Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with studying

isn't it supposed to be the scientist huddled under some mountain with his misunderstood work?

d. z. wang — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:16:30 -0800

Do people in humanities classes talk to each other? As a science major with a distribution requirement over English literature, history, and political science, I've been taking both science and humanities classes recently and noticing an odd social difference between the two. It sesms that people in humanities classes don't talk to each other.

To explain where I'm coming from, in my science classes it's completely unremarkable to walk up to a stranger and ask if he wants to study or work with you. Most people have a study group with which they check homework, go over material, or just sit in the library so there's someone around to ask a quick question. The professors and TAs usually permit or even encourage collaboration, and I've met several current friends through my classes.

And now that I'm in my humanities distribution---that just doesn't happen. We go to class and then we write our essays alone. I ask my room-mate who's already taken these classes to review mine, because I don't know anyone else in the class. I've considered approaching a classmate, but I don't even know what I would say. It feels like we all have our own topics and there's not all that much overlap. I also feel a bit nervous discussing anyone else's work because all but one professor has repeatedly warned us about plagiarism. So, are the humanities just by nature cold and impersonal, or am I doing something wrong?

Ladder operators refer to some sort of blue-collared workers, right?

Hakaisha — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:40:50 -0800

Help me pass a subject I hate. I'm an undergrad in a chemistry program.

My grades are...mostly solid, if not spectacular; bombed my third year (failed two courses by like 2%, C'ed the rest) from burning out, but otherwise okay. Took a year off to work in my field, came back, much more centered.

Overall, I don't think my study habits are too bad. That being said, from a combination of misinformation by someone I used to trust/respect and just general inadequacy in the subject, I'm still struggling badly in my quantum mechanics course. It's really scaring me.

Mathematics really isn't my forte, and frankly, quantum makes my head spin. Still, I understand the principle of just buckling down and do the damn studying anyway, but my semester is extremely short on time. I have another course I'm taking at the same time (physical chem, which I also failed...but upon applying myself, I am breezing through the course, so it's not like I'm not trying this semester), as well as two labs. The regular one is time consuming but not so bad, but the other one is a directed studies that takes about 5x more time/effort than my ex-friend/ex-supervising-grad student told me it would. The exact details of the blowout isn't really relevant...the only part that is relevant is that due to said blowout, my project got switched halfway through the term, so I'm literally scrambling to make enough progress so I have something to do my oral defense + paper on. Hence, spending a rather ridiculous amount of time in the lab (I've slept at school, worked until half-past midnight, etc).

I don't have high aspirations for quantum; I just need to pass the course as it's required for my degree. I failed the midterm (but 54% of the class did, and the average was 49%, so I'm not alone...we're allowed the option of putting 100% of the grade on our final, but the professor won't scale), and I'm terrified for the final because I at least thought I understood the material for the midterm and still failed the exam, whereas the material being taught now can be Greek for all I'm understanding of it. P-chem is being ignored currently as I'm still solidly on track for that one, but between the two other labs and living rather far from school, by the end of the day when I get home all I want to do is sleep. Even if I do make myself stay up, writing lab reports is about the extent of my brain power; my eyes just glaze over trying to study quantum and I end up going "so what did I just spend 4 hours reading?"

I've asked the prof for tutors; he just said I should do more practice problems (I should) and see him in his office more (I also should). On principle, I know I can pass this course if I really just buckle down and practice the 279235479012389 recommended study questions...but time is a rare commodity and I don't have the 36 hours in one day I really, really need.

I don't study in groups well (we always just end up talking; I prefer to study on my own), and I can't really do the 'study in 10 minute chunks' thing either. If I work, I really need a quiet area and 3 solid hours to just plow through it. Coming back home at midnight after leaving the house at 9:30, and with eyes glazing over, however, is really not conductive to plowing through quantum mechanics.

I admit I can procrastinate, but no more than the average student (and nowadays, after I got my head straight after my year off, probably less...I came home on a Friday night, ate dinner, sat down and started working on a lab report straight until 6 am Saturday morning). Fear is a great motivator, since I'm not 'allowed' to retake a course more than once unless with special permission from the Dean. I just need more time...and I don't have more time. I make do on about 3-5 hours of sleep a night on average, sometimes broken up into powernaps (and then naps on my very long bus ride to/from school). I don't know what else to do.

