's a matter of opinion. How they feel and how they actually do can be two different things. No one is obligated to accurately relay their situation to you, so don't get bent out of shape when stuff like what you described above happens. Or if you do get bent out of shape recognize that it could be the competitive nature of med school tilting your interpretation of such matters into some conspiracy against you.

Why does bitching like yours continue in the premed and med ranks? Because people need to let off steam, or something, I don't really care...

 

[thepoopologist]

Time to take a dump...

 

[coldweatherblue]

ya who cares what other people say..

in undergrad I used to get a fuzzy feeling after doing well but in med school it doesn't matter if you score +2 SD on an exam, those days spent alone in a coffee shop still took part of your soul that you'll never get back, so screw it even when studying leads to doing well I still hate it... => complaining.

 

[Mr hawkings]

If you dont like people lying to you, dont ask your classmates if they are ready for the next exam or how their studying is coming along.
A lot of time, people dont want to come off as arrogant or make you feel bad about how ill-prepared you are.
Yes, its fake humility but they mean well.

Personally, i dont care how prepared anyone else is or how much they are studying so i dont ask.

 

[jlimback]

Time to get out of the premed syndrome. Worry about what you are doing and what is working for you. What anyone else in your class is doing or not doing doesn't impact YOUR career. Either you are getting the job done or you are not. Even taking the time to consider what another student is doing just takes away from time that you could be using for your own work.

If what other people in the class "say" bothers you, then don't listen. Find some earphones and good music so you can ignore them and get back to your work.

As I am preparing to enter MS1, I truly appreciate this advice! Thanks for an outside-the-situation look at it all.

I had such a close knit group of friends for undergrad, that if this sort of thing came up, it was out of genuine concern. So, I didn't really know how I was going to deal w/ this, but knew it'd come up and wanted a good plan of action.

 

[Danae00]

.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

A pet peeve of mine is when people say they "havent studied at all" for a test that is taking place in the next couple days. Yes I know that a couple of people could pull that off, but they are the tiny minority.

haha, I guess some people just get a false sense of accomplishment trying to act like they are "hardly studying" and still doing decently well in class.

 

[DrYoda]

Focus your energy on your studying.

 

[MilkmanAl]

One of my roommates pulls this crap all the time. He'll say things like, "I've only been through 2 lectures this whole day" and then, later in the same convo, will bust out "I read through these other 7 lectures, but I didn't get anything out of them." That still counts, man. It's time spent on the material. It's work. He also has an intense need to know how everyone did on every test. He's not trying to be an ass or anything, it's just a manifestation of his anxiety. I have to believe that most people skewing their work loads do so for similar reasons. There are definitely plenty of people who just want to make you feel bad, though.

 

[littlejuan]

Time to take a dump...

Name + Avatar + Post =

 

[starkcrazy]

Time to get out of the premed syndrome. Worry about what you are doing and what is working for you. What anyone else in your class is doing or not doing doesn't impact YOUR career. Either you are getting the job done or you are not. Even taking the time to consider what another student is doing just takes away from time that you could be using for your own work.

If what other people in the class "say" bothers you, then don't listen. Find some earphones and good music so you can ignore them and get back to your work.

this is super advice!!!

 

[xrevision]

You have to treat your classmates like alcoholics in this sense. Most real alcoholics will drink any regular party-goer under the table, and so you have to always overestimate during the patient interview (how many beers do you have a day? 1-36 pack? 2-36 packs?) to normalize them.

I usually go with, how many hours did you get in yesterday? I got in at least 25.

Or better yet, I don't ask them at all because I'm just trying to get my own studying done.

 

[Law2Doc]

A pet peeve of mine is when people say they "havent studied at all" for a test that is taking place in the next couple days. Yes I know that a couple of people could pull that off, but they are the tiny minority.

haha, I guess some people just get a false sense of accomplishment trying to act like they are "hardly studying" and still doing decently well in class.

It's a gunner move, designed to psych you out. Part of being a gunner involves telling people you never do any work, and seeming to do well effortlessly.

