How do I save this pre-med semester?
October 4, 2018 7:09 PM Subscribe
I stink at math (3 high schools, teenage trauma, self-harm, sexual abuse, etc) and did not study anything remotely mathematical in college. I'm back in a pre-med program, and am struggling hard. Failed my first exam, and am falling behind on classwork, so thus being penalized for late work. I get it,b but, very slowly, because I have to work out everything the way children read and spell phonetically. Self-harm ideation I have not had for 16 years is surging, and my work isn't improving. How can I improve on chemistry faster?
I do all the usual stuff: watch YouTube videos, work problems, read the text, attend class, do the homework (but always submit it late, since I go so slow- thus, points are deducted), flashcards...etc. But, I can't seem to get it. I get pieces of it, slowly slowly slowly, but, it's hard for me to string different concepts together (IE finding molar mass and converting to moles) before I start to think about like, cutting myself and shit. Side note, I was beaten by parent when I screwed up academically growing up. Other side note, am in therapy with 2, soon to be 3, people and am taking meds. Also, everyone in program (professors, etc) are aware of my struggles. I meet the chem professor 1x a week, and found a chemistry tutor 1x a week as well. I work 21-28 hours a week which is exhausting too.
How do I do this. How do people do this?
I do all the usual stuff: watch YouTube videos, work problems, read the text, attend class, do the homework (but always submit it late, since I go so slow- thus, points are deducted), flashcards...etc. But, I can't seem to get it. I get pieces of it, slowly slowly slowly, but, it's hard for me to string different concepts together (IE finding molar mass and converting to moles) before I start to think about like, cutting myself and shit. Side note, I was beaten by parent when I screwed up academically growing up. Other side note, am in therapy with 2, soon to be 3, people and am taking meds. Also, everyone in program (professors, etc) are aware of my struggles. I meet the chem professor 1x a week, and found a chemistry tutor 1x a week as well. I work 21-28 hours a week which is exhausting too.
How do I do this. How do people do this?
(And I just wanted to add that I hope I don't sound like I'm making light of your concerns. Academic success will help a lot if you want to be a doctor. But don't let setbacks on this make you feel hopeless or worthless. There's room for hope regardless of how this semester goes, and your worth shines through in your question.)
posted by trig at 7:45 PM on October 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by trig at 7:45 PM on October 4, 2018 [2 favorites]
How do people do it? Many (but not all) pre-med students come from a background of immense privilege, with access to the best high schools and pre-college programs. Many (but not all) pre-med students have not faced trauma or abuse that cause them to struggle with their mental health. Many (but not all) pre-med students, because of their immense privilege, do not have to work while they are going to school. There are of course many exceptions in terms of successful pre-med / med students / doctors who do not come from privilege or have suffered abuse or trauma, but by and large most of them come from wealthy and privileged families. So that's how people do it.
Based on your question, though, I would really hope that you can honestly consider to yourself why you want to go to med school, what you would hope to get out of being a doctor, and whether you can fulfill those hopes with another career path. There are many, many careers in health sciences and related professions that do not involve being a doctor.
I say this because I have known many people who have gone the gamut between pre-med classes/ applying to med school / being in med school / taking board exams / applying for residency, and the stage you are in now is honestly the least stressful. It only gets more stressful, more competitive, and more of a pressure cooker from here on out. At every stage you are forced to invest more time and more money, and if you fail at any point you don't get any consolation prize, just failure. I honestly find it to be a horrible system that punishes people who try and fail to an inordinate degree. I would only recommend to someone that they pursue medical school if they both have a strong ambition to be a doctor AND do not struggle with pre-med coursework at all.
It's not worth risking the gains you have made in your mental health over the years to enter a rigged system where you have a high chance of devastating failure.
posted by permiechickie at 8:01 PM on October 4, 2018 [46 favorites]
Based on your question, though, I would really hope that you can honestly consider to yourself why you want to go to med school, what you would hope to get out of being a doctor, and whether you can fulfill those hopes with another career path. There are many, many careers in health sciences and related professions that do not involve being a doctor.
