<p>Remember, its not what you know, but rather what you can do. Abilities are far more important than knowledge. I would rather have the ability to memorize 100 facts in one hour and just forget it in the next 48hrs than have the skills to memorize 30 facts in one hr and remember it for yrs.. Because that would get me through college with straight A's( in most classes, i.e doesn't work for math). Moreover, it really doesn't matter because most professional schools don't require prior knowledge.
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<p>That'll get you through college, but not real life.</p>
<p>Well the idea is to get through college. Most colleges don't prepare students for the real world. That's just not something a textbook can teach you. It can only come through experience.</p>
<p>As opposed to losing the battle and still losing the war? The only way wars are won are by winning battles. Feel free to let me know of the first country to lose all their battles and still win a war. Analogies to the side, you can remember and learn all the things you want from school, but most of it, depending on your profession and career, won't come into real use everyday. It doesn't mean you've lost any 'war'. People learn experience in the real world, not in the classroom.</p>
<p>Many would say that the information you learn in college is less important than the skills you learn, and that teaching yourself to get ahead in the short-run vs. buckling down is likely to backfire. </p>
<p>Now, I happen to have the shortest math-memory of anyone ever, and yet I managed to minor in the subject (I love it, but for some reason the info just falls straight out of my head in a way that nothing else does). So I'm not trying to throw stones, here, just presenting another perspective. </p>
<p>Anyway, this is largely irrelevant, because if you're not in college yet or haven't been there for long, you'll soon realize that memorizing any number of facts in any amount of time--however impressive--is still no guarantee of straight A's.</p>
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Many would say that the information you learn in college is less important than the skills you learn, and that teaching yourself to get ahead in the short-run vs. buckling down is likely to backfire.
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<p>Thanks for putting it better than I did.</p>
<p>What good is a 4.0 when you haven't learned any worthwhile skills while at school? Aren't you much better off getting a 3.5 and being able to deal with real problems once you graduate college?</p>
<p>To be fair, memorizing 100 facts in 30min (or whatever the numbers were) is certainly a worthwhile skill! It's just not the *only<a href="nor%20the%20greatest">/I</a> worthwhile skill. On its own, it probably won't get you through life, and it definitely won't get you through college. </p>
<p>Personally, when I talk about studying effectively, revamping study methods for different courses, knowing when to say enough, etc., I mean those things to have real world application. Ditto time management, seeking out assistance when needed, and whatever else. Yeah, in the short term, these things might help you ace a class, but that's not all they're good for. And if they don't help you ace the class, well, it doesn't mean that they're useless skills to have.</p>
<p>Grades are and always have been very important to me. I'm not saying that you should ignore them in favor of sleeping for 12hrs per night. Just trying to point out that these things can all go hand in hand...</p>
<p>haha, this thread makes me chuckle, in a good way. I've gotten progressively worse at time managing throughout college, and now in my last semester of undergrad, I'm trying to revert back to the "good old days." The fact is that since college courses consist of only 2 midterms (40%) and 1 final (45%), and 5 problem sets worth 15% of your grade, you have plenty of time to "slack off" in between.</p>
<p>The most successful people in college always time manage well. There are some here who are horrible test takers (and hence not necessarily innately smart) but they have near 4.0s because they manage their time like nobody's business.</p>
<p>Some people just can't work at all unless there is pressure or they are under a lot of stress. </p>
<p>For me, it seems like I will always get As or A+s on papers, but it takes me 2 or 3 times as much time as everyone else in class (so an 8 page paper might take 24 hours of planning, drafting, and revising for me (not even counting the time reading the actual book itself), whereas many people could just churn one out in one night).</p>