As njbmd suggests, keeping your eyes on your own plate and ignoring what everyone else is doing is the way to go in med school.

 

[Dr Lyss]

It's a gunner move, designed to psych you out. Part of being a gunner involves telling people you never do any work, and seeming to do well effortlessly.

As njbmd suggests, keeping your eyes on your own plate and ignoring what everyone else is doing is the way to go in med school.

Is there a handbook or something? I think I skipped the gunner training class

 

[Lacheln]

2) People who get high grades often put higher stress on themselves, and their opinion of 'how it is going' is skewed.
3) So even if they study 12 hours a day and are completely on top of the information, they do not feel as good as they want to about their studying.
4) Hence, 'oh my studying is going terrible.'

He also has an intense need to know how everyone did on every test. He's not trying to be an ass or anything, it's just a manifestation of his anxiety. I have to believe that most people skewing their work loads do so for similar reasons. There are definitely plenty of people who just want to make you feel bad, though.

Time to get out of the premed syndrome. Worry about what you are doing and what is working for you.

This, this and this. Yes, it's annoying and rather rampant, but I think in 99% of cases it's driven by anxiety and insecurity rather than a malicious intent to make anyone else feel bad. I say this as a potential offender - I think I do exactly this because I tend to do well on exams, so from the outside pov I'm exaggerating or bsing when I express my anxiety, but from my pov I don't usually feel prepared, and I know I'm not putting in the hours that many of my classmates seem to which makes me even more anxious. Unlike before med school when I walked into most exams feeling pretty confident. Just because it's turned out fine so far hasn't yet made me feel it will keep going that way, and I have a fair amount of guilt sometimes over my slackerhood and imposter syndrome as I wait for it all to crash down. And it probably will. And you would think that would get me to change my ways...but that's a different discussion.

Anyway, it's something I'm aware of, but I think most people know me pretty well and no one has ever given me the impression I've hurt their feelings or po'd them, but I just figured I'd share the other side. Njbmd's advice is solid no matter which end you're on.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

As njbmd suggests, keeping your eyes on your own plate and ignoring what everyone else is doing is the way to go in med school.

No worries, but people almost always bring this up during normal conversation time....more annoying then anything really.

 

[johncarter]

It's a gunner move, designed to psych you out. Part of being a gunner involves telling people you never do any work, and seeming to do well effortlessly.

As njbmd suggests, keeping your eyes on your own plate and ignoring what everyone else is doing is the way to go in med school.

Good idea!!!! now that you mention it, it makes a lot of sense!


I see I've opened up a can of worms here by posting this, but I am very interested to see that majority do in fact feel it is frustrating to hear that crap.

 

[johncarter]

You have to treat your classmates like alcoholics in this sense. Most real alcoholics will drink any regular party-goer under the table, and so you have to always overestimate during the patient interview (how many beers do you have a day? 1-36 pack? 2-36 packs?) to normalize them.

I usually go with, how many hours did you get in yesterday? I got in at least 25.

Or better yet, I don't ask them at all because I'm just trying to get my own studying done.

hahahahaha!!!!!!!!! exactly!!

 

[Knicks]

If you notice that people are lying to you about their studying, then stop asking them.

Worry about your own studies.

 

[RandomKai]

I used to be like that but to be fair I wouldn't call it lying. It's just most of us have a plan when we're studying, for me it was just to finish the lecture notes. Except that I've only once in medical school finished the syllabus for a module (Embryology. And I finished 30 seconds before the exam started) so when people used to ask me how studying was going I would always answer "not so great" mostly because I wasn't meeting my plan.

Granted that was pre-clin. By the time I got to 3rd year I was happy if I got through half of the syllabus for a rotation.

 

[Law2Doc]

Is there a handbook or something? I think I skipped the gunner training class

We had gunners in law school too -- not really a different playbook. The mindset is simply to do well at the expense of their classmates. Thus they never miss an opportunity to psych them out, feed them misinformation, distract them from what you know the real focus to be. If an opportunity presents itself to deprive a classmate of something that might be useful, a gunner will take it. If there's a way to make a classmate look bad or unprepared in front of an attending, a gunner will go there.