So...how do I generate enough time out of the same 24 h/d to enable me to study this dreaded subject effectively? I feel like I'm trying to wring water from a stone here. This term is burning me out again, although I generally like my major (at least enough to want to finish the damn degree).

For what it's worth, I'm writing this in piecemeal while waiting for a reaction to finish, so it's not like I'm wasting potential study time here. Again, can't do the '10 minute bite-sized studying', although I wish I could.

(Given that it's about two weeks until end of term, and less than a full month until finals, I don't think dropping out is possible and/or will go over too well, even if I talk to an advisor.)

Places to study in Vancouver

csjc — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:30:40 -0800

Vancouverites: Where's the best place in the city to go and study? With good Wi-Fi, of course. A friend has been looking for a long while for somewhere better to study. As of the moment he spends a lot of time on the UBC campus, but I was wondering if any of you had more specific recommendations, especially your favourite coffee shops...

The requirements: relatively quiet, comfortable place to sit down, tables for writing on, comfortable chairs, stable wifi. Also, must be on Vancouver's west side, preferably north of 41st and south of 16th. Hopefully I'm not being much too specific?

How can I learn to study at night?

piper4 — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:38:01 -0800

How can I train myself to study better at night? I'm in grad school and I need to use those evening hours for work - I just can't seem to concentrate in the evenings, regardless of if I was working during the day! I'm not a night person - but I need to be. Somehow I managed to get an engineering degree without ever having to work past 7-8 at night. My routine was just to get up early, work all day, and then basically stop after dinner and just relax.

But... I just started my master's (and studying for the MCAT) and I need to use those hours. I can't seem to concentrate in the evenings. During the day I have no problem doing a 4 hour stretch, but at night I can barely read, and I feel completely burnt out. This is the case whether or not I was working during the day.

I usually end up online or watching bad TV, and I am completely conscious that I'm wasting time. I know caffeine is not the answer, any suggestions?

The more I'm in school, the less I study.

Ouisch — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 10:57:22 -0800

I can't or won't study. Please help me. I'm a 4th year undergrad student. I have a decent GPA, but nothing spectacular. In public school, I was an almost straight-A student, but it came naturally. I never had to study much, but I was also very responsible and able to hand in assignments on time, and at least cram decently for tests.

The longer I've been in university, the worse I've become about studying. It is to the point where I physically CANNOT seem to study for tests. The past couple of years, I have taken almost all of my midterms and finals without studying...at all. Aside from having done (some) of the basic coursework.

It is now getting to the point where I cannot do the basic coursework, either, and now I often skip taking exams and have to make them up later (I get a doctor's note.) I consistently turn in all my assignments late, if at all.

I have depression and anxiety, which obviously play into this issue. I am in therapy, have been for many years (CBT, IPT, gestalt), and I take medication. I am treatment-resistant, so this is a continual struggle. But I also wonder if there could be something else going on, or some way to address the studying problem directly.

I am often too afraid/overwhelmed/scattered to even open my agenda, or look at the course outline and figure out what needs to be done. I am often afraid to check my school email or the course website for announcements.

And I have a hard time sitting down to actually study or do assignments. I am continually jumping up to do something else, or feeling like I am going to fall asleep. I feel resentful about spending time studying -- like I am in jail for a crime I didn't commit. It doesn't help that I am a mature student with lots of work experience in my field under my belt, and taking courses sometimes feels like a ridiculous waste of my time. But I want this damn degree, and I need the professional qualifications.

I am also pretty disorganized much of the time, and it feels exhausting to have to clean off my desk/study area before I can even sit down to get to work. I try a lot to *get* organized, but it's often just temporary, or else I can't face getting started on it in the first place.

I continually abuse the internet as a way of escaping my obligations and attempting to lower my anxiety. I'm currently using Leechblock to help with this particular symptom.