I say this because I have known many people who have gone the gamut between pre-med classes/ applying to med school / being in med school / taking board exams / applying for residency, and the stage you are in now is honestly the least stressful. It only gets more stressful, more competitive, and more of a pressure cooker from here on out. At every stage you are forced to invest more time and more money, and if you fail at any point you don't get any consolation prize, just failure. I honestly find it to be a horrible system that punishes people who try and fail to an inordinate degree. I would only recommend to someone that they pursue medical school if they both have a strong ambition to be a doctor AND do not struggle with pre-med coursework at all.
It's not worth risking the gains you have made in your mental health over the years to enter a rigged system where you have a high chance of devastating failure.
posted by permiechickie at 8:01 PM on October 4, 2018 [46 favorites]
So, you're probably already in contact with your school's "Office of Special Services" or "Office for Students with Disabilities", or similarly named office with a diagnosis of (whatever) from your therapist so you can get any available accommodations, extra time on tests, etc... but if not, then look for this immediately. I'm guessing your professors or your therapist or whatever has probably already pointed you in this direction, but it's not entirely clear from your description.
Next, take a courseload that works for you. School is not a race. If you take a year, or two, or five longer than someone else or than you planned to, but you finish with a degree that's better than not finishing. I understand you're in pre-med, and I don't know much about the medical field except that there are high expectations, and I don't know what your school is like, but still, work at your own pace on your own terms. Also, consider whether the path you're on is the right one for you. I'm sure not saying it isn't, but only you can decide that, and if you decide on a different path that's your right.
It sounds like you're doing everything right academically. If the coursework in math or chemistry or whatever isn't coming as fast as you'd like, you might consider doing what you can with this current semester, and then before taking another semester try to get ahead of this material, even if it means you have to take a semester away from the formal college setting, get the books and syllabus and course outlines and homework for your next course and work through them on your own before enrolling in the course. But don't think of it as a break. You're still in school, still studying, still working toward your degree and you need to put in that work.
As for the current semester, sounds like maybe you're in general chem 1 or 2? And maybe algebra or pre-calc mathematically? If so, try to keep the perspective that you're probably not the only one struggling. You're not expected to be perfect, just to be making progress. A failed exam is a hard blow, but not the final word, and even in the worst-case that you might have to repeat a course, even more than once, even multiple courses, you're in good company. Plenty of people have been there, there's no shame in that.
Between school and your job you're working hard, you have value, these setbacks don't define you. You are doing what you need to do to reach your goals. I'm not your therapist and I can't fix your past. But I'm telling you that you should hold your head up high for the work you're putting in.
posted by Reverend John at 8:14 PM on October 4, 2018 [7 favorites]
Next, take a courseload that works for you. School is not a race. If you take a year, or two, or five longer than someone else or than you planned to, but you finish with a degree that's better than not finishing. I understand you're in pre-med, and I don't know much about the medical field except that there are high expectations, and I don't know what your school is like, but still, work at your own pace on your own terms. Also, consider whether the path you're on is the right one for you. I'm sure not saying it isn't, but only you can decide that, and if you decide on a different path that's your right.
It sounds like you're doing everything right academically. If the coursework in math or chemistry or whatever isn't coming as fast as you'd like, you might consider doing what you can with this current semester, and then before taking another semester try to get ahead of this material, even if it means you have to take a semester away from the formal college setting, get the books and syllabus and course outlines and homework for your next course and work through them on your own before enrolling in the course. But don't think of it as a break. You're still in school, still studying, still working toward your degree and you need to put in that work.
As for the current semester, sounds like maybe you're in general chem 1 or 2? And maybe algebra or pre-calc mathematically? If so, try to keep the perspective that you're probably not the only one struggling. You're not expected to be perfect, just to be making progress. A failed exam is a hard blow, but not the final word, and even in the worst-case that you might have to repeat a course, even more than once, even multiple courses, you're in good company. Plenty of people have been there, there's no shame in that.