 

[MilkmanAl]

In fact, my roommate just came in to tell me how hard he thought the micro for this unit was and emphasize how much studying it's going to take. Thanks, dude!

 

[LOTR]

I'm a first year med student, and I will admit that I'm super lazy. I'm trying to work at getting better study habits and a better work ethic, but I'm a pretty big procrastinator and have been that way my whole life.

That being said, I've always gotten good grades but never really study much. I usually pull all-nighters and do ok. It sucks because you're tired the next day and feel like crap and you resolve, "never again" but you end up doing it again of course.

My formula for tougher classes like physiology or anatomy is study all the material in 3 days, read it once, and pull all-nighter. For easier classes like histology, I spend 2 days reading the material once. I never read things twice because I simply don't have the time. I'd rather do something else. (Just being honest!)

Personally, I feel the opposite of what you feel. I get a sense of relief when people tell me their studying is going bad or they haven't studied much, because then I feel like I'm not the only one slacking. I stress less when I know people aren't studying much.

I get extremely frustrated/annoyed with people who constantly brag about how much they study...."Oh I studied 10 hours of biochem today and I'm going to do 15 hours tomorrow and the next day." or even worse, "I've been through the material three times, and I feel like it's not enough. I'm probably going to get a B." I can't stand hearing this, because it makes me feel inadequate, psychs me out into thinking I'm going to fail because I've only read the material once. I dont want to hear about how you have been studying nonstop! That just freaks me out. I feel like everyone around me is studying so much, and it just makes me feel bad cuz I can't keep up.

When people ask me how my studying's going, I just tell them the truth "I haven't really studied much....I've gone through about 5 pages so far the last few days." I'm not trying to mess with them, just telling them the truth! I really haven't studied!...I also hope it makes people feel better, so they don't feel as behind. I still do well in classes.

 

[Law2Doc]

...

My formula for tougher classes like physiology or anatomy is study all the material in 3 days, read it once, and pull all-nighter. For easier classes like histology, I spend 2 days reading the material once. I never read things twice because I simply don't have the time. I'd rather do something else. (Just being honest!)...

Lest some premeds read this, this advice doesn't work for 99.99% of med students. We all know somebody who failed a test and/or had to retake a course because of trying to cram for med student exams. This doesn't really work for the average person. The tried and true method for handling this kind of volume and level of detail is multiple passes (often 4-5) through the material before the exam, not trying to do it as an all nighter. That worked in college for most of us, but most people in med school find the need to step up their game for med school and actually start reviewing further in advance. Of course there will be a range of study habits, ranging from the geniuses who don't need to spend much time, to those who barely get time to unwind because they need every minute, and there will be a range of goals, ranging from the person dead set on a non-competitive field who feels like he doesn't need to push the envelope to the person who wants derm from day one and is going to push himself to the brink of exhaustion to get it. But in general, you are going to have to work hard in med school, a lot harder than this above poster.

 

[URHere]

But in general, you are going to have to work hard in med school, a lot harder than this above poster.

While I agree with this sentiment, I think LOTR makes an important point: when people tell you they haven't studied much, automatically assuming that they are lying may be a mistake.

Whether they all do well or not, there are crammers in medical school, and it is possible that they really haven't studied anything for a Friday exam if you ask them about it on Monday. Some of these people may fail Friday's exam, some may honor it, and the rest will fall somewhere in between. And, based on my personal experience with my classmates, the number of crammers isn't as small as you would expect...especially during MS1 year.

The point is that unless you see a classmate in the library every night, you absolutely don't have enough information to tell if someone is lying about their study habits or not.

 

[RandomKai]

While I agree with this sentiment, I think LOTR makes an important point: when people tell you they haven't studied much, automatically assuming that they are lying may be a mistake.

Whether they all do well or not, there are crammers in medical school, and it is possible that they really haven't studied anything for a Friday exam if you ask them about it on Monday. Some of these people may fail Friday's exam, some may honor it, and the rest will fall somewhere in between. And, based on my personal experience with my classmates, the number of crammers isn't as small as you would expect...especially during MS1 year.