When it comes to tests and exams, I feel I cannot study for them because I am so afraid I feel paralyzed. Once I'm *in* the exam, taking it, I'm fine and can pull answers out of my ass. But getting there is the problem. I am convinced I am going to fail every single test before I take it -- even though, 90% of the time, I pull off an A or B with little to no preparation.

I am at my wits' end with this. It's looking like I won't actually be able to finish my degree + minor, even though I only have seven courses left. I'd also like to, you know, actually absorb and even enjoy some of the things I'm learning.

I have tried so many things -- school counseling, private therapy, etc. I have never looked into ADD/ADHD, but I'm not sure if that applies to me. I have appointments with a learning specialist and my pdoc coming up, but I am wondering what fellow Mefites with similar studying issues have done to help themselves -- have you read good books, done a particular type of therapy, taken a certain medication, organized your study area in a certain way, or figured out some personal system that helps you to study when you feel you can't or won't?

I've also read the previous AskMes on similar topics a number of times, but feel free to point them out if there's something I missed.

Hydrogen and Oxygen bond to make water... but why?

Vorteks — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 09:39:54 -0800

Please help me really grok chemistry. TMBG's recent song "meet the elements" has got me thinking more about chemistry recently. I never really studied it when I was younger, but I've developed more of an interest now.

I understand certain basic concepts - atoms are made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, atoms combine to make molecules, etc, but I don't really "get" it. When you combine, say, vinegar and baking soda, what's really happening at the atomic level? Why do different combination of 3 basic particles behave so differently? Why do some molecules have more potential energy than others? These things escape me.

If there's anything that's helped you really understand this topic, please recommend it! Books, games, documentaries, websites, youtube movies, anything is fair game. I'm not afraid of college-level math, but I find the "dry" writing style often found in textbooks, scientific papers, and encyclopedias very hard to pay attention to. Something with an amusing writing style, or with a large visual component (videos, diagrams, charts, whatever), or with very down-to-earth language would be most effective, I feel.

Thanks in advance Mefites!

Teach me how to study!

kro — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:31:04 -0800

What is the most effective way to study? I don't know how to study. I've looked through all the previous posts about studying and study skills, but none of them really address my problem. I'm not a grad student, I'm not in serious trouble of failing any classes, and I'm not studying for a specific test like the GRE's. I just don't know how to study

The problem isn't my notes- I *finally* got that under control this year. I'm a sophomore with double majoring in bio and education, double minoring in chem and , and depending on the class I either take notes in Notebook view on Word (the ability to record lectures into my notes is a godsend) or just on paper. I do my homework and I go to all of my classes. But when it's time to study for a test, I draw a blank. For biology and chem, I've been making notecards- which is really good for vocabulary, but not so good for concepts and ideas. I feel like there has to be a better way than notecards. And what about math classes or classes where notecards aren't really practical? Should I make study guides? How do I know what to put on the study guides? Would it be better for me to make outlines throughout the semester of things to study from so I don't have to compile it all before an exam into a study guide?

Like I said, this isn't because I'm doing poorly in my classes. I switched my major from a social science to biology and I'm being faced with studying for math and science classes now. I was a straight A student in high school and I don't think I ever studied for a single test- but things have changed now and I need to pick up some study skills, quick.

Help me build a nerd-ish virtual dollhouse

ollyollyoxenfree — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:31:20 -0800

Is there software that mimics a 'memory palace'? Lately, I've been using the open source flashcard software Anki (previously mentioned on this site). I've also been experimenting with memory maps. I've been using both as the foundation of Bloom's Taxonomy (using other techniques and tools for other areas). Both have helped with my study, but I've found that I'm more likely to remember things when visualizing my own memory palace. It seems I have a knack for remembering layouts of places. I can still draw the layouts from relatives and friend's houses from as early as five years old, so I think that a virtual simulator of a memory palace might be quite powerful for learning (more so than visualizing it in my head).

So, is there any software out there like this?

