Looking for Some Studying Tips

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Hello, </p>

<p>I apologize if I have posted this in the wrong spot, but I was unable to find a place to post this. </p>

<p>I am currently a sopohmore in college, and I am in need of some advice. For some reason, I am doing very poorly in school and it keeps getting progressively worse. My best grade so far was in first semester freshman year, and I put in a decent amount of work and studying, but didn't do well on the exams. Second semester, I was determined to get 4.0 and I studying as hard as possible, by studying whenever and wherever possible. However, I did worse, and my grades went down. I took classes this summer, and I braced myself for the impact of the stress of the summer courses as I took Organic Chemistry I and Statistics. I have studied for these classes much more than I did in the Spring semester, and for some reason I keep failing exams. No matter how hard I have tried to study and practice problems, I keep falling shorter and shorter. (I have 3 notebooks full of solely practice problems from organic chemistry this semester). </p>

<p>At this point, I have no motivation to study at all, since final exams were today. I feel like I did really well, considering I spend my days from 6:30 A.M. - 2:30 A.M. every day with either classes or studying (except for the weekends, I sleep earlier and wake up later). Every time I think that I do good on an exam, it always, regardless of how hard or how easy the class was, I get a poor grade. So usually, on the day of the exam I will feel like I did a good job, but then the next day, I decide to change my mind because I am cursed to do bad in school .</p>

<p>I mean, I haven't always done bad in school. I was top 10 in high school, and had straight A+s in elementary school and middle school. I honestly don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I've talked to several teachers, and researched online for different advice on how to study, but nothing has helped me but make the situation worse. </p>

<p>I'm not stressed about the workload in these classes. I'm just stressed out by the fact I perform horribly on quizzes and tests. </p>

<p>I really need some advice because I am getting stressed out about this, and somewhat depressed. I see some people not show up to class, or they barely pay attention at all in class, and they still do a lot better than I do. It makes me feel this way, and I really hope someone can help me and give me some advice. I really would appreciate anything at this point, as I feel everything going downhill. </p>

<p>I hope there might be a kind soul out there who can help me, as I've always wanted to graduate from college and go into a professional field like the medical field. </p>

<p>Spyder</p>

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<p>Sounds like you’re having an irritating time at school.
Can you identify why you don’t do well in the tests you take? Do you run out of time in the exam? Forget the material? Just have a poor accuracy in answering questions? Do you get very stressed when taking tests?</p>

<p>For mathematical subjects my strategy was always to make sure I had fully understood the material -review everything if you have to, then do absolutely loads of questions of the type that would be asked in the exams. Once I’d get confident at doing the questions I’d make sure I did some under timed conditions. Then you just have to repeat this in the exam. Perhaps also get together with someone else in your class and compare answers to make sure you’re not just repeatedly making mistakes while you practice. </p>

<p>I think you need to plan in advance how much time you allocate to each topic and make sure you allow yourself breaks and time to enjoy yourself and relax.</p>

<p>Is there a study centre at your school where you could seek advice? Have you spoken to any of your professors? Can they give you any insight into what’s holding you back?</p>

<p>I wouldn’t worry too much, it’s probably just a case of adapting your studying style to college, you’re obviously intelligent enough to succeed (you did so well in HS).</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>OP, I didnt read the entire post… but I picked up a book by Cal Newport… can’t remember the exact title… something about being a Straight A Student… I think its worth you picking it up or downloading it to your ereader if you have one! Good luck</p>

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<p>@NHCTmom i know what you are talking about how to be a straight a student by cal newport he has a website.@spyder he has info like how to study,take notes,and couple other things the name is studyhacks.com this website was real helpful.</p>

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<p>Need motivation? Get some Adderall, bro.</p>

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<p>Cal Newport’s really helpful. Definitely recommend.</p>

<p>Also, are you sure you’re fully understanding the material? Maybe it would help to go to your professors office hours to get some assistance.</p>

