Hey All,
I’m just finishing my first semester as a Cell & Molecular Bio major. I’m taking a decently difficult 2000-level bio seminar, and I’m doing well enough, but it has shown me that I have much more trouble sitting down and studying for biology than for more-computational classes like math/chemistry.
I imagine that it’ll begin to bite me in the ass as I go onto harder classes (like neurobiology of cognitive decline next semester, which I am super excited about), so I guess I should start figuring out better ways to study.
How do you study for biology courses? Any tips?
Thanks!
Julian
What are your ultimate career goals? If you find it easier to study for quantitative classes, maybe you’d benefit from a more math-based or quantitative major?
As for many biology courses, they tend to be heavy on memorization of key details. Try making a game out of it–come up with mnemonics or mental devices to help you remember and study sets of details. Another thing you can do is lay out the major points you need to study for a particular exam, quiz, lecture, lab, or whatever. Tell yourself you’ll take a break after you are done reviewing/understanding each of major point. By breaking up the process, you don’t have to sit down and study for a long period of time, but instead for several smaller periods of time. Maybe use the time in between to work on something else, or just to relax–assuming you have the willpower to not relax for too long.
@AuraObscura thankyou for the tips!
And I’m considering an MD/PhD, and right now I’m definitely looking towards the PhD part being a life science one - I’m a fan of cognitive decline and aging.
I’ll look for opportunities to take more quantitative classes, but I do generally prefer genomics/molecular biology to the more quantitative applied math/chemistry
If I try to just reread my notes to study, I can’t focus on them. I have to be doing something with the information to be able to focus. For me that usually means making myself notes summaries. I try to pull the information together to figure out what the main topics are and end up with a few page bullet point summary of what I think are the important points from each area. While doing so, I also try to come up with possible exam questions the prof could ask on the material. If there are complicated processes (common in biology courses), I make my own diagram to summarize all the information about it. I do this to study for each exam throughout the semester, and then when it comes time for the final, I’ve already built myself a study guide.
For these more qualitative classes, I also sometimes find it useful to have a study buddy (more so than for quantitative classes, where you can check your work). After making my note summaries, I’ll discuss/go through them with my study buddy. When you’re talking to another person, it’s harder to gloss over your weak spots than when you’re talking to yourself. Also, teaching/explaining material to someone else is one of the best ways to learn.
Something different works for everyone, so it might take some time to figure out what’s best for you. This process served me well through 5 years of Northeastern’s biology classes, though. 