Studying Routine for daily 6-7 hours of uninterrupted studying?

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>I will be a freshman political science major, and possibly a econ/business administration double major, and I was wondering where and how people at Cal study, especially if you are a humanities/social science major. </p>

<p>I consider myself a slow reader when I am reading a school textbook (I usually spend about 6-7 minutes on ONE page to make sure that I know everything relevant from that page in and out), and this method really works for me-reading faster always has screwed me up.</p>

<p>I have heard that under div humanities classes average about 80-90 pages I week. I will be taking 3 of these classes, so a lot of my time will inevitably spent on assigned reading. On top of that, I will need to study for exams and write papers.</p>

<p>So I think if I average at least 6 hours (ideally 7 hours) of uninterrupted, alone studying a day, I think I should be fine. And idk about group studying. I've never really been able to get anything too productive out of them, and aren't discussions technically group studies? (I'm taking poli sci 1, history 7A, poli sci 5, and hopefully a decal class) </p>

<p>I was thinking to divide my time between studying in the library, outside some place, and in my dorm room. On days when I have no classes, I think I will study for about 3 hours in the library, 2 hours outside in some nice spot(where would you guys recommend?), and the remaining 2 hours in my dorm. </p>

<p>If I have free time, I will try to socialize, talk my friends, read about politics and business news, and maybe go on facebook and aim for a bit. But yeah, I was wondering how and where other people study at Cal.</p>

2

<p>FIRST OFF, you don’t need to study for PS1. I took it last semester without even buying the materials and I got a B+. I’m sure you’re aiming for higher than that, but its not anything you need to study for; just explain stuff better on tests and papers. </p>

<p>Studying in general is done in the dorm lounges, dorm rooms, and library. Most people study by reading the textbook or novel and do practice problems. Old/practice midterms are given by the teacher (online) or are available in other places on the web.</p>

3

<p>i get so much done when i study in the library.</p>

4

<p>I doubt you’ll need to read your class materials that thoroughly. If you do, you’ll probably find yourself in the class minority - albeit, the minority that actually participates in section. </p>

<p>If you want, you can browse the student store website to look for your books (<a href=“efollett”>efollett), log on to Bspace (<a href=“https://bspace.berkeley.edu/[/url]”>https://bspace.berkeley.edu/&lt;/a&gt;) to look for course syllabi (or try to find them posted online, or email the professor to send you a copy) and start reading early.</p>

<p>As for studying, you can find the library hours on the lib.berkeley.edu website ([Library</a> Hours-The Library-University of California, Berkeley](<a href=“http://ucblibrary3.berkeley.edu/hours]Library”>http://ucblibrary3.berkeley.edu/hours)). I did the whole live-at-the-library thing freshman/sophomore year, but now I rarely visit them. Nowadays I go to cafes around Berkeley to study - they’re everywhere, friendly to cheap, frugal students, and usually have wifi/outlets. You can check Yelp (<a href=“http://www.yelp.com/[/url]”>http://www.yelp.com/&lt;/a&gt;) to browse for coffee houses around Berkeley (but I wouldn’t rely on Yelp’s rating system).</p>

<p>To check for bus routes to said coffee houses, 511.org is your friend (but usually all you need are the 51B or 1R buses if you’re going around/near campus). To check for bus times, NextBus is your friend ([NextBus</a> Stop Selector](<a href=“Umo IQ:”>Umo IQ:)). </p>

<p>On campus, I like reading on the hill near Barrows/Morrison, Moffit Library has an adjacent cafe that is open when the library is open (Free Speech Movement Cafe), the 7th Floor of Eshleman Hall (Eshleman Library) allows food… the Berkeley Art Museum currently has an art installation you can sit on and read ([BAM/PFA</a> - Art Exhibitions - Thom Faulders: BAMscape](<a href=“http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/faulders_bamscape]BAM/PFA”>http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/exhibition/faulders_bamscape))… You can read/study anywhere here.</p>

5

<p>I’ve tried studying in coffee shops, but sometimes the people there get mad if you don’t buy anything.</p>

6

<p>thanks olvidarse, even though I’m not the OP I too benefited from your response! Hmm is your screen name the reflexive infinitive form of the Spanish verb olvidar which is “to forget” I think?</p>

7

<p>^ Yup.</p>

<p>I’ve never tried studying in a cafe without ordering something, but if I do it’s usually something cheap. Some cafes have multiple stories, or extra alcoves away from the cash register - these are great places to sit if you wish to hide your shame.</p>

8

<p>I tried looking for syllabi on bspace but it gave me no results for searching fall 2010. Have any of you been able to access them yet?</p>

9

<p>You really shouldn’t need to study that much per day.</p>

10

<p>

That’s the first thing that came to mind when I saw this topic. I’m a little surprised someone didn’t say this earlier. 6-7 hours a day… wow. I thought it was only the EECS or MCB majors that studied that much</p>

11

<p>Those who ARE really good at Berkeley study smart rather than studying a lot because classes get too tough that simply spamming your time to read can get you only so far…</p>

12

<p>If you study as much as you are aiming for, I am sure that you’ll ace your poli sci major. </p>

<p>Studying “smart” is very ambiguous and “personalized” so if reading at your slow pace does help you with studies, then maybe reading slowly and carefully is your method of studying “smart.”</p>

<p>Studying methods do not really matter, and I would not suggest getting studying tips from other people, since you have developed your studying habits throughout your life, and it would be very difficult to successful switch to different methods of studying. I myself am a fairly fast reader, but I had several friends who read very slowly, but still aced poli sci and ended up in Harvard Law School, Business School, ect. </p>

<p>Just have a plan that works for you that is practical. But if you do study as much as you say you want to you, then you will be more diligent then most other students in your major.</p>

<p>As for nice locations, I recommend Dole library and your dorm room if not too many people are around. I found coffee shops and dorm lounges to be quite distracting actually.</p>

<p>Well those are my two cents,</p>

<p>UC Berkeley Grad '09, currently at NYU law.</p>