[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Figo /img/forum/go_quote.gif undergrad: go to class, take good notes, read said notes one or twice before exam law school: read everything assigned in casebook, follow reasoning chains in class, killself making outlines before exam ugrad worked to a 3.9+, we'll see how 1L goes

0. make sure you can type at 100-120wpm (I am not kidding)

1. read: "getting to maybe" (in short: questions and reasoning are more important than the 'correct' answer....there is NO correct answer on your final; you fail if you find one, notwithstanding multichoice)

2. get your E&E and do the problems there

3. make outline as you go (do not look at commercial outline/other's outline for substance, but you should have a good outline from 2L/3L as precedent)

4. remake/reduce outline to < 20 pages (single side)

5. do practice exams by yourself, and discuss your answer with professor (during the studying period)

6. ...




7. profit

 

[TheAudioDude]

Just repetition for me. I graduated from EE a year ago and nothing helped more than going over the examples we did in class, especially in groups. For pretty much all of my classes, the tests were open book and open notes (for the ones that weren't, we could use an index card of whatever we could fit on it) but that never helped. It was more of how you understood the material rather than just following equations.

Fun times!

 

[MD1032]

There's no secret other than time and keeping ahead in your classes. Don't BS the assignments, do everything that's required, and make sure you're always two days ahead. When I'm two days ahead of an exam in terms of studying, it leaves me an extra day to study all the extra stuff I didn't realize I'd be needing to study, and some extra time to bring questions to the professor. Go to your professor's office hours or review sessions... they're the free ice cream in the dining hall of preparation.

 

[Towert7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott_Tarlow /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dont really study in the sense that you really don't need to study for Physics. I get assigned so many problems that it turns out the homework is studying. IE 15-20 hrs per class per week of homework.

x2

 

[Emooze]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott_Tarlow /img/forum/go_quote.gif I dont really study in the sense that you really don't need to study for Physics. I get assigned so many problems that it turns out the homework is studying. IE 15-20 hrs per class per week of homework.

yeah x3 for me as well. I'm Electrical and Computer Engineering and the homework + labs + sample exams means I only study when they want me to memorize things.

When I do need to memorize stuff, I find writing it down helps tons. So make a study sheet of formulas and that's usually good enough.

 

[MCC]

I come up with visual representations of the material and simply remember them. Calling up formulas and such is as simple as "seeing" them in my head and transcribing them back to paper. For Computer Science courses I'll visualize what the algorithm in question does and turn it back into code when I need it on a test. I've found that once I conceptualize things in this way I can remember them without much effort at all.

 

[HONEYBOY]

Am still in high school but I just think always being ahead of the teacher is the way to go. When I study ahead, the class time becomes reviewing for me and a chance for me to ask questions that am not clear about. I have found that the website http://www.calnewport.com/blog/ by Cal Newport to be immensely helpful and insightful! It's all about studying smart!

 

[Keithpgdrb]

the thing that worked best for me was to Record classes. I always found it hard to concentrate on what was being said while I was trying to take notes. I do much better when I can sit back, listen, and ask questions. so. after the class at some point, I listen to the whole class period over again, and take very detailed notes.

this worked for me for a few reasons.
1. I got to listen and comprehend concepts in class, and ask questions if I didnt get it. I wasnt wasting time trying to get everything on paper. (profs tend to babble.)
2. I basically listened to the same class twice, which reinforced my comprehension.
3. If I didnt really understand a concept in class, I knew that the explanation was on tape, and I could go over it as many times as I wanted, until I found a way to put it in my notes logically.

there are other reasons this worked well for me, but those are the basics. I ended up with Perfect notes by which to study. Because you spent so much time organizing your notes, you learned how each concept relates to others.. etc... etc..

good luck.

 

[rockin_amigo14]

take notes through semester. day before exam, copy them onto new paper, then highlight the really important ones, then memorize.

 

[DanielCox]

Solve problems/do the past papers. That is basically my subject to practicing it really helps.
My notes are questionable in quality so I never ever look at those.

 

[Uncle Erik]

X2 on the index cards. They got me through three degrees, the Bar and an amateur radio license.

I do almost exactly the same thing - pose a question on one side and have ans answer on the other. I learn about 50% of the material just making up the cards. I find that it takes roughly 15 passes through the set to learn the contents. 20-25 and I'll hit close to 100%. Might not sound like much, but I needed approximately 2,500 cards for the Bar and it took 6-7 hours to make one pass through them.

I also take handwritten notes on legal pads and condense that onto the cards. If you haven't beep pulled into Pen-Fi (

you have been warned) a good fountain pen is better than anything. You can write efforlessly for hours and refill when needed if you bring your ink along.

On a side note, I also made a lot of use of practice exams. Ask your professors if they will give you copies of past exams to work with. Most of them will. Then take the exam a few times and cut yourself about 10%-20% short of the allotted time. When youtake the real test, you'll feel like you have all the time in the world and it'll dramatically drop the stress level.

 

[El_Doug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keithpgdrb /img/forum/go_quote.gif the thing that worked best for me was to Record classes. I always found it hard to concentrate on what was being said while I was trying to take notes. I do much better when I can sit back, listen, and ask questions. so. after the class at some point, I listen to the whole class period over again, and take very detailed notes.

my business law professor had a strict no-recording policy (audio and video), and made us sign a form stating we would not do so

 

[Gatto]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif X2 on the index cards. They got me through three degrees, the Bar and an amateur radio license. I do almost exactly the same thing - pose a question on one side and have ans answer on the other. I learn about 50% of the material just making up the cards. I find that it takes roughly 15 passes through the set to learn the contents. 20-25 and I'll hit close to 100%. Might not sound like much, but I needed approximately 2,500 cards for the Bar and it took 6-7 hours to make one pass through them. I also take handwritten notes on legal pads and condense that onto the cards. If you haven't beep pulled into Pen-Fi ( you have been warned) a good fountain pen is better than anything. You can write efforlessly for hours and refill when needed if you bring your ink along. On a side note, I also made a lot of use of practice exams. Ask your professors if they will give you copies of past exams to work with. Most of them will. Then take the exam a few times and cut yourself about 10%-20% short of the allotted time. When youtake the real test, you'll feel like you have all the time in the world and it'll dramatically drop the stress level.

Wow we study pretty much the same. I'm lucky though, usually I absorb about 75% to 95% just making the cards or within the first pass. The last 10% can sometimes take another 5-6 passes though. I've also been considering getting a nice pen for studying because I find that my fingers will literally hurt after 9-10 hours straight of making index cards. The problem is I'm a lefty, doesn't ink take a long time to dry? I'd end up smearing it all over the card because of my hand. I also take advantage of practice tests but unfortunately I memorize so quickly that I can only use them once and then I remember pretty much all the answers.

 

[Nocturnal310]

**** man...i need to discipline.

havent been studying for past few months.

 

[devin_mm]

It's been so long since I've studied but I'm going to need to soon, I'm one week into my first year of Computer Science. When I did my Computer Engineering technical school diploma I spent my last semester tutoring (well basically reteaching) someone after every single class and I never before got better marks.