I've googled around, and found this guy's blog discussing Second Life as a memory palace. I was thinking along similar lines. Something like The Sims or Second Life, but for memory training would be great (alternatively, can you use these games for that purpose? I haven't played them, so not sure about their architecture for such a purpose). Thanks.

otherwise I'll just end up biting my fingernails for eight hours

borkingchikapa — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:37:35 -0800

I've found myself in a Latin American country for a while, but I don't really know any Spanish. On Friday I am going to take a ton of speed and study until my eyes fall out. Using just the internet, what sort of super-intense regimen can we come up with? English is my first language, but I've learned two others (one academically, one independently through immersion). Unlike those I don't have all the time in the world - this trip was hastily planned and I only have two more weeks here, so I want to pack as much Spanish into my tiny brain as I possibly can. I don't really have any books or anything, just a laptop and the internets.

I sort of get it - I know how the grammar works and some essential vocab. What sorts of things should I spend my time doing on Friday (I wasn't kidding) and in general? So far I've got some basic categories to memorize - body parts, food, utensils, ordinal numbers - but I need some more. I think I'll also pick up a newspaper and power through it with a dictionary.

What else?

Renew now or later?

hiteleven — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:55:35 -0800

Possibly studying in the U.K. in September 2010, E.U. passport expires in Sept. 2011. Do I need to renew now? Yes, I know I am throwing out dates that are far in the future, but I have a lot of planning to do and I need to get things right.

So basically I am considering entering a 3-year PhD program in the U.K. Assuming I get in to my school(s) of choice, and get the necessary funding, I'm in, though things are far from certain.

I am an Irish citizen, and hold a passport that expires in Sept. 2011. If I get in to school, I'll be entering the U.K. a year earlier.

I know that most E.U. countries will let you in on a valid passport no matter what the expiry date, but I wanted to make sure that this applies to the always-stricter United Kingdom. I also wanted to make sure that it was all right that my passport expired before my 3-year school stay was up (of course I'll renew when I'm there).

If you don't know the answer, perhaps you could point me in the right direction in terms of contracting the proper officials. And please no "you better renew your passport just in case" replies, unless you know that I really have to renew -- I'd rather not add more to my already lengthy to-do list, especially for something that's still in the realm of the hypothetical.

Pretty Damn Frustrating

Xurando — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 08:37:38 -0800

I need some tips on using PDF's in learning setting. I have just started an online certificate program, part of which involves reading long PDF research documents on the computer. This involves an infinite amount of scrolling. It seems deadly to me. I can't highlight or underline the text nor retrieve the parts i want easily. I don't want to have to cut and paste to a new doc. file nor waste paper with hard copies. Help me be an online PDF wiz

Help me overcome my terror of my art history graduate school comprehensive exam.

lxs — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:56:55 -0800

Help me overcome my terror of my graduate school comprehensive exam. I'm in a graduate program in art history and I have to take my comprehensive exam this fall. It involves memorizing the artist, title, date, period, and two points of significance for 500 works of art, and I have about seven weeks to prepare.

My problem is twofold: first, a good number of the works on the list of images to study are outside my field and I've found them incredibly difficult to memorize––I have little context for them and due to the number of them, don't really have enough time to teach myself said context. I am also very poor at memorization and so getting through the works outside my field has been as difficult as memorizing random strings of numbers for me. There are so many works that making flashcards is really time consuming and takes up time I should be using to memorize information. I've also been having difficulty using things like mnemonic devices––the dates of works, for instance, are random enough that I can't come up with anything that works. So, I'm looking for any sort of advice that might be available for memorizing very large amounts of unfamiliar, contextless information.

I also already took this exam once and failed it, which has really psyched me out. I am completely overwhelmed by the test and the task of preparing for it. I've tried creating a schedule for myself, but end up getting stressed out, not following said schedule, and feeling terrible about myself. I'm not certain how to manage my time most effectively to get through this, but I know it's a skill I really need to get down for grad school. Any suggestions for this, far more neurotic aspect of the test would be appreciated as well.

Thanks in advance!

Why can't I teach myself?

joshrholloway — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:34:45 -0800

Why do I suck at teaching myself, reading, and studying? Can I fix it? Right now I have at least seven books about programming on my bookshelf that I have attempted to read. With each of them, I started reading, got excited about what I was learning, then reached a certain point and just quit reading. I don't really think there's a particular reason I can recognize for why I quit reading the books. I think I just get distracted, pick up another one thinking that I'll do better the next time around, and start reading that one only to fall prey to the same fate.