Between school and your job you're working hard, you have value, these setbacks don't define you. You are doing what you need to do to reach your goals. I'm not your therapist and I can't fix your past. But I'm telling you that you should hold your head up high for the work you're putting in.
posted by Reverend John at 8:14 PM on October 4, 2018 [7 favorites]
Will your professor accept solving equations the long way? That's the only way I passed chemistry(from a tutor) from the man who had been my 1st algebra teacher who blew me off (after telling the class to let him know) when solving for x didn't click for me.
posted by brujita at 8:55 PM on October 4, 2018
posted by brujita at 8:55 PM on October 4, 2018
If you are genuinely consistently turning work in late because you cannot complete it in the time allotted (rather than your day job and other life things get in the way) perhaps you can make improvements in your process for efficiency. Go straight to your homework first (since that's what's getting graded) while reading the text and only then go to youtube videos. When you sit down to do homework are you in a quite space with no screens/people to distract you for a set amount of time (at least 30m at a stretch)?
As a physician, I will also Nth what many other people are saying that there are a gazillion and one ways of being involved in health care that don't involve the time/emotional/economic/sleep-loss investment of medical school, and that the return on investment ends up not being worth it for many many people.
posted by eglenner at 12:16 AM on October 5, 2018 [3 favorites]
As a physician, I will also Nth what many other people are saying that there are a gazillion and one ways of being involved in health care that don't involve the time/emotional/economic/sleep-loss investment of medical school, and that the return on investment ends up not being worth it for many many people.
posted by eglenner at 12:16 AM on October 5, 2018 [3 favorites]
I'm concerned because your current academic struggles are making those thoughts of self harm resurface. Really really glad you're actively getting help with that. No grade/class/scholarship/med school acceptance is worth your health.
Are you still in the add drop period? Or can you withdraw? Both those options will pull this class out of your science GPA, which is what med schools often use as a first - pass screen. A drop doesn't show up on transcripts at all ;for a withdraw you'd want to explain that in your personal statement, with a straightforward "I suffered a relapse of a chronic condition in the fall of 2018 and cut back on classes /work in order to recover."
Have you spoken with your university accommodations office? You may be able to get extra time on assignments, penalty free. Might need documentation or an IEP from your doctor.
Lastly, I echo eglenner and permiechickie that medicine has a masochistic attitude toward the health (physical and mental) of physicians. That's slowly changing, but there are many less painful, less debt ridden, more tangible ways to improve the lives of others.
posted by basalganglia at 4:03 AM on October 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
Are you still in the add drop period? Or can you withdraw? Both those options will pull this class out of your science GPA, which is what med schools often use as a first - pass screen. A drop doesn't show up on transcripts at all ;for a withdraw you'd want to explain that in your personal statement, with a straightforward "I suffered a relapse of a chronic condition in the fall of 2018 and cut back on classes /work in order to recover."
Have you spoken with your university accommodations office? You may be able to get extra time on assignments, penalty free. Might need documentation or an IEP from your doctor.
Lastly, I echo eglenner and permiechickie that medicine has a masochistic attitude toward the health (physical and mental) of physicians. That's slowly changing, but there are many less painful, less debt ridden, more tangible ways to improve the lives of others.
posted by basalganglia at 4:03 AM on October 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
I work 21-28 hours a week which is exhausting too.
28 hours is almost full time; I'm betting that sometimes it's more than 28, too. Can you hold the job to 20 or, preferably, fewer hours and regular hours? You could do a lot with an extra 8 hours if you knew you had them. Part-time jobs where you have a range of hours like that are really not good for getting schoolwork done. Even when you get the lower number of hours, you can't really maximize it because it's not a consistent thing.
As noted above, a lot of people get through pre-med by paying for advantages, such as devoting a summer to one chemistry course.
posted by BibiRose at 4:13 AM on October 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
28 hours is almost full time; I'm betting that sometimes it's more than 28, too. Can you hold the job to 20 or, preferably, fewer hours and regular hours? You could do a lot with an extra 8 hours if you knew you had them. Part-time jobs where you have a range of hours like that are really not good for getting schoolwork done. Even when you get the lower number of hours, you can't really maximize it because it's not a consistent thing.
