<p>How do you study for exams? I mean I could use some help with how I study and balancing a social life. Do you do flashcards? Draw diagrams? Make songs? Ive tried all these and just still managed to pull a C in Gen. Bio! It's frustrating really. Advice anyone?</p>
<p>I re-teach the lectures to the walls in my room.
It works quite nicely.</p>
<p>I made copies of unlabeled diagrams and labeled them until I knew them cold for anatomy.</p>
<p>All studying comes down to studying harder or smarter. Sometimes all you really need is more time, but for most pre-meds, the first instinct is to slave away at the expense of other classes and experience. If it seems like you’re on the right track with most the material, then maybe a little (or a lot) more time is all you need.</p>
<p>However, if you’re putting in significant portions of time, with sequential increases with each subsequent poor grade, then the answer is studying smarter. Basically you need to adapt to the way the professor teaches and tests. Are you spending days outlining the text book when the entirety of the exams come from lecture notes? Are you spending copious amounts of time on practice problems that look nothing like the exams? Are you using ill-prepared study guides that don’t match the material that ends up on the tests? Any of these mistakes and ones similar to them are common culprits for poor grades with heroic investments of time and effort. </p>
<p>The other component is knowing how you learn. Some people do better in small groups, some need to write everything out, others can look at it, while a select few can just absorb it. Whatever your strength you need to figure it out and then adapt your methods to that format. </p>
<p>The biggest thing though is you have to be adaptable, no one strategy is going to work for every professor. You can’t assume that because you got an A in calculus by doing hundreds of practice problems that you’ll get an A in chemistry through the same method.</p>
<p>I teach things to my dog and he listens to me.</p>
<p>Junior D has all "A"s so far. She said, she studies from notes, she does not read books. Different classes take different time to prep. Cell Bio and Orgo definately were the ones that took longest time. Sometime she needs to study even while walking from class to class - time management is a key. She is very busy, 2 minors, work, volunteering, on sorority board.</p>
<p>BRM made a great post there. The key is adaptability. Some professors teach straight out of the book. Others, such as my physiology professor, told us to use the book only to clarify topics we don’t understand from lecture.</p>
<p>BRM summed up what I would have said.</p>
<p>I find that studying something and then sleeping on it really helps me with memory recall. I’ll go through a ton of material on one day, get a good night’s rest, then go through it again more quickly the next day (I’m always surprised by how well I remember details and concepts the day after) as well as go through more new material (and then review all of it again on the third day). By the third or fourth day I have very good understanding and excellent recall of everything I studied.</p>
<p>thanks everyone sooo much for these tips!</p>
<p>Other thing that worked for me is to step back and not work on biology for a day or two. I know this sounds dangerous, but when you are in panic-mode, studying day after day will only make you feel like you don’t know anything at all. So, I step back and worked on other classes, and came to biology bit later. It was less stressful, and using what BRM said, helped on adaptability.</p>
<p>Again, everyone’s different. Some people have to study continuously, or they will not be able to study. I’m one of other people who need to be able to think clearly to retain information. Do whatever works for you I say.</p>
<p>I have ocd which causes me to read things over and over again. A nuisance yes, but great for school!</p>
<p>I learn by breaking the material up into smaller components. Depending on what the subject is and the way the professor teaches, it is vital to determine what material the prof focuses on. The first time, I glance at the material: I look through headings and the first sentences of paragraphs to get an idea of what I’m going to go through. Then, I take a break and do something else for a while. I return to the material and create a goal to accomplish/understand X many concepts. I then do somethign else and come back to it to see how much I have recalled. If you want to put something in long term memory, for me, I find that repetition is key. However, you don’t want to get bored, so when you get it after a few rounds of repetition, its safe to say that you have a good idea of the concept. I would also recommend chalkboards to write out what your thinking. Pretend like your teaching someone else. When you understand the concept, see if one of your friends in your class is struggling and ask if you can assist them. If they say yes, then definately see how well you can explain the concept! The questions they ask may get you to explore something about the concept that you didn’t think of! Hope that helps :-)</p>