What does it take to get an A in bio classes and orgo chem and physics?
- Thread starter SCDP
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For Bio, repetition works. Read the chapter that's going to be covered in lecture before the class starts, then pay attention during lecture and ask questions, read the chapter again right after the lecture. At this point, you've hit the chapter three times and you know most of the information. Then when you go to study for the test, only study what you do not know by heart.
For Physics and Orgo, keep doing practice problems. Do EVERY problem in the back of the chapter in your textbook. Rewrite the notes you take during lecture. Then when you take the exam, you'll have done so many practice problems that you should be able to tackle any problem on the exam.
But most importantly, you're here to LEARN. If you worry about every A you do not get, you'll end up miserable. Understand that there may be a class or professor for whom no matter how hard you study, an A just won't be possible.
For Physics and Orgo, keep doing practice problems. Do EVERY problem in the back of the chapter in your textbook. Rewrite the notes you take during lecture. Then when you take the exam, you'll have done so many practice problems that you should be able to tackle any problem on the exam.
But most importantly, you're here to LEARN. If you worry about every A you do not get, you'll end up miserable. Understand that there may be a class or professor for whom no matter how hard you study, an A just won't be possible.
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Ik, but biology is straight dumb. Every class I have I study the night before even Chem and get A's. For bio so far, I have gotten a B- and the exam I took today, well I have no idea but it could be anywhere from an B-F. Studying in chunks won't do me any better than studying the night before because it has proven to work and I still make sure I know everything, Bio is just pissing me off right now
Um, no. If you try and cram everything in the night before you will not do well in Bio. It's an entirely different beast from Chemistry. I know because I've tried it and I ended up getting a C on the exam. The problem is that there is just too much information in Biology for you to retain the night before. That is why studying in chunks help, you first learn all the obvious information, then the specifics, and then the really abstract concepts.
Watch this video, the guy details what he calls peeling the layers of an onion in accordance to studying for any Bio class. It was made for med school, but it should work for undergrad.
There isn't an all inclusive answer to your question... People learn differently and assimilate different information at different rates.. The obvious answer here is "study". How often and how you study is something you need to gauge by trial and error. For classes like organic chemistry, make sure you do more than just memorize mechanisms and facts. Learning how and why things work will make your life much easier. You'll see more organic chemistry concepts in biochemistry and everything from your introductory biology courses will be further emphasized and repeated in your upper level courses. Things like transcription, DNA replication, the electron transport chain, etc. will be revisited in many courses.. Save yourself the trouble and learn it the first time!
I have to disagree. I crammed the (entire) night before my biology and other upper level bio course exams and always did well. If you are good at memorizing, there's little more to undergrad level bio courses than 90% regurgitation and 10% critical thinking.
I don't think a technique like that would ever work in dental/medical/pharmacy etc. school because the sheer amount of information is too much to adequately cover in one night. But for college? Doable as long as you have enough dedication and caffeine.
Wait, you actually have to put in effort instead of just studying the night before to get a good grade? That's dumb!
Dude, if it's pissing you off, obviously, you're not study right! Also, maybe cramming the night before is working for you now but that **** ain't gonna fly once you hit D-school. Granted I'm not in dental school yet but my Masters allows me to take D-school classes and lemme tell you, there's a huge difference between the kids who cram vs the ones who review material as they go along
Study 30 minutes EVERYDAY!! Studies have shown that if you study for 3 hours once a week, you will remember the first little bit and the last little bit and will forget everything inbetween (to some degree). So those three hours really add up to about 20 minutes worth of material when it comes down to it. Not a very good return on the investment. Study more frequently at shorter bursts thus more starts and finishes. Boom.
Beats.
Battlestar galactica.
Beats.
Battlestar galactica.