I've pretty much always been this way. It's been a struggle to me to teach anything to myself or do any studying on my own. Most of the things I have really learned in life are things that required me to get really hands-on or things that were taught to me one-on-one by another person. I did very well in school but almost never studied materials outside of lectures.

I think the problem is general enough that it can apply to most subjects, but the specific area that it has seemed to recur in has been computer programming. It's always been a great interest to me and I've always wanted to learn a language, but I always seem to fail at it. It's getting to the point that I think I may just not be cut out for programming... that I'm not the right kind of person for it. That really frustrates me and I want to prove myself wrong.

So is there anyone else out there with this problem? How did you fix it? Am I just going to have to lock myself in a room with as little distraction as possible and force my way through this stuff? Or should I just face the fact that I can't be better at this and try to take classes?

Help me encourage a great future doctor not to lose faith in herself.

dorothy humbird — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 06:59:09 -0800

I'm out of fresh encouraging perspectives, and the stakes are higher than ever. Please help me figure out how to best be a supportive friend in the 11th hour of my pal's struggles with studying for the med school boards. So, my friend is a very intelligent and principled person, and has for most of her education been in honors classes and in other ways recognized for her commitment to learning and knowledge. She also happens to be one of the most caring people I know, and is absolutely one of my best friends. She is the sort of person who is keenly sensitive to the human element of any problem or situation, and for this reason I think she would be an invaluable addition to the field of medicine, which can sometimes be heavily populated by self-absorbed jerks and/or people who are only in it for the money.

But, as far as I can tell, she is burned out in the extreme from years of studying and studying, not to mention her family worries and expectations (she is a 1st gen daughter of immigrants from a country with pretty conservative expectations for offspring, and despite somewhat Westernized viewpoints on the part of her parents, there are still major friction issues). She has struggled this entire year, her second in med school, with getting herself to buckle down and study, and has been discouraged time and again even when she did with grades that fell below the median of her class - but she's scraped by. And now, with classes over so the students can completely focus on studying 10+ hours a day to pass the board exams, she is really and truly putting in the effort, only to keep getting dismal results on her practice tests for the boards.

She's discouraged. I'm discouraged for her. She's been seeing a counselor, but sometimes sabotages herself even there by not revealing the extent of her struggles, or not doing the tasks that the counselor suggests for her. It takes so much effort for her to just focus on studying these massive tomes of knowledge that she somehow has to ingest and immolate into her very core that when she doesn't make progress, she loses almost all faith in herself. She has mentioned to me that her brother, who also attended med school and is now in residency, did poorly in the books section too, but excelled once he was in a more hands-on environment doing rotations. So, I've been encouraging her to look ahead to that -- but the problem that she and I both obviously can't ignore is that she has to PASS the boards to get there.

I'm out of supportive words and phrases. Everything I can think to say, I've already said: just hang in there; quit beating yourself up; I BELIEVE IN YOU - YOU CAN DO THIS, BUT YOU NEED TO BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT; it's okay to take more time (she is now pushing back the beginning of her 3rd year to give herself more time to study because her practice test results haven't been enough to pass), you are smart! you are intelligent! you of all people should be a doctor because you actually care about human beings!

I've said it all already, and I can't imagine that repeating this to her is any help at this stage.

I need insight into this experience; who out there in MetaFilter has had similar struggles in professional schools - med school, law school, anything else similarly demanding? I am meeting to have coffee with her this evening, and I just want to give her the most encouraging pep talk I can feasibly manage without personal experience of what she is going through. It would crush me to see her defeated by this, and if there is anything I can say or remind her of to help her avoid that, I want it in my bag of resources. Help me help her.

The Maid of Orleans: details?

fantine — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 12:00:48 -0800

What are the best sources of material about Joan of Arc's life and work? I'm about to (ideally) commence an independent study on Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) for this semester as a university undergrad. I plan on starting with basic biographical information and then moving into scholarship about her personage and deeds. The focus may be on contemporary (or 20th-21st century) views of Joan; it may be "Joan's body as public symbol"; it may be something else entirely.