As noted above, a lot of people get through pre-med by paying for advantages, such as devoting a summer to one chemistry course.
posted by BibiRose at 4:13 AM on October 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
I teach first year medical students every day, and I sit on the committee that reviews the cases of medical students who are struggling with academic, professionalism, and personal difficulties. There are SO MANY red flags in your description of your situation and they concern me greatly. Really, your academic difficulties are probably the least concerning thing to me.
I echo everything permiechickie says above. Please read their comment again.
Becoming and being a doctor is a lifelong process of learning and work and dealing with immense stressors, and you're very much in the easiest part of it right now. There are so many health career paths that will allow you to help people and have a fulfilling job that earns good money; medical school is only one of those paths.
But you yourself have to be in a healthy place before you can really help other people.
posted by cyclopticgaze at 5:25 AM on October 5, 2018 [13 favorites]
I echo everything permiechickie says above. Please read their comment again.
Becoming and being a doctor is a lifelong process of learning and work and dealing with immense stressors, and you're very much in the easiest part of it right now. There are so many health career paths that will allow you to help people and have a fulfilling job that earns good money; medical school is only one of those paths.
But you yourself have to be in a healthy place before you can really help other people.
posted by cyclopticgaze at 5:25 AM on October 5, 2018 [13 favorites]
Mod note: From the OP:
I think it makes sense to see if I can get extensions on due assignments due to my schedule by checking in with the office of disabilities. I haven't done that yet. My chem professor has been understanding and helpful so far. It's mostly a matter of me working slowly and getting frustrated that I am submitting assignments late, so, the amount of effort does not seem worth the pay off (because my grades aren't good regardless of whether my answers are right).posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 9:27 AM on October 5, 2018 [4 favorites]
Regarding quitting the program: Not really an option- I got a large, no-strings attached scholarship for this (expensive, prestigious) program, which, I think it's worth noting, I gained acceptance into based on my undergrad GPA, success, and work and volunteer experience. I should have also stated that I am not really interested in pursuing allopathic MD programs; rather, am looking into PA programs.
*quitting due to structural, social framework issues (the fact that I went to poor public schools and slipped through the cracks on certain topics, the fact that I was abused a ton as a kid and adults knew and did nothing to intervene, the fact that I had no choice about the family I was born into and the environment I grew up in, etc) is really, really not OK. And, discouraging people from doing what they want to do because of structural inequality is, honestly, pretty appalling. I have the intelligence, I put myself through a really good undergrad program and graduated, I have strong work experience that shaped why I'm doing this. I am looking more for resources around managing my moments of panic, maybe some learning efficiency and time management skills stuff, ideas for how to get past this LEARNING CURVE. This program is IN a medical school, so, these classes and the program is structured by medical professionals with the bigger picture in mind, IE, this is not an easy-breezy pre-med program designed by rookies. Telling someone to just "give up", when that was never part of the question prompt, is irrelevant.
I would totally take this a little at a time, but, I can't get financial aid unless I am enrolled full time, and this program is designed for folks to follow the steps and move through this process. Also, if I withdrew now, I would be forfeiting an amazing scholarship which is the only reason I am able to attend to begin with.
I have considered other options for grad school- my bookmarks folder for grad school has something like over 200 tabs saved- but this is what I want to do. Think about it like this: we don't tell people that abstinence is the only way to have safe sex (no sex is safe sex!) because it is irrelevant and does not work. Rather, we provide resources to make sex safer. I just need resources, because I want to do this, and nothing can stop me. Being a childhood sexual abuse survivor never stopped me from going to an Ivy League, from working internationally, from getting accepted into a great pre-med program. Living in poverty and unsupported along the way has not stopped me either. There are many institutional and social framework barriers that should have prevented me from doing what I want to do long ago, but, I just don't accept that.
I appreciate, on the other hand, the useful ideas and support people have suggested here. Support, ideas, links, videos, CBT techniques, etc are really helpful. And, although I had self-harm ideation, I did not act on it; fantasies are just that- fantasies. Whereas, this program is not a fantasy; it is my living, breathing reality and I need to overcome this hurdle. I understand why I feel this way- when I struggled academically growing up, I was physically abused. Is it any wonder that when I struggle now, those ingrained patterns emerge? But, I am not my abuse, or simply an equation of trauma.
