<p>Hey everyone, so i was actually a liberal arts major and now i'm looking to possibly do pre-med, so i'm more focused on the sciences as of now. i did really well in bio 1, 2 and chem 1 (got A's in them) i got a b+ in calcI because the final killed me, and i got a b in physics 1 :S i'm really upset with myself. i mean, i never had exposure to physics before in my life but i still feel like i studied so hard...the thing is, i felt that i was smarter when i was a liberal arts major..i don't know, i was able to notice patterns really well. i won't go back, because i like science, but i do feel that it's important to have a balance with subjects.</p>
<p>ANYWAY..i wanted advice from really efficient, studious students. how do you do really well on exams, for instance? it seems that this is my weakness--taking exams. I study so hard, and sometimes i just don't do so well. i stress myself out a lot, by the way, and sometimes i get panic attacks, especially after the death of someone immediately close to me. I really need help getting my patience and calmness back to do well.</p>
<p>“I study so hard, and sometimes i just don’t do so well”</p>
<p>Welcome to pre-med world. Sometimes your best just isn’t enough.</p>
<p>^^ That happened to me in 3 of my classes. Just keep at it. Don’t get discourage because if you do then all your grades will fall.</p>
<p>I think in most Liberal Arts classes you can be well prepared for tests through passive studying, by which I mean just reading the material to be covered several times. Before going to medical school I received my BS in Astrophysics and found that in courses like Calculus and Physics the only way to do the problems on the exams correctly is by doing many practice problems as your principal means of preparing for the tests. Calculus and Physics texts usually have large numbers of problems at the end of each chapter. You should attempt to solve all of them when preparing for a test. Problems in these sets will range from fairly simple to impossibly difficult. Some texts will mark the especially difficult problems. Do not spend hours on one of the really difficult problems since that type of problem is not going to be on the test, unless you go to MIT or Caltech, but you should at least try to understand the concepts involved.</p>
<p>You should aim to do at least 75% of the problems at the end of each section or chapter in your text and all of any supplemental problems that your professor may hand out. As you solve more problems your skill, knowledge and confidence will grow and there will be no need for panic attacks when you take the exam because doing problems is something you are going to be very used to.</p>
<p>physics (and organic) require different abilities and studying. Bio is mostly memorization. Physics requires visualization to manipulate stuff in your head before running the formulas. As Lem mentioned, work as many problems as you can. Day after day. While cramming may work well for lit/hume courses, it don’t cut if for physical science courses (and higher level math).</p>
<p>Oh no you got a B in physics? I think your med school chances are pretty much over. Time to look into “other career options” - most common advice on here for people with bad grades.</p>
<p>But seriously your grades aren’t even that bad. My GPA is a 2.85. If your freaking out this much over a B then I should be in a mental asylum. That is actually something worthy of getting upset over.</p>
<p>Seriously your fine, just calm down, grow a pair, and I’m sure you will do well from here on out despite that life-changing setback you have experienced.</p>