Just curious, it seems that some people study less and others study a LOT more.
What did you end up getting in the class?😀
What did you end up getting in the class?😀
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What's the longest that you have studied for a midterm/final?
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this is a tough question because some people study periodically throughout the semester so when a test comes they only spend maybe a day reviewing...others do nothing until a couple of days beforehand and study everything...for me...i fall into the category of doing nothing before a few days of the test...i would say the longest i studied for a midterm without looking at any of the material beforehand was probably 4-5 days....which was organic chemistry and i got an A
😉
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in undergrad, I started studying over a week in advance for some biochem exams, which resulted in really high grades. Same thing in med school yields much lower results....
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3 days in advance, 3 hrs a day usually works for me.
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In sort of general, liberal arts-y distributives, we were often given a list of questions with "3 of these 12 will be on" or whatnot, and in those cases I would literally write out essay answers to all 12 and memorize them.
Over the top, I know, and I could have written a perfectly good essay on the spot for then if I had just studied the general topic without memorizing essays, but this ensured that I could write more down in the allotted time and it would still be coherent and perfectly, 100% organized. It matters when there's an extra little note made by your grade if you do really well, so that the highest grade you can get is not just an A.
For those kinds of exams, I found I could memorize a really long paragraph in about half an hour. Writing up the original essays would take a few hours, too.
For other kinds, where one didn't know the potential questions in advance, I'd make cue cards, which would take hours again, and then memorize those.
Man, undergrad sucked -- only once in a blue moon did I ever have any "understanding"-based courses. And those were the bomb. Oddly enough, statistical mechanics was understanding-based rather than memorization-based, and I loved that. But that was just a product of the prof.
And during undergrad, I never started studying for something maybe more than a week in advance. Let's say a week and a half, just to be safe (for those times when I'd have two exams crunched together or some such and so had to start studying for both earlier). Hell, I would never even do any reading before starting to study for the exams. And depending on the class, sometimes I'd not even go to class....
You could say I have the art of acing exams without doing jack**** the rest of the year down pat 🙂.
Over the top, I know, and I could have written a perfectly good essay on the spot for then if I had just studied the general topic without memorizing essays, but this ensured that I could write more down in the allotted time and it would still be coherent and perfectly, 100% organized. It matters when there's an extra little note made by your grade if you do really well, so that the highest grade you can get is not just an A.
For those kinds of exams, I found I could memorize a really long paragraph in about half an hour. Writing up the original essays would take a few hours, too.
For other kinds, where one didn't know the potential questions in advance, I'd make cue cards, which would take hours again, and then memorize those.
Man, undergrad sucked -- only once in a blue moon did I ever have any "understanding"-based courses. And those were the bomb. Oddly enough, statistical mechanics was understanding-based rather than memorization-based, and I loved that. But that was just a product of the prof.
And during undergrad, I never started studying for something maybe more than a week in advance. Let's say a week and a half, just to be safe (for those times when I'd have two exams crunched together or some such and so had to start studying for both earlier). Hell, I would never even do any reading before starting to study for the exams. And depending on the class, sometimes I'd not even go to class....
You could say I have the art of acing exams without doing jack**** the rest of the year down pat 🙂.
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I'm a big crammer so here it goes:
12 hours straight for Biochem, only a break for lunch.
8 hours straight for ochem, no breaks.
And of course MCAT was a cramming marathon
12 hours straight for Biochem, only a break for lunch.
8 hours straight for ochem, no breaks.
And of course MCAT was a cramming marathon
One semester, for a Genetics final:
13-14 hours straight, without getting any sleep. I went straight from one final that ended at 6:30p.m., to the library, to the science building at 8:30ish a.m. in time to take my 9am final.
It was comprehensive, with ~20+ chapters. I'm still very proud of that cramming (I made an A on the final) 😛 .
13-14 hours straight, without getting any sleep. I went straight from one final that ended at 6:30p.m., to the library, to the science building at 8:30ish a.m. in time to take my 9am final.
It was comprehensive, with ~20+ chapters. I'm still very proud of that cramming (I made an A on the final) 😛 .
About 120 hours for a biochem final.
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i'd usually start the cramming like 2/3 days before the final, maybe 3/4 if I had the time.
i've found that it isnt about how much you study so much as studying the right things. Find out how to study exactly what you will be tested on to maximize your efficiently. It sucks because I always believe we should be studying to learn not for grades, but unfortunately we're in a grade driven profession, so just do it.
i've found that it isnt about how much you study so much as studying the right things. Find out how to study exactly what you will be tested on to maximize your efficiently. It sucks because I always believe we should be studying to learn not for grades, but unfortunately we're in a grade driven profession, so just do it.
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When my finals are bunched together like 5 in 8 days or something, and this happens a lot, I tend to focus more of my time on the first few. When I get to the last final it's usually a massive cramming session the night before because I kept putting it off. There's always a downward trend in grades from the first final to the last final for me.
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<------- TOOK TWO FINALS BACK TO BACK ON ZERO HOURS OF SLEEP...THAT WAS PRETTY INTENSE...I MUST HAVE SLEPT LIKE 24 HOURS AFTER THE TESTS WERE OVER
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just wait until med school, chief. 😀
8 hours a day
3 days straight
orgo final
3 days straight
orgo final
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I studied 8 hrs. straight on monday for a bio-exam. I aced it though.
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30 minutes, I hate to study, have a low attention span to these things, added with an eye problem that basically impede me from focusing on a line in a book, so I can't read books very efficiently.
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