What are the best biographies of Joan? Are there any particularly good film adaptations that I ought to check out? I know about the Joan of Arc Archive but are there other good websites to explore?

Also, I'm currently in France. What sites should I visit as a sort of pilgrimage, besides the obvious ones like Domremy, Orleans, and Reims?

How to study for the GMATS 101

jourman2 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:28:29 -0800

Thinking of taking the gmats in a few months - how should I study? Looked through the gmat tag didn't see this exact question. Thinking of taking the gmats in a few months, how should I study? What's the best test prep book, etc...? Are the books pretty much worthless/do i need to take a class?

I'm open to anything pretty much as long as the cost isn't too prohibitive. I do well generally on standardized tests like the SAT, LSAT, and I am a pretty good self-motivator.

What directions should I be looking in?

Thanks!

I can live anywhere I want.

Archers of Loaf — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:37:01 -0800

I can live anywhere I want, where should I choose to live? Next semester I will be studying using nothing but my computer to interact with my university. For a change my living and studying expenses are covered by a scholarship, therefore for the first time, I have the chance to go abroad. Where should I go?

ayes and seas or all bees?

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 05:50:03 -0800

Here's a question: What would you rather see on a grade report: a collection of A/A-s and the occasional C, or consistent B/B+s? If there were two students, and their GPAs were the same, and you were the director of admissions of some academic program, who would you pick? I'm in college. My grades have been scattershot, but have been steadily rising, and I've been on the Dean's list last semester, with one of my professors mentioning that I was 'miles and miles ahead of [my] peers'.

I'm concerned about my study priorities, as when I'm short on time, I'll decide to focus my energy on one or two courses, sometimes leaving the others to suffer. More often than not, I'll do fine, but I've had semesters full of As, Bs, and Cs.

I've been reconsidering -- is this a bad idea? Should I try to divide my work, so I get consistently half-decent grades rather than very good grades on the majority of my classes and very bad grades in another? What do you think?

Let's Do This!

chrisalbon — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:38:29 -0800

48 Hour Qualifying Exam Tomorrow. Looking For Music To Keep Me Awake, Motivated, Positive, And Working. At noon tomorrow I am taking my 48 hour, take home, qualifying exams in (mostly) statistics. The exam should take 35-40 hours of work.

I have studied for 3 months full time, I have everything planned out, and I am almost ready to get started. I just need one more thing: rocking music that will keep me 1) awake (I plan on sleeping only a few hours), 2) motivated, 3) thinking positive, and 4) working.

Let's see what the hivemind comes up with.

How to learn enough math to impress a boy?

logovisual — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:51:33 -0800

I've just started dating someone who studies serious hardcore applied math. I am a complete and utter math idiot who is lost at anything above multiplication tables. I would like to sort of understand what is going on inside his massive, beautiful brain. Help? I am a total visual/language-oriented dude (I edit comic books for a living) and what he does is, quite literally at times, rocket science. Obviously understanding each other's professional lives is not a prerequisite for chemistry, but I do look at this as an interesting challenge.

Clearly, I need books. Or something to study. What kind of texts can get somebody with almost no math knowledge up to at least a glancing familiarity with what's going in the more advanced mathematic principles? Obviously there would be some kind of "levelling up" I'd need to do here, but I just need to know where to start.

This thread was in a similar vein to what I'm getting at, but I'm looking for a somewhat specific course of study.

No recuerdo nada!

WidgetAlley — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:54:14 -0800

I am looking for resources to help me improve my Spanish quickly-- but wait! There's a hitch. So I have gone all the way through my intermediate courses of Spanish in my university and have passed with flying colors. But now, I'm in an advanced course-- all Spanish-speaking, all Spanish-reading, no English at all. And I'm lost.

I can understand what people say, and I can understand the reading, but I have trouble constructing my own sentences and I can't speak very well at all. I can read the textbook, for instance, but if I regurgitate what it says in my own words, it's slow, and grammatically incorrect, and I have to look up an embarrassing number of words. Part of the problem was that last semester's Spanish class had almost no emphasis on speaking, so I am very out of practice, and there seems to be no transition whatsoever between the intermediate, "I can get by", and the advanced, "I'm totally fluent."