I am looking more for resources around managing my moments of panic, maybe some learning efficiency and time management skills stuff, ideas for how to get past this LEARNING CURVE. This program is IN a medical school, so, these classes and the program is structured by medical professionals with the bigger picture in mind, IE, this is not an easy-breezy pre-med program designed by rookies. Telling someone to just "give up", when that was never part of the question prompt, is irrelevant.
If your tuition is paid for (from the scholarship you mentioned), and this is a one-year post-bacc leading to a 2.5 year PA program, then quit your job and take out student loans to cover your lost income. One-year post-baccs are not compatible with employment. The amount you are making in 21 hours a week is not worth sacrificing your future in a high-earning career as a PA. The biggest return on investment you can get for those hours is to spend them on chemistry.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 2:36 PM on October 5, 2018 [9 favorites]
If your tuition is paid for (from the scholarship you mentioned), and this is a one-year post-bacc leading to a 2.5 year PA program, then quit your job and take out student loans to cover your lost income. One-year post-baccs are not compatible with employment. The amount you are making in 21 hours a week is not worth sacrificing your future in a high-earning career as a PA. The biggest return on investment you can get for those hours is to spend them on chemistry.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 2:36 PM on October 5, 2018 [9 favorites]
I think the side job is really hurting you here.
As a data point, my first semester of medical school was miserable and I attribute it mostly to having a demanding side job. I had no choice as my country didn't have student loans back then. I was always behind to the point that early in the semester one teacher remarked that I maybe wasn't cut for this course. I was lucky to have a smaller course load in the second semester and finally started catching up, it was magical how things improved with just six hours more per week. I graduated among the top of my class and am now faculty.
So, I would join the others in this thread suggesting you drop the job. There's only so much you can push yourself to do in 24 hours a day. Imagine having those 21 hours a week to rest and study. It truly can be like night and day.
Also, I agree with prioritizing your time. Unless you truly cannot move on with new material before mastering the stuff from last week, try to study this week's material and do the homework first only looking things up as necessary. If that's not possible, can you talk to your prof about creating a plan for catching up?
But really, ditch that job ASAP.
posted by M. at 10:11 PM on October 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
As a data point, my first semester of medical school was miserable and I attribute it mostly to having a demanding side job. I had no choice as my country didn't have student loans back then. I was always behind to the point that early in the semester one teacher remarked that I maybe wasn't cut for this course. I was lucky to have a smaller course load in the second semester and finally started catching up, it was magical how things improved with just six hours more per week. I graduated among the top of my class and am now faculty.
So, I would join the others in this thread suggesting you drop the job. There's only so much you can push yourself to do in 24 hours a day. Imagine having those 21 hours a week to rest and study. It truly can be like night and day.
Also, I agree with prioritizing your time. Unless you truly cannot move on with new material before mastering the stuff from last week, try to study this week's material and do the homework first only looking things up as necessary. If that's not possible, can you talk to your prof about creating a plan for catching up?
But really, ditch that job ASAP.
posted by M. at 10:11 PM on October 5, 2018 [2 favorites]
With your update, I think you really, really need to get rid of that job. You are tired and run down, and that is making it very hard for you to maintain perspective and identify what's important.
posted by BibiRose at 8:13 AM on October 6, 2018
posted by BibiRose at 8:13 AM on October 6, 2018
How long do you think you spend completing the homework? I think you will feel better about the situation if you could get the homework in on time, so you don't lose marks for submitting late. I'd suggest thinking through your week and prioritising enough well-rested time in which to tackle and complete your homework before the deadline. Even if you are slow, it sounds like you are able to complete it, so I'd suggest that rather than trying to force yourself to speed up I'd see if you can find a way to find more time in your days to focus on it.
Other thoughts are that it is much easier if each new thing you are learning feels like part of a whole piece, rather than a new thing that you need to learn from scratch. Sometimes people can't do this because they are not fluent in the background concepts/skills, and it helps to revise or relearn things that you have previous passing grades in.