The point is that unless you see a classmate in the library every night, you absolutely don't have enough information to tell if someone is lying about their study habits or not.

This is true. Not everyone in medical school spent all of the life studying to get there. Some people are good guessers/ good test takers or good crammers.

 

[EBI831]

what people don't realize is that an all nighter is like a solid 10+ hour stretch of studying. Also, studying for only 3 days prior to the exam usually means all of 3 days which is a solid 25+ hours dedicated to the test. so if other people study for 5 hours on five separate occasions for the test and you studied your 25 hours in a 3 day stretch, GUESS WHAT: you did the same amount of studying. Yet, I always find that the crammers pretend that they're super chill or laid back and aren't that into studying and often criticize or look down on others for studying. No one came in with all the knowledge for med school and as you proceed closer to 4th year and the material gets more obscure, it's more aggravating when people claim they just flipped through the book for a "few hours" on the night before and happened to have memorized 20+ lectures worth of info. give me a break.

 

[coldweatherblue]

I do this sometimes too... enough people are all stressed out that I wanna be a voice of peace and chillness. but I like didn't really study in college and I know that a lot of people in med school were good students or whatever.. so I feel like my "place" is the same in med school; meaning when people get together they can talk about how much they study and I'll talk about slacking off, going to the beach..

I'm sure they think I'm dumb because I don't go to class and I don't keep up with the material.. like I hardly ever study the subject of that days lecture. Instead I'll study the ENTIRE subject.. like if we're doing renal path, I never study just one lecture on proliferative glomerular disease, I study all of FA renal or all of the renal notes, etc. so if someone asks me a question about last weeks pharm lecture often times I have absolutely know idea what they're talking about.. but what they don't see is the 8 hrs a day of active kick-ass studying I put in for a week and a half before exams.. and during this time I'm stressed out of course, lol.

anyway, I really don't think this is gunner, I just want to be a voice of relaxation in the midst of people worried about grades.

 

[thepoopologist]

Lest some premeds read this, this advice doesn't work for 99.99% of med students. We all know somebody who failed a test and/or had to retake a course because of trying to cram for med student exams. This doesn't really work for the average person. The tried and true method for handling this kind of volume and level of detail is multiple passes (often 4-5) through the material before the exam, not trying to do it as an all nighter. That worked in college for most of us, but most people in med school find the need to step up their game for med school and actually start reviewing further in advance. Of course there will be a range of study habits, ranging from the geniuses who don't need to spend much time, to those who barely get time to unwind because they need every minute, and there will be a range of goals, ranging from the person dead set on a non-competitive field who feels like he doesn't need to push the envelope to the person who wants derm from day one and is going to push himself to the brink of exhaustion to get it. But in general, you are going to have to work hard in med school, a lot harder than this above poster.

The best advice for any premed entering med school. Be prepared to work hard.

 

[thepoopologist]

I'm a first year med student, and I will admit that I'm super lazy. I'm trying to work at getting better study habits and a better work ethic, but I'm a pretty big procrastinator and have been that way my whole life.

That being said, I've always gotten good grades but never really study much. I usually pull all-nighters and do ok. It sucks because you're tired the next day and feel like crap and you resolve, "never again" but you end up doing it again of course.

My formula for tougher classes like physiology or anatomy is study all the material in 3 days, read it once, and pull all-nighter. For easier classes like histology, I spend 2 days reading the material once. I never read things twice because I simply don't have the time. I'd rather do something else. (Just being honest!)

Personally, I feel the opposite of what you feel. I get a sense of relief when people tell me their studying is going bad or they haven't studied much, because then I feel like I'm not the only one slacking. I stress less when I know people aren't studying much.

I get extremely frustrated/annoyed with people who constantly brag about how much they study...."Oh I studied 10 hours of biochem today and I'm going to do 15 hours tomorrow and the next day." or even worse, "I've been through the material three times, and I feel like it's not enough. I'm probably going to get a B." I can't stand hearing this, because it makes me feel inadequate, psychs me out into thinking I'm going to fail because I've only read the material once. I dont want to hear about how you have been studying nonstop! That just freaks me out. I feel like everyone around me is studying so much, and it just makes me feel bad cuz I can't keep up.

