Tips on Studying for Finals

I'm a big fan of flash cards. Another thing I used to do specifically for organic was to get one of those small wipe boards and draw mechanisms/structures on it until I knew them.

 

For o-chem I read my notes aloud and recorded it on a voice recorder and listen to it for 2 days straight. Need less to say I didn't miss any thing from by notes.

 

Ochem 1 is mostly memorization. What I would do is constantly rewrite things on blank paper until i got it down cold. The structures of the molecules, how they bond, things like that and then there is some things that are conceptual like the R and S. But it was mostly memorizing.

For the future: Ochem 2 is NOT all memorizing. From the start, just learn the rules, and apply them. There are a couple rules that you need to know that you can apply to almost all the reactions. All you have to do is also keep in mind the acceptions.

Genetics is mostly conceptual, go to office hours! and despite people saying it is suppose to be an easy class, becareful for the final because its really up to the professor how hard they want to make this class.

 

Doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. I think Einstein said this.

Go to the library. Bring your books, notes, pens and 30 sheets of blank paper. Get a cubicle there and stay there until you get hungry or nature calls. Take care of business and come back. Repeat.

Get away from your computer, why are you even on SDN? There is no magic pill on here that will make you suddenly study more efficiently. It comes down to discipline. I don't want to judge but if you study A LOT and I mean A LOT you don't get Cs especially in orgo I. With moderate studying of that material you can get at least a B. So again, not to judge but you're probably spending a lot of time "studying" but not a lot of time studying. Get rid of the internet, music, games, tv, phone, etc.

So as a summary: JUST DO IT (Nike)

 

This forum + Fantasy Football = my demise

 

I'm a huge proponent of studying backtests. It gives you an idea of what to expect and then you can go back over your notes to bolster those areas.

 

When you study, write things down and prove things to yourself. I.e. if you're memorizing stuff in genetics write down the notes you don't already know (I don't care if it takes many times) to get it to stick in your head. If you're in Ochem, don't just memorize the reactions, draw the mechanisms so you can learn to predict electron movement--at the basic ochem level there is method to the madness and you can often guess a correct answer for something you may not have ever seen before if you follow basic electron pushing rules.

 

Dude, same here, except its football in general.