I need to brush up on my grammar and dramatically improve my vocabulary, stat. The hitch? I've got an over full-time courseload, and so I need to do so in as time-economical a way as possible.

Suggestions are more than appreciated! :D

How to balance work and play?

Perpetual Seeker — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 08:43:55 -0800

How to balance work and play when there is so much that I want to accomplish? I'm a sophomore at Duquesne University, majoring in physics and math.

I really want to study enough. I have gotten 4.0's for the last two semesters, so my cumulative GPA is 4.0. I don't really want to depart from this yet, or if I do, not by that much. I'd love to keep 3.9 or better.

I think though that I left the last two semesters too much to chance. I only studied when I felt like I really needed to in order to pass a test, and that was just your usual cramming the night before.

I've been working this summer on studying more. I got my textbooks early and have been studying them, doing problems, and learning as much as I can. I've been studying more than I ever have before, but still it isn't as much as I would like.

Of course one motivation is to try to get another 4.0, but the long-term motivation is to retain understanding of all of this material, to get very good grades and get into a very good graduate school, because I would like to earn a PhD in physics. I've always been an over-achiever so I really want to do as well as I can.

Anyway, my Chemistry professor recommended 3 hours per week per credit for science classes, including the labs.

Chemistry is 5 credits, that's 15 hours.
Physics is 4 credits, that's 12 hours.
Calculus is 4 credits, that's 12 hours.
I have a Theology class, that is in the university's honor's program, so I'm going by the same rule there since there is a lot of reading and writing, compared to non-honors classes. That is 3 credits, so that's 9 hours.

This gives 48 hours.

This is a lot in and of itself, but there is still more I'd like to do.

I use a program called SuperMemo where I enter all of my notes and break them down into questions and answers. It helps with stuff that just has to be memorized. I built in a little time for that into the study time for all the classes since I'd have notes from all of the classes in it. However, it also has a final drill kind of thing where it drills on the stuff you didn't do so well on that day, so I'd like to put around 20-30 mins to that per day, so that's around 3 hours per week.

I also like adding data to this program regularly. I got a list of common vocabulary words on the GRE, and have been working on adding those. I'm trying to improve my vocabulary so am adding new words to this program when I can.

I also like to do my own study and research. For example, I got these CD's called the Feynman Lectures on Physics, that I've been trying to find time to listen to. I also regularly look up articles on anything I find interesting.

i've also been trying to write articles for my blog about science and math, to kind of solidify my own understanding and hopefully help anyone who reads it.

So, with all that extra stuff, I've come up with about 60 hours per week. That's insane, I think.

I have 16 credits, but with labs and recitations, it comes to 19 hours and 20 minutes of classes per week.

I'm in Delta Chi and am trying to get into the SGA. Luckily this currently only takes about 3 hours per week (2 hours for chapter meetings for Delta chi and an hour for SGA meetings every other week). On top of that though I'm the scholarship chair for Delta Chi for at least this semester. I'm also in IHS (Integrated Honor Society), though I'm not nearly as interested in that.

All right, so the essential point is that I want to do everything, but don't have enough time. I don't want to dip below 7 hours of sleep, because I'm afraid my brain won't be working at maximum ability and I'll be hurting myself despite all of the study time.

I really wish I could compress all of my classes to be one after the next, because I have sometimes 30 minutes between them when there's not really enough time to actually do anything worthwhile.

Anyway, i've been going through my schedule again and again, and I just can't see how it will work. I don't want to get burned out, either. I can find enough time, but only if I have maybe all of 2-3 hours in the whole week for myself to just, relax, and socialize.

But I really don't want to cut anything out, and I don't want my grades to suffer, either.

I really don't know what to do, because I feel overwhelmed just thinking about trying to execute such a mammoth schedule.

Should I go for it?

