<p>Over the past few years, I have discovered many people study in different ways.
I'm sure we all know those geniuses that don't seem to study a lot and yet still get their 4.0 gpa. So I ask you, how do you all study? And what school do you attend?</p>
<p>I study in the nude</p>
<p>I cram…</p>
<p>^ lol</p>
<p>WashU</p>
<p>When I finish with classes, I read my textbooks. When I get tired, I switch to other types of work, ie going through problems or outlining essays. Then I take my laptop with me everywhere so I can review or flesh out the outlines into essays when I have free time. I also try not to spend more than 45 minutes at meals, and I try to take advantage of all possible help sessions/tutoring.</p>
<p>I will usually hang out with people whenever they ask (meaning my work usually happens for 15 minute blocks before I get distracted) so I try to cram my work into all the other time I have around the day. It works for me (quite well, actually).</p>
<p>Also, if you need any inspiration, just listen to Richard Feynman’s multiple interviews and lectures.</p>
<p>WashU. The 2-3 days before a big test, I’m pretty much staying up very late, catching up on readings, (re)taking notes on readings/lecture slides, reviewing notes, and basically spending short blocks of time punctuated by social/fb breaks over the entire night(s) “cramming”. If I’m very behind in readings, then I start catching up on readings a few days earlier than that (I read slowly). If I have assignments/other events around those few days, I adjust to make time for them or do them early or later. If it’s math, I’ll do old tests (to the point where I feel comfortable). If the test allows a cheat sheet, I’ll combine reviewing and making my cheat sheet. If I feel that I’ll need to study more/can’t rely solely on my cheat sheet and in-test reasoning, I’ll make more time for studying. If I run out of time to study thoroughly, I’ll do whatever I feel is an optimal use of my remaining time (either skimming the remaining material, skimming the material I’ve already covered, or resting to not burn out). I usually value studying more than sleeping (somehow I function fairly well in-test without much sleep). After the test, I sleep. For regular assignments, I’ll spend however much time I need to the night before.</p>
<p>I study very little except the night before the test, then I’ll study maybe 2 hours or so.</p>
<p>For finals I go all out and study like 11-12 hours straight.</p>
<p>Haha, besides nitwit, I see we have a lot of crammers (Unless you count 2-3 days as not cramming)</p>
<p>Now do you guys get satisfactory grades?</p>
<p>Cramming works for me… I find it easy. I had this really annoying teacher once who was like anybody who crams generally gets an F so I raised my hand and said then how come I have a 103.4 in tests?? </p>
<p>I really hate flashcards tho…</p>
<p>3 WashU in 10 posts, that’s pretty cool.</p>
<p>I used to cram a la generallyrong, and it worked fine for me in terms of grades. However, I find it much, much less stressful to get my work done well before it is due, because then in my head I’m doing the work on my terms. Do your readings before they are discussed in class, finish your papers three days before they are due, that sort of thing.</p>
<p>I’m not a proponent of note taking on readings, so I’ll usually read a passage twice, so that it sticks in my head better. Also, I try to read over the notes from each class I have had at the end of each day. This works well for me because I have all of my classes scheduled in a block, usually with a small break falling in somewhere.</p>
<p>Sometimes, you just have to take a friday night and lock yourself away in the law library quiet room and kill some work. Although I only ever did this twice, and that was after missing weeks of class due to mono.</p>
<p>Finally, not really a study tip, but I still like to think that it helps me out in some small way. This only works if the professor doesn’t have busy office hours. Occasionally go to office hours for every class, and especially if you don’t have any questions on the class. Just sit around and get to know your professor, talk to him or her about their research, or just discuss the topic in class in a larger sense than what you are studying. Professors are humans too, and they love to see that a student is genuinely excited in the field that they are devoting their life’s work to. It can never hurt to have the person giving you the grade in the class on your side :)</p>
<p>I start studying weeks in advance, mainly because I know that I don’t focus well. Our only marks (for the most part) come from our final exams so you have to do well.</p>
<p>When I actually do study, I normally go back through the course notes and make up summary notes. Then I do tutorial questions, followed by past exams. I usually reward myself with 5 minutes of internet or reading for every page I read and take notes on, or two problems that I do.</p>
<p>I go to the University of Edinburgh.</p>
<p>Comes down to how one handles under stress.
I find that I work better under stress than I would under normal circumstances, so I cram.
As far as my method though, I rewrite flashcards till my hands hurt, then study them. The notes, not my hands.</p>
<p>I use studyhacks.com</p>
<p>It’s weird to think that you WashU kids might have been my classmates. Maybe I even met you at a second look or something :)</p>
<p>Anyway yeah, I rarely study very far in advance (just finished freshman year though). I keep up with mandatory homework, do the readings if I feel like it, and do a massive review ~3-4 days before the test, starting with notes, then practice problems. Works fine most of the time.</p>
<p>I lose focus if I’m not under (a manageable amount of) pressure.</p>
<p>Study in silence. If you can’t bear to do that, classical/orchestral music only.</p>
<p>I also like to quiz myself as I go along.</p>
<p>When studying for exams, I usually try to learn general ideas before mastering specifics.</p>
<p>I copy all my notes into evernote, then sync it with the app on my phone. Then I skim through them whenever I have a few minutes- while making dinner, waiting at the dentists office, standing in line at the grocery store, etc.<br>
I also like to watch documentaries on whatever we’re studying at the time. That way I can go to class and participate more in the discussions, impress the professor, and score higher than other people on exams.</p>
<p>Cramming does not work at all for me. Mostly the information I get while cramming just escapes me when I need it on a test. Studying seems to work best when I’m enjoying learning about the subject and read the information slowly. That way I can actually absorb the material and the knowledge becomes secondhand. Speaking out loud while studying also seems to help.</p>
<p>I also cram but always before the day of the test. And to be honest, I did not start studying until my senior year of highschool because I retain information very well. I’m a visual learner so I watch YouTube videos and watch diagrams to help me. If I don’t understand something to the point where I’m brain dead, I go to khanacademy.org and it basically dumbs everything down.</p>
<p>I always took notes after class instead of during (for psych and history classes, this worked especially well). It forced me to pay better attention during class because I knew I’d have to reproduce as much as possible after class in order to do well on the tests. Anything I couldn’t remember, I either looked up online or in the textbook or talked to the professor about afterwards. Then, anytime I studied for the exam, I took a blank sheet of paper and wrote down everything I could remember off the top of my head. Anything I didn’t remember, I looked up in my notes. Then I studied only that stuff (because why study what you already know?). It worked extremely well for me, took suprisingly little time, and actually I still remember a lot of the things I studied in that way. It did look a little funny to other people, though, when I never took notes in class and only brought a pencil in when I knew there would be a quiz or test. They probably thought I was a slacker…</p>