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<p>6:30 AM - 2:30 AM? So… you only sleep for 4 hours a day? I’m not in college yet so I can’t offer too much advice, but I think we can all agree that sleep is invaluable.</p>

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<p>Dear Everyone, </p>

<p>Thank You for your replies. </p>

<p>@ AlwaysInAwe I am not really sure why I don’t do well. I don’t usually run out of time. Sometimes when I take a test, I don’t remember anything, even the basic stuff, and I spend about 20 minutes trying to figure out something. I guess I also tend to choose the wrong answer for some reason when I am answering questions. I used to be stressed but now I just assume that no matter how hard I try I won’t do good, so I really don’t feel stressed anymore. I feel like I have tried to master the subjects but I’m not sure why it ends up the way it does. I’ve tried talking to my professors but they kind of seem to offer the same advice. Study harder, study earlier, typical stuff, etc. </p>

<p>@ NewHavenCTmom and @bigboi403 Thanks for the book. I am currently in the process of purchasing and seeing that this will hopefully work for me. </p>

<p>@RoxSox I sometimes find it hard to study but I think I’m usually able to concentrate. I just get tired sometimes pretty easily. </p>

<p>@PRiNCESSMAHiNA I’m usually unable to go to office hours because it is right after class, and I usually have another class after that. I feel like that I understand the material but maybe I don’t remember it on the test. </p>

<p>@JeSuis Yeah I’ve been thinking that too, but I really needed to make sure I understood everything for every subject. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Spyder</p>

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<p>I honestly think that you need to do is to relax! if you are thinking all the time that you are performing badly while you revise, you are already loosing the point! you should not be worrying about that, you should be concentrating on whatever you are revising.</p>

<p>I have the feeling you might have gotten a low grade in something some time ago, and since then it somehow got in your mind that you are less able than you used to be, and so u started to conform with this self image that you created in your head.</p>

<p>believe me, i have gone through this!! when realised this is what was happening I started to properly revise and have been getting better grades since then!</p>

<p>good luck!</p>

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<p>You can’t understand things on that little sleep. This is probably a big part of your problem, because it’s a cycle: You stay up to study, then can’t focus in class, then need to stay up late to learn the things you didn’t learn in class and throughout the day because you were to tired, rinse, wash repeat. </p>

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<p>It’s easy to compare yourself to people like this, or to people who have much tougher workloads and get better grades, or whatever. But guess what? (A) Those people shouldn’t matter to you–they’re not you, and so their study methods (or lack thereof) are irrelevant. (B) It’s highly unlikely they are as lax as they seem. After all, no one’s born knowing particular facts–they probably study like crazy beyond closed doors. (C) You’re obsessing about a very small minority of people. Look around–I bet you’ll find many, many more people in your boat than in the “natural genius” boat. You just don’t pay attention to them because they don’t stand out. For example, I felt guilty dropping a class this semester because I though my schedule was much easier than everyone else’s. Turns out when I asked around that wasn’t the case at all–I’d just been zeroing in on the people taking 18 hours of hard science and math classes.</p>

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<p>Spyder, I understand how you feel, exams and revision can be so frustrating sometimes… i hav always been bad at revising, i really try and push myself, but i just feel my concentration goes away quickly after few minutes of revising. I realised if i felt i couldnt revise, doing some exercise and then sitting back to revise helped me a lot. Then ur body is tired and does not feel like moving, but your mind is fresh.</p>

<p>Also, I do not know if u hav heard of this site, <a href=“http://www.stressintofocus.com%5B/url%5D”>www.stressintofocus.com</a> , i found it very useful for my own revision. I just came across it few days ago, so when I saw this post I immediately thought of it.</p>

<p>hope u find it helpful!</p>

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<p>You must be studying the wrong way. For example: My friend tried studying Spanish constantly with flash cards but found immersing themselves in the language (songs, books, etc) was better while I found using words in note taking was better. In math I find interactive videos and teaching people what I just learned to work the best (shot my tests up from a D to an A).</p>

<p>Hope it helps!!</p>