<p>Hello!</p>
<p>I have strange problem; for every class, I feel that I need to buy study guides like Schaum or others. I do not know why but I never get satisfied with the textbook and the notes. I also feel that I need those study guides to pass the course...am I just weird?</p>
<p>No. Everyone has their own way to study for classes 
Do and stick to what works best for you.</p>
<p>It sounds like that is just your learning style. Everyone is different. If you are doing well by buying study guides, keep at it.</p>
<p>As long as it is productive to you, then it is fine.</p>
<p>I bought considerable numbers of the study guides (usually for AP and other academic stuffs) like Schaum but I am not so sure if they are useful in college, and if I actually have a time for reading them. </p>
<p>Do you use third-party study guides besides your class notes and textbooks?</p>
<p>If it works for you, then by all means keep doing it. Everyone has their own way of studying. I like to get the study guides for some of my classes. My physics and math books usually have separate study guides available, and I like to get some of them. The physics study guides are nice for referencing. They often sum up the fundamental ideas, and list the formulas in more condensed formats. They also offer alternative explanations and applications.</p>
<p>The Schaum’s outlines that I have include the Mathematical Tables and Formulas guide and the Advanced Mathematics for Engineers guide and I find them to be helpful because 1) They give me an additional explanation outside the professor and the textbook that I can use and 2) I can use them as reference later in my career. At my current internship, I brought these guides with me because I find that I still need to reference things that I myself forget.</p>
<p>I use those two guides actively still, even in my senior year of college. So yes, they are useful. Will you have time to read them the whole way through? Maybe not. I typically will reference them on an as needed basis instead of actually reading them through thoroughly.</p>