When people ask me how my studying's going, I just tell them the truth "I haven't really studied much....I've gone through about 5 pages so far the last few days." I'm not trying to mess with them, just telling them the truth! I really haven't studied!...I also hope it makes people feel better, so they don't feel as behind. I still do well in classes.

Not representative of the typical student.

There are absolutely people like LOTR but do not count on being one of those students until you study as hard as you can for the first couple of tests to find out where you stand.

Keep in mind 1st year is a repeat of undergrad or SMP for a lot of people too and so the "smart" people are intermixed with the smart people. But who cares really, point is to worry about yourself.

 

[cartoondoc]

Hi everyone

I may be socially inept or something for asking this question....but.


Why do people feel the need to lie about how much they study?

For example, we have a major exam coming up, and people are saying "oh my studying is going terrible etc..." you know how it goes...

meanwhile these are the kids are who getting high grades and such.


As for me, if I say my studying is coming along poorly, or that I did bad on an exam. I actually did.

Is it just me? or does this happen everywhere??

This is like the stereotypical sign of a gunner. Someone who acts like they never study at all, when in fact they study during all their waking hours. That way when they ace the exams, it's b/c of "natural intelligence."

 

[RandomKai]

This is like the stereotypical sign of a gunner. Someone who acts like they never study at all, when in fact they study during all their waking hours. That way when they ace the exams, it's b/c of "natural intelligence."

OT: Your cartoons are awesome, just letting you know.

 

[Law2Doc]

This is true. Not everyone in medical school spent all of the life studying to get there. Some people are good guessers/ good test takers or good crammers.

A small number are. A far greater number realize after the first couple of exams that they were wrong. Premeds can avoid this cliff by assuming they are going to have to work hard in med school. If someone tells you otherwise, they are either an outlier, or lying.

 

[cartoondoc]

OT: Your cartoons are awesome, just letting you know.

Thanks!

 

[Law2Doc]

what people don't realize is that an all nighter is like a solid 10+ hour stretch of studying. Also, studying for only 3 days prior to the exam usually means all of 3 days which is a solid 25+ hours dedicated to the test. so if other people study for 5 hours on five separate occasions for the test and you studied your 25 hours in a 3 day stretch, GUESS WHAT: you did the same amount of studying. Yet, I always find that the crammers pretend that they're super chill or laid back and aren't that into studying and often criticize or look down on others for studying. No one came in with all the knowledge for med school and as you proceed closer to 4th year and the material gets more obscure, it's more aggravating when people claim they just flipped through the book for a "few hours" on the night before and happened to have memorized 20+ lectures worth of info. give me a break.

Experts in how memory works will generally tell you that (1) there is no substitute for multiple instances of reinforcemnt of concepts over multiple days, spaced out, and that doing it in an unbroken stretch is simply inferior in storing something into memory, and (2) if you cram the night before, you at best put material into short term memory, and for things like the boards and rotations, you really want the material to be tucked away into longterm memory, so you are setting yourself up for a harder relearning process. Further, it's been suggested (particularly by residents lobbying for shorter duty hours) that learning is completely worthless and ineffective once you get tired enough, as is performance on tests, so by virtue of the all nighter you are wasting a good amount of those later hours that you are pretending to study -- so eg a 10 hour stretch might mean 5-6 useful hours and the next 4-5 which would have been better spent asleep. So no, it's not simply total hours spent studying, it's how they are spaced and used. There's a reason that certain methods are frowned upon in med school and it's not just because someone is trying to rain on your parade.

Everybody learns differently, but there are certainly methods that only work for a very small subset of the class. Premeds get themselves into trouble trying to emulate this or worse to try and do what they did in undergrad. What worked in undergrad rarely works. You have to figure out what works by trial and error, and the truly smart person will start out doing too much and cut back, rather than trying to get by with too little. Too many people on this thread are advocating the "too little" approach and honestly, I'd say maybe 5% of the class doesn't screw themselves by trying this.