Picklegnome — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:16:16 -0800

I'm an undergrad (rising sophomore) interested in going to law school. Is it worth it to become an NALA Certified Paralegal? I'm looking at taking an online course that would take between seven and seventeen months to complete. If all goes well, I would be finished in seven, studying for the certification alongside my normal undergraduate studies. If I feel overwhelmed, I can cut down on the number of courses I'm taking at once, and focus on my undergraduate studies.

Is it even conceivable that I would get a paralegal job for the summer only? Would it serve me well in my preparation to study law? Will it help in gaining admission to law schools?

General advice as well as personal knowledge appreciated.

Quick: how do I become a good student?

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:41:45 -0800

I'm starting law school next month. I want to do well, but my study habits up till now have been terrible. How do I become a good student and succeed in law school? I'm about to begin law school at one of the best schools in the country. Because I'll be going into roughly $180k of debt for this privilege, I want to do as well as I possibly can. This will require working harder and studying better than I ever have before. The problem is I'm really not sure how.

I've always done well in school, mostly through a combination of natural talent and being able to turn it on when it counts. But not since high school have I been what you might call a "good student." I went to a great college but was fairly apathetic about my classes, skipping most of them, ignoring most of the assigned readings, and starting 10-page papers hours before they were due. My GPA reflected these weak efforts, and it was only through a stellar performance on the LSAT that I managed to squeak into the high-ranking law school that I did.

Now I've resolved to turn over a new leaf and apply myself like I never have before. I know that maintaining my old habits, I could wind up about in the middle of the class and get a decent job out of law school. But I feel like I'd be shortchanging myself and my ambitions if I gave law school anything less than my full, devoted effort. For once, I want to work hard and see where it takes me.

So I have two questions, really. First, how do I become a classically "good student"? Obviously things like going to class and doing all the assigned readings are minimal first steps. But should I be taking notes in class? How do I even do that? How do I highlight stuff I'm reading (and what use is it)? How many hours a day should I spend studying? What should I do in class to keep my attention from wandering 30 seconds into lecture, as it inevitably does? All these little things that most people figured out in high school or at the start of college, I need to learn over the next two months before I begin classes.

Second, what things do I need to know to do well in law school in particular? I know that exams are the main determinants of grades and there are all sorts of approaches to those that I've read about, but how should I be studying throughout the semester so that when exam time comes, I'm not doing my typical last-minute scramble to learn everything I've neglected up to that point? Thanks for any words of wisdom.

OMG I am gonna fail... except, oh hai, I am actually the valedictorian.

Anonymous — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:59:13 -0800

Why does the person who sobs and complains loudly about how they think they "failed" every test and that they are doing/did "horribly" in school (but ends up being #1) bother me so? So there's this person in my classes who literally cries in front of people while we are waiting to take an exam.... walks out of exams loudly complaining that they (keeping it gender anonymous) failed.... continually attests that they struggle so much with the material.... yet gleefully ends up being ranked #1 in our class.... WHY does this bother me so?

This person was a friend, now more an acquaintance, and we used to study together for our exams and coursework. I admittedly struggled with the nature of the work, and it was challenging... I did average. When I was friends with this person, I would confide in them how I felt like I was drowning and I didn't know how to properly get a handle on the material. They would then proceed to discuss that they were doing so "bad" in school and they weren't happy with their performance either, and that they "understood" what I was going through.

But yet, this person is valedictorian--in lieu of the behavior of crying before exams because they were "going to fail it no doubt about it" and telling me that they weren't doing well.

I don't know why but I feel annoyed/jealous/stupid. Were they genuinely not sure of their talent? Did they lie? Drama queen ? Setting low expectations secretly so when they rocked out by getting valedictorian we'd be all amazed? Why would you act like you were getting bad grades ? I mean, you don't need to go on and on about getting good grades, but if one is doing well there's a way you can handle yourself appropriately.

Grrr... I know this is dumb, and I should get over it, but I feel really irked inside. Maybe because I was caught by surprise and didn't expect them to be valedictorian--maybe it felt good to think that someone else was struggling with the material like me, when all along they were kicking its ass and taking names.

What is this person's psyche for acting this way?

P.S. This wasn't a case of we didn't get any of our grades until the end of the year/semester; we would get grades/feedback continually.