Efficient Study Methods

[easilydoctor]

What is your unique study method? (Besides the obvious such as rote memorization/practice and reading the textbook five times.) Perhaps even for specific classes.

Here's mine that I use in textbooks generally:
Before class, I use yellow highlighters for things I think are important.
After class, I use blue highlighters for things emphasized by professor.
Exams, I memorize the green! (Yellow + Blue [overlapped material] = Green)
I also color code materials; such as concepts-green and formulas-red.


What are your methods?

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[NickRiviera]

I don't study, I drink. It got me into medical school.

 

[tdd340]

I don't study, I drink. It got me into medical school.

I like your style

 

[easilydoctor]

I don't study, I drink. It got me into medical school.

Yea I typically need 1 drink a week (preferably wine) to calm my nerves. Probably not what you mean but I'm hoping it'll keep me sane until medical school.

 

[Tired Pigeon]

What is your unique study method? (Besides the obvious such as rote memorization/practice and reading the textbook five times.) Perhaps even for specific classes.

Here's mine that I use in textbooks generally:
Before class, I use yellow highlighters for things I think are important.
After class, I use blue highlighters for things emphasized by professor.
Exams, I memorize the green! (Yellow + Blue [overlapped material] = Green)
I also color code materials; such as concepts-green and formulas-red.


What are your methods?

That's hilarious!

 

[sejin8642]

8 hours sleep per day

Exercise

Have fun and relax

 

[bigDee]

I go outside to study.

 

[supernareg]

dumb people on the board man, OP's trying to get a nice answer and what do u idiots come up with? a load of bull****.

for me, i usually read the section and take down my own notes, and take notes in class, and do hw assigned by teacher. other than that, i dont read what i dont have to, or do anythign extra. this method's been workin

 

[Critical Mass]

I incorporate studying into my exercise routine. I've found that I can go through the course material faster by reading it myself rather than going to class, and I can just set the text, syllabus, atlas, etc. on the elliptical machine and read while I'm exercising.

 

[schooltill30]

In almost every science and math course, the strategy that has worked best for me is to just pound all the problems in the books (assigned and not assigned) until I feel comfortable solving them without refering to the text. Even if you start out doing the problems without knowing the material so well, by the time you've worked and undrstood 25 or so problems, you have a much better grasp of the material.

Bilology, and most memorization subjects were always the difficult ones for me, and I have yet to come up with a memorization strategy that really works for me....

 

[easilydoctor]

Bilology, and most memorization subjects were always the difficult ones for me, and I have yet to come up with a memorization strategy that really works for me....

For difficult memorizations I notice lots of people use memory techniques by Harry Lorayne from his book The Memory Book. I've yet to use it but I've heard great results. Typically, I just literally rewrite it about a hundred times with my eyes closed or find some catchy mnemonics. The only surefire method, I believe, is studying the subject for at least one hour a day, everyday.

 

[Green Pirate]

I generally disregard information in the lectures and live by my textbooks. This strategy is far from perfect since, although it helps me gain a more in depth knowledge about everything, it is very time consuming and sometimes I might miss information teachers include that is not in the textbooks. I know that I should work to pay more attention during lecture, but I guess I'm just more of a visual learner.

 

[Nasrudin]

I like to write things out. So I'll flip through the slides presented in lecture and make notes from the book that pertain to those slides incorporating notes I make on the powerpoints the instructor gives. Then before the test I'll listen to the lectures, which i've recorded while going over the notes i've made making additions to my notes if necessary.

This works well for the upper div. biology classes i'm taking now. My technique is actually similar to your's except it involves more tactile stimulus.

Did I mention we're both big-time nerds for having this discussion?

 

[DocBR]

I usually zone out during class, read/highlight the book once and make notes.

Then, I make detailed outlines for each chapter and solve the assigned problems. I do well with this method and having the outlines come finals helps me to cut way down on study time.

If there is a lot of memorization intensive material (Ochem mechanisms, amino acid structures, etc) I make note cards to compliment the outlines.

 

[Nasrudin]

I generally disregard information in the lectures and live by my textbooks. This strategy is far from perfect since, although it helps me gain a more in depth knowledge about everything, it is very time consuming and sometimes I might miss information teachers include that is not in the textbooks. I know that I should work to pay more attention during lecture, but I guess I'm just more of a visual learner.

