Studying on your own vs. Studying in groups vs. Silent studying around classmate

[neelyboy]

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Which do you prefer when you study? I'm an MS1 and so far I usually do silent studying around other classmates, that way I can still study while letting it be somewhat "social" since I can take a break and talk to other people around me every so often.

4-5 days before the exam I start doing maybe 75% isolation lockdown library studying and 25% group studying to keep my sanity in check.

I feel like this helps me a lot (studying around others most of the time), but what do you all like to do and how do you avoid the loneliness that comes with doing only isolation studying?

 

[notbobtrustme]

by myself (aka with google).

 

[Wordead]

Getting exposed to the material in different ways is a good thing, in my book, as long as its done efficiently. There's nothing wrong with study groups but someone needs to step up as a leader and set an agenda. And everyone MUST come prepared to discuss and teach or its useless.

And whoever is leader needs to have the sack to kick people out if they are holding the group back. If you have to stop and explain basic things to one person you're just wasting everyone's time.

 

[FutureInternist]

Getting exposed to the material in different ways is a good thing, in my book, as long as its done efficiently. There's nothing wrong with study groups but someone needs to step up as a leader and set an agenda. And everyone MUST come prepared to discuss and teach or its useless.

And whoever is leader needs to have the sack to kick people out if they are holding the group back. If you have to stop and explain basic things to one person you're just wasting everyone's time.

👍
We assigned different lectures to everyone & it was that person's job to teach it to the others

 

[Zedor]

Which do you prefer when you study? I'm an MS1 and so far I usually do silent studying around other classmates, that way I can still study while letting it be somewhat "social" since I can take a break and talk to other people around me every so often.

4-5 days before the exam I start doing maybe 75% isolation lockdown library studying and 25% group studying to keep my sanity in check.

I feel like this helps me a lot (studying around others most of the time), but what do you all like to do and how do you avoid the loneliness that comes with doing only isolation studying?

Isolation until I know the material cold. I think group studying is effective in the anatomy lab though.

 

[wololololololo]

Learn by myself. Review/teach/complain with others seems to have been working so far.

 

[hrandani]

Studying in a group is a total waste of study time. It's ok to use it as an excuse to place yourself in a social situation while double-checking to make sure you're on the right track, but you just can't get through the material fast enough. It's not possible.

Don't groupthink your way into a failing grade, either. Trusting your classmates to explain concepts to you rather than getting it from the text / powerpoint can easily backfire. The people who are the most willing to explain concepts to you are NOT actually the people with the best grasp of the material.

 

[Abby_Normal]

Learn by myself. Review/teach/complain with others seems to have been working so far.

I find this works as well. My friends and I do this. First, we study on our own and then we get together a couple of times a week and take turns teaching each other the material. The teaching/being quizzed is a great way to reinforce material and pick up on things that we might have missed as individuals. This last bit is very useful considering the bane of exams is often what you forgot you needed to know. I don't think I would find having a study group nearly as effective if we didn't first study on our own. That way, we use whatever methods are best for us (for example, we have one chart lover and one chart hater in the group) and identify our areas of strength and weakness.

As to studying around other people, if I'm not studying with them, I usually hate it. Other people's study methods are distracting, plus I like the freedom to pace around my apartment going over facts aloud without worrying about disturbing others or looking like a lunatic.

 

[Cinclus]

I don't get too much studying done around others, as there will tend to be too much socialization. I definitely do best either solo or in the quiet study areas at school.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I did that whole group study schtick in undergrad. It really was just an excuse for me to socialize.

When I really need to get work done, I prefer studying alone because I'm left to my own thoughts without anyone derailing my multiple trains of thought. Plus, I can blast some deep/tech house and dance away without bothering anyone during my breaks/reviews.

 

[cbrons]

anatomy lab is the best place to get a small study group, to go over and quiz on structures (but only having done a lot of indepedent study beforehand on your own with atlases, etc. outside the lab). That's about the only class I think it is worth it for.

 

[Slack3r]

Studying in a group is a total waste of study time. It's ok to use it as an excuse to place yourself in a social situation while double-checking to make sure you're on the right track, but you just can't get through the material fast enough. It's not possible.

Don't groupthink your way into a failing grade, either. Trusting your classmates to explain concepts to you rather than getting it from the text / powerpoint can easily backfire. The people who are the most willing to explain concepts to you are NOT actually the people with the best grasp of the material.

I trust not one of my classmates to explain a damn thing. Can't tell you the amount of times I've heard people prattling on about half-right or flat out wrong information.

Although I did study with a small group for the anatomy lab practicals.

 

[urbanclassic]

I prefer to study on my own. I can go it at my own pace. Some things I get and don't want to spend time on, other things I don't get and want to spend extra time on. In a group, of course everyone is going to have different things they don't get, so you end up spending a lot of time trying to explain stuff every time someone doesn't get it. That's too much of a waste of time if I'm trying to get through material. I'd rather study by myself, if I don't get something, find the answer myself (this helps me remember it better because I had to work for it) and move on. If I think I know the material pretty well, I may study in a group just to see how well I know it or not. For lab, I study in a group. It's a must in my opinion... but you have to study with people who don't just want to socialize... There's a guy at my tank (very cool and nice) but like after every thing we find, we wants to like have a conversation! Sometimes I have to be a little rude and tell him we need to move on.... Also I try to go with people who know their structures. I know my structures for the most part, so I helps to have someone else there to quickly confirm, or if you don't know where something is, can QUICKLY tell you and vice versa for them.

 

[Alvarez13]

I trust not one of my classmates to explain a damn thing. Can't tell you the amount of times I've heard people prattling on about half-right or flat out wrong information.

Although I did study with a small group for the anatomy lab practicals.

Can you imagine being at some of these PBL schools where you have to teach each other constantly? There are days where 50% of my class seems to be at the profound MR level.

 

[Dartmouth2005]

Can you imagine being at some of these PBL schools where you have to teach each other constantly? There are days where 50% of my class seems to be at the profound MR level.

I stopped going to my school's PBLs even though attendance is mandatory. I find it to be a complete waste of time as they eventually just post the answers and the relevant materials from the class.

 

[Alvarez13]

I stopped going to my school's PBLs even though attendance is mandatory. I find it to be a complete waste of time as they eventually just post the answers and the relevant materials from the class.

I'm so sorry *hug*.