From what you say that might mean going over more basic algebra and arithmetic skills carefully, or it might be looking at earlier chemistry concepts and relearning them. I can definitely relate to the experience of just fundamentally not grasping something, and like you I am an intelligent person. My foundations in that area were just weak and if I wanted to improve I needed to go back and learn properly the thing I had skate through earlier without (I realised later) properly grasping the underlying concepts.
It's possible also that panic/anxiety stops you from seeing this bigger picture. In that case, rather than powering through, taking a different approach to thinking about the work that is less stressful might possibly help. If it's math that's causing you a problem then making it more concrete with physical math aids might be helpful.
I agree with others that if you are struggling but taking your studies more slowly isn't an option then you probably need to try dropping the job and seeing if that helps. It would make your week less stressful and give you more time to relax and recharge as well as study.
posted by plonkee at 9:12 AM on October 6, 2018
Other thoughts are that it is much easier if each new thing you are learning feels like part of a whole piece, rather than a new thing that you need to learn from scratch. Sometimes people can't do this because they are not fluent in the background concepts/skills, and it helps to revise or relearn things that you have previous passing grades in.
From what you say that might mean going over more basic algebra and arithmetic skills carefully, or it might be looking at earlier chemistry concepts and relearning them. I can definitely relate to the experience of just fundamentally not grasping something, and like you I am an intelligent person. My foundations in that area were just weak and if I wanted to improve I needed to go back and learn properly the thing I had skate through earlier without (I realised later) properly grasping the underlying concepts.
It's possible also that panic/anxiety stops you from seeing this bigger picture. In that case, rather than powering through, taking a different approach to thinking about the work that is less stressful might possibly help. If it's math that's causing you a problem then making it more concrete with physical math aids might be helpful.
I agree with others that if you are struggling but taking your studies more slowly isn't an option then you probably need to try dropping the job and seeing if that helps. It would make your week less stressful and give you more time to relax and recharge as well as study.
posted by plonkee at 9:12 AM on October 6, 2018
Hi! I'm a fourth-year med student who worked while taking prerequisites. I just want to provide a dissenting view among the prophets of doom on this thread. Med school has been hard, but I'm SURE that working during prereqs was harder. Med school coursework involves no math. The 1% of it that involves formulas (in physiology) can be ignored if math is challenging for you. The vast majority of med school is rote memorization. I also have mental health problems, but that's another story!!!
In the meantime, get your tutor or your professor to show you a problem-solving technique called "dimensional analysis" or "factor label." If your tutor hasn't heard of it, your professor certainly has.
Good luck! Feel free to memail me.
posted by 8603 at 1:41 PM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
In the meantime, get your tutor or your professor to show you a problem-solving technique called "dimensional analysis" or "factor label." If your tutor hasn't heard of it, your professor certainly has.
Good luck! Feel free to memail me.
posted by 8603 at 1:41 PM on October 6, 2018 [3 favorites]
Also try getting a molecular model kit and (for example) building the contents of your equations. Even though H2O2 is not a hard molecule to conceptualize, it's easier when you can point to a physical item. Then you can use the models again when organic comes around.
posted by 8603 at 1:45 PM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by 8603 at 1:45 PM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
Have you met with your advisor/ dean of students yet? This person may have some suggestions. For instance, there may be some flexibility in policies for students with medical issues (e.g. take a medical incomplete).
I am also someone who "gets things" slowly. I find it fundamentally unfair that the ones who need the most time to do something have the least amount of time to do it in. In my experience, there is no substitute for spending consistent large quantities of time productively engaging with the material. I agree with the other posters who say that working 21-28 hours per week is a real obstacle to having enough time to do school well.
I also suggest asking your chem professor to help you come up with a game plan for catching yourself up. There are probably some topics that won't come up again until the final exam, while there are other concepts that will reoccur all semester. This can be done in conjunction with making a "mind map" of the concepts covered in the course. In the immediate term, you need to make sure you understand the concepts that reoccur in the course, but in the long term, you still need to set aside time and effort to understand the other concepts that will show up on the final.