I hear you. i'm very comfortable justing making love to my textbook and making my own notes from it. but i've paid the price missing idiosyncratic tidbits presented from the instructor. I'm looking forward to structuring my own study around the MCAT the way I like to get down, instead of playing the game of scooping up all the test questions from the instructor.

Thursday late-night nerd rap session. that's how we roll i guess.

 

[DreamyKid]

wow OP you put a lot of effort into highlighting and sorting out ur notes.

For me, I study differently based on the class. Like for math I just learn how to do each type of prob and memorize the formulas and I'm good

Basically science classes are more about understanding, even the bio classes you need to know how to interpret stuff. So I try to learn rather than memorize.

For classes like poli sci, its pretty much all memorizing this, and being able to do good, bull**** analysis on the exam if its short answer.

 

[Arc]

Pay REALLY good attention in class.
-Summarize chapters in the book
-Do problem sets/structure review

This, and take care of your body, and it will shave a LOT of time needed for studing. When an exam is comming up, pick up the hours, and study everything that the teacher mentions, and I mean EVERYTHING.

 

[Just Joshin]

I generally disregard information in the lectures and live by my textbooks.

I do exactly the opposite. I never crack open my textbook unless it's to do practice problems in chemistry or physics. I've never read any of my textbook. I just show up to lecture, take notes, do problems at the end of the chapter (and if I run into problems, I refer to my notes, not the book. The books always confuse me) and take the tests. So far, it's worked through Bio I and II, Chem I and II, Orgo I, and Physics I not to mention my gen ed classes.

 

[doctorsj]

I just show up to class and understand the material and take notes if its really important. i never do problems except in class, and just skim through the notes/book just before the test.

 

[Green Pirate]

I hear you. i'm very comfortable justing making love to my textbook and making my own notes from it. but i've paid the price missing idiosyncratic tidbits presented from the instructor. I'm looking forward to structuring my own study around the MCAT the way I like to get down, instead of playing the game of scooping up all the test questions from the instructor.

Thursday late-night nerd rap session. that's how we roll i guess.

yeah I love doing the notes thing too.. especially with biology. I have pages of notes taken for my Cell Bio class. The downside is, once again, that this strategy is very time consuming.

 

[baylormed]

I truly believe that I function better after midnight, with massive amounts of caffeine.

Memorize, memorize, memorize, and practice, practice, practice. That is my usual method.

 

[gary5]

For undergrad, I would type up outlines of my class notes. I attended every class. For science classes, I always did every assigned problem. I had one course where the teacher was so bad that I skipped all the lectures and learned from the book, but that can be risky.

My undergrad techniques have not worked in med school. I've switched to assembling information in tables, but I've had to carefully limit the information because there is so much of it.

 

[easilydoctor]

My undergrad techniques have not worked in med school. I've switched to assembling information in tables, but I've had to carefully limit the information because there is so much of it.

Yea, I noticed from the Allopathic forum that most Medical students abandon their premed strategies and take up a strict regiment of precise methods for each class.
It would be in the best interest for this thread if you tell us what grade you got in the class which you used your "listen to lecture/read the textbook" methods.
I got: ChemI, II: A, A
Physics: A-, A
All achieved by prereading and postreading the textbook. I also make concept maps when necessary. And of course, do excrutiating amounts of problems.

 

[sgglaze]

In courses like biology and history, for which the questions are mostly simple information retrieval I type up outlines of everything in the assigned readings, and make sure to include the definition of any boldfaced words in the textbook.

For courses like chemistry, physics, and mathematics, for which the questions are mostly mathematical problem solving, I generally skip reading the chapters and head right to the problems, going back into the chapter as necessary to help answer the problems.

One particular weakness of this approach is that when a chemistry professor asks a more biology style question, IE looking for definitions or fill ins, I do not recall the answer as readily as I would have had I prepared for the test in a biology class.

I'm assuming that the majority of medical school learning will mimic undergrad biology courses, but I could be wrong. If that is the case, I'm concerned that making outlines would be too time consuming a method to efficiently retain the information.

Are there any med students that can attest to whether or not making outlines is an efficient study method in med school?

 

[DocBR]

I just show up to class and understand the material and take notes if its really important. i never do problems except in class, and just skim through the notes/book just before the test.

Wow.... I am super jealous