studying tips/mindset for upper division biology courses

[DiamondBar]

Hi! I was wondering if you guys can give me some tips when taking upper division biology classes. Last spring I took an upperdivision physiology class and it was very challenging for me - I underestimated the class and got RAPED during tests. The teacher was really amazing, but her tests were very difficult for me (questions really making you utilize what you've learned, not just regurgitating information). I find the questions on the tests similar to physics courses, except physics having much less 'information' you have to apply. I ended up getting the W for this class X_X

In other classes such as organic chemistry, I read the book and just went over practice exams which was enough to get my A's. But for genetics, which was the only biology course I've taken so far, I studied my ass off for the A by reading the book, going to lectures, and office hours; however, I think that I wasn't being very efficient when studying for exams because other students didn't seem too stressed as I was. Even in high school I've always thought myself as more of a 'chemistry' student than a 'biology' student.

For you biology geniuses, help me be better at biology. I want to know how to be efficient when utilizing my studying time. I want to understand everything and put everything together - I sometimes have hard time picturing what is going inside the human body: for example, when I read about every detail of smooth muscle contraction, I 'understand it' and I can repeat the information, but I can't PICTURE(?) it going on and picture it at the same time with what happens in other body parts.

What can I do to have this 'biology' mindset? It really worries me because I have a lot of classes like these in the future and it just so happens to be my weakness. Please help me improve, SDN!

P.S. I've gotten out of the general biology sequence with my AP score, so I don't really have a 'feel' on biology courses in college

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[MSU2009]

Easily the highest-yield thing I have personally done is to sit down and just think about how it all ties in together. It's likely that the majority of the things you learn in an upper division class are just building on little gaps that you might have in your general biology.

Maybe if you brushed up on the general topics it would help when you go in-depth in a physio class. (or whatever course it may be)

 

[SissyAlice]

Hi! I was wondering if you guys can give me some tips when taking upper division biology classes. Last spring I took an upperdivision physiology class and it was very challenging for me - I underestimated the class and got RAPED during tests. The teacher was really amazing, but her tests were very difficult for me (questions really making you utilize what you've learned, not just regurgitating information). I find the questions on the tests similar to physics courses, except physics having much less 'information' you have to apply. I ended up getting the W for this class X_X

In other classes such as organic chemistry, I read the book and just went over practice exams which was enough to get my A's. But for genetics, which was the only biology course I've taken so far, I studied my ass off for the A by reading the book, going to lectures, and office hours; however, I think that I wasn't being very efficient when studying for exams because other students didn't seem too stressed as I was. Even in high school I've always thought myself as more of a 'chemistry' student than a 'biology' student.

For you biology geniuses, help me be better at biology. I want to know how to be efficient when utilizing my studying time. I want to understand everything and put everything together - I sometimes have hard time picturing what is going inside the human body: for example, when I read about every detail of smooth muscle contraction, I 'understand it' and I can repeat the information, but I can't PICTURE(?) it going on and picture it at the same time with what happens in other body parts.

What can I do to have this 'biology' mindset? It really worries me because I have a lot of classes like these in the future and it just so happens to be my weakness. Please help me improve, SDN!

P.S. I've gotten out of the general biology sequence with my AP score, so I don't really have a 'feel' on biology courses in college

I'm not a bio person either, but after getting a B+ in gen bio I knew I had to put in more time. With bio, you just need to put in time and do the bolded. You want to know the simple concepts well enough that when test time comes you only have to 'think' about the hard questions.

You should never be worried about what other people in your class are doing. You don't really know what their grades are, and you don't really know how much they study. At my school most people act like they never study, and don't worry about exams. Most of them don't do well, and aside from the occasional genius, I'm sure the ones who do well study during most of their free time

 

[NewYorker9]

I've just always learned it as a good and a lot of the material builds upon itself (i.e. gen bio --> a & p, micro, cell bio). IMO the secret is to understand the major concepts as well as learn the language - all of the terms and random names assigned for some historically cute reason. Know the big points, and you'll probably be able to piece together a lot of the smaller stuff.

 

[PharMed2016]

I've just always learned it as a good and a lot of the material builds upon itself (i.e. gen bio --> a & p, micro, cell bio). IMO the secret is to understand the major concepts as well as learn the language - all of the terms and random names assigned for some historically cute reason. Know the big points, and you'll probably be able to piece together a lot of the smaller stuff.

👍👍

If you don't have a good background... you will not do good. Didn't do that hot in UG but I understood everything that I was taught. When I started pharmacy school... I found that a lot of individuals don't really know their material or understood the concepts (4.0 peeps) and they quickly fell behind.

Lesson to be learned... learn the basics because it will provide the foundation for you.

 

[mkhmltn]

👍👍
Lesson to be learned... learn the basics because it will provide the foundation for you.

Couldn't agree more!

 

[zwitterion34]

Use mnemonics when studying: the dirtier the better. For example, for TCA cycle, can I keep selling sex for money officer. For classification, dumb king philip came over for great sex. 😎

 

[JESSFALLING]

For classification, dumb king philip came over for great sex. 😎

I always liked "Killer Pot Comes Only From Good Seeds"

 

[kkuhn]

My experience yields only this advice: take an engineering course and then marvel at how much easier bio courses suddenly seem!

Less meanly, good luck with your classes!! The other posts on this thread have great advice.

 

[JHU 2010]

I actually had the opposite problem in college, the intro classes kicked my butt, and the upper level classes were a breeze (except for Developmental Bio, that sucker was HARD). Really, I think the biggest thing is if you find the material interesting, you'll do better. If you have elective upper level Bios, try to take the ones that sound interesting. Immunology and virology were two of the most technically challenging courses I took, but I did well because I found it easy to study something intriguing. The intro classes (Chem, Orgo, and Physics) just were tedious and my brain shut off whenever I opened a book or sat in lecture.