 

[thesauce]

what people don't realize is that an all nighter is like a solid 10+ hour stretch of studying. Also, studying for only 3 days prior to the exam usually means all of 3 days which is a solid 25+ hours dedicated to the test. so if other people study for 5 hours on five separate occasions for the test and you studied your 25 hours in a 3 day stretch, GUESS WHAT: you did the same amount of studying. Yet, I always find that the crammers pretend that they're super chill or laid back and aren't that into studying and often criticize or look down on others for studying. No one came in with all the knowledge for med school and as you proceed closer to 4th year and the material gets more obscure, it's more aggravating when people claim they just flipped through the book for a "few hours" on the night before and happened to have memorized 20+ lectures worth of info. give me a break.

I would argue that the material becomes increasingly LESS obscure. The basic sciences are largely theoretical and abstract compared to 3rd/4th year which is just memorizing flowcharts of "what's the next best step?

 

[hrandani]

Lest some premeds read this, this advice doesn't work for 99.99% of med students. We all know somebody who failed a test and/or had to retake a course because of trying to cram for med student exams. This doesn't really work for the average person. The tried and true method for handling this kind of volume and level of detail is multiple passes (often 4-5) through the material before the exam, not trying to do it as an all nighter. That worked in college for most of us, but most people in med school find the need to step up their game for med school and actually start reviewing further in advance. Of course there will be a range of study habits, ranging from the geniuses who don't need to spend much time, to those who barely get time to unwind because they need every minute, and there will be a range of goals, ranging from the person dead set on a non-competitive field who feels like he doesn't need to push the envelope to the person who wants derm from day one and is going to push himself to the brink of exhaustion to get it. But in general, you are going to have to work hard in med school, a lot harder than this above poster.

I strongly identify with LOTR's study habits and the thing is, this IS a major step up in my game from college. Like he said, we just do ok, we're not busting any curves. It's still the same amount of studying just much more stressful and prone to disaster. Imagine if you got violently ill 2 days before your exam - you just failed the course. I don't recommend it but the day I'm able to study 4 hours a day the normal healthy way I'll let you know.

 

[MossPoh]

I never understood all nighters. It isn't even that I function that horribly with less sleep. There is just a point where my brain can't honestly absorb more. I find myself reading and writing stuff but not really paying attention to what I'm reading or writing. Once I catch myself at that level, I say it is exercise time or really anything BUT study. I'd trade 12 hours of attempted studying for 4 hours of guarenteed learning where I walk out of the room and truly feel I am better prepared. I've also discovered that the first few times I go through something it feels like a random collection of facts and then all of a sudden it all starts to click. You get reenergized and chug along a little longer.

 

[URHere]

I'd trade 12 hours of attempted studying for 4 hours of guarenteed learning where I walk out of the room and truly feel I am better prepared. I've also discovered that the first few times I go through something it feels like a random collection of facts and then all of a sudden it all starts to click.

My learning method sounds like the exact opposite of yours. Personally, I only study efficiently if I can get into a zone where I am 100% focused...which, for me, happens only after I've been reading for a prolonged period of time. So, I read for a few hours, hit that zone, and then continue reading for the next 15. Because this is so time consuming, I only do it the day or so before the exam, but it serves me far better than breaking the time into pieces.

Similarly, the more times I read things the more holes I seem to find in the current knowledge base. If I read over things more than twice, I inevitably find myself on Ovid looking at the newest literature which really doesn't help me in the exam-centered MS2 world.

So, while you don't understand all-nighters, I don't understand spreading out study time. To each his/her own, I suppose.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Step 1 is going to be an absolute blast for people with the all-at-once study style. Have fun with that.

 

[URHere]

Step 1 is going to be an absolute blast for people with the all-at-once study style. Have fun with that.

I think it will work out just fine (although just fine != fun), but I'll let you know come June...

 

[werd]

people who say their studying is going terribly but do well on the test either 1) are very smart and don't need to study as much or 2) are studying more than they say but claim it's going poorly because it's cool to hate on studying and uncool to study harder than other people.