Does your school have a chemistry help room? Can you find a study buddy? I've found it helpful to go to the campus library and check out all the [subject] For Dummies type books. (For a good measure order a few different ones from Interlibrary Loan as well). I have also found it helpful to search for "topic" "lecture notes" type: pdf.
Cal Newport has some advice that might be useful.
posted by oceano at 3:16 PM on October 6, 2018
I am also someone who "gets things" slowly. I find it fundamentally unfair that the ones who need the most time to do something have the least amount of time to do it in. In my experience, there is no substitute for spending consistent large quantities of time productively engaging with the material. I agree with the other posters who say that working 21-28 hours per week is a real obstacle to having enough time to do school well.
I also suggest asking your chem professor to help you come up with a game plan for catching yourself up. There are probably some topics that won't come up again until the final exam, while there are other concepts that will reoccur all semester. This can be done in conjunction with making a "mind map" of the concepts covered in the course. In the immediate term, you need to make sure you understand the concepts that reoccur in the course, but in the long term, you still need to set aside time and effort to understand the other concepts that will show up on the final.
Does your school have a chemistry help room? Can you find a study buddy? I've found it helpful to go to the campus library and check out all the [subject] For Dummies type books. (For a good measure order a few different ones from Interlibrary Loan as well). I have also found it helpful to search for "topic" "lecture notes" type: pdf.
Cal Newport has some advice that might be useful.
posted by oceano at 3:16 PM on October 6, 2018
I went back to do postbac premed work as someone with a lot of science/math anxiety and, for me, the primary way I was able to gain confidence in the work was to simply do a lot of it. Like, if the assignment was to do all the odd-numbered problems in the book, I did ALL of them. Sometimes I did extra ones. The main reason for that was to really get comfortable with the mechanics of the problems and grind the method into my brain by doing umpteen simple problems before moving on to the more complex ones. Some people can learn the approach to a particular problem by doing a few basic things and then easily apply it to more complicated ones, but that wasn't the case for me.
The result to that was that, as I got more confident that this method was working, the amount of time that I spent just frozen and spinning in anxiety went down, and my studying got more efficient.
Obviously this is a tremendously time-intensive process and I think that if you can, you should rethink your job. 28 hours a week is 3/4 of a full-time job on top of a full-time course load.. I think that if you want to maximize your chances of doing well this year, you should seriously consider taking loans to support yourself. I know this may not be possible, but if it is, I think that long-term, you would benefit a lot more from having the extra time to master your material and do well
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 3:16 PM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
The result to that was that, as I got more confident that this method was working, the amount of time that I spent just frozen and spinning in anxiety went down, and my studying got more efficient.
Obviously this is a tremendously time-intensive process and I think that if you can, you should rethink your job. 28 hours a week is 3/4 of a full-time job on top of a full-time course load.. I think that if you want to maximize your chances of doing well this year, you should seriously consider taking loans to support yourself. I know this may not be possible, but if it is, I think that long-term, you would benefit a lot more from having the extra time to master your material and do well
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 3:16 PM on October 6, 2018 [1 favorite]
I'm a chemist and I've tutored maths and chemistry, (so this stuff does come fairly easily to me) but here are some suggestions for looking at it differently.
- Models. Chemistry is all atoms and how their electrons interact, and the maths is mostly about keeping track of what's where. Models are time consuming, but help make it less about maths and more about atoms. They are like puzzle pieces that only fit together certain ways.
- At lot of chemistry maths can be imagined as a "dose" as in the medical term. A reaction needs a certain "dose" (eg. 500 moles) for completion, and the calculation is working out how much medicine to give the patient e.g. if the concentration of active ingredient is 250moles/mL, you'd need to give the patient 2 mL. When the numbers are easy, you can do it in you head, but when they are less nice numbers, the maths helps you keep track.
- Look closely at the units. Most chemistry maths "follows" the units. For example, if you know the concentration (mg/L) and the volume (L), then the mass (in mg) will be concentration (mg/L) times volume (L) in mg, as the L's cancel each other out and you're left with mg. You can convert from mg to g by dividing by 1000, as there is 1000 mg/g, and you have to flip that upside down to get the mg's to cancel. It's hard to explain without writing it out, but if the units work in the equation, the maths is probably right. (I've been doing this for years, and I keep a scratch pad of paper on my desk to write this stuff out, as it is the most fool proof way of getting unit conversions correct - fucking things up by 1000x is embarrassing, but surprisingly easy to do.)
- Make the maths look nice. It feels more controlled if things look symmetrical and are easy to read. Maybe not when you are literally trying to understand things, but once you're just doing repetitious equations, or doing them for the second time, trying to make them as neat and easy to understand as possible helps. Also, practising the simple stuff with loud music, or the television on, or other slightly distracting thing can help make it more rote.
- Explain the concepts to other people. See if you can get them to understand the basics. Teaching helps solidify concepts and show holes in your comprehension. Do you have a nice friend who would be willing to let you try to explain chemistry to them?
Hope something in there helps. Good luck. Can you take some time off work and catch up? Chemistry builds on itself more than just about any subject, you're not imagining the difficultly in progressing on before understanding the earlier stuff.
posted by kjs4 at 5:03 AM on October 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
- Models. Chemistry is all atoms and how their electrons interact, and the maths is mostly about keeping track of what's where. Models are time consuming, but help make it less about maths and more about atoms. They are like puzzle pieces that only fit together certain ways.
- At lot of chemistry maths can be imagined as a "dose" as in the medical term. A reaction needs a certain "dose" (eg. 500 moles) for completion, and the calculation is working out how much medicine to give the patient e.g. if the concentration of active ingredient is 250moles/mL, you'd need to give the patient 2 mL. When the numbers are easy, you can do it in you head, but when they are less nice numbers, the maths helps you keep track.
- Look closely at the units. Most chemistry maths "follows" the units. For example, if you know the concentration (mg/L) and the volume (L), then the mass (in mg) will be concentration (mg/L) times volume (L) in mg, as the L's cancel each other out and you're left with mg. You can convert from mg to g by dividing by 1000, as there is 1000 mg/g, and you have to flip that upside down to get the mg's to cancel. It's hard to explain without writing it out, but if the units work in the equation, the maths is probably right. (I've been doing this for years, and I keep a scratch pad of paper on my desk to write this stuff out, as it is the most fool proof way of getting unit conversions correct - fucking things up by 1000x is embarrassing, but surprisingly easy to do.)
- Make the maths look nice. It feels more controlled if things look symmetrical and are easy to read. Maybe not when you are literally trying to understand things, but once you're just doing repetitious equations, or doing them for the second time, trying to make them as neat and easy to understand as possible helps. Also, practising the simple stuff with loud music, or the television on, or other slightly distracting thing can help make it more rote.
- Explain the concepts to other people. See if you can get them to understand the basics. Teaching helps solidify concepts and show holes in your comprehension. Do you have a nice friend who would be willing to let you try to explain chemistry to them?
Hope something in there helps. Good luck. Can you take some time off work and catch up? Chemistry builds on itself more than just about any subject, you're not imagining the difficultly in progressing on before understanding the earlier stuff.
posted by kjs4 at 5:03 AM on October 7, 2018 [3 favorites]
I don't have any useful comments OP, I just wanted to say fuck yes to you not giving up and everything in your reply. You can do this, and you're amazing.
posted by colorblock sock at 1:16 PM on October 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by colorblock sock at 1:16 PM on October 7, 2018 [1 favorite]
P.S.: the canceling units that kjs4 is talking about is the factor label that I'm talking about. Get your professor to show you how to do it with moles.
posted by 8603 at 5:13 PM on October 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by 8603 at 5:13 PM on October 7, 2018 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Are there other students you can study with?
I think your health, mental or otherwise, is the most important. If the worst happens and you fail this round... it's not the end of the world or of your career hopes, either. You're not limited to one chance. If there's any way you can make this year easier, for example by dropping a class or two, I would go for it. If not, don't beat yourself up. Do the best you can, and remember that the worst case is not, in reality, so bad. You'll be all right.
Lots of respect for the effort you're making and the work you're doing.
posted by trig at 7:37 PM on October 4, 2018 [10 favorites]