How do I study better guys ? I feel dumb as hell

awakendragon · 2016-10-18T08:21:10+00:00

Practise is very important. Knowledge is one thing but being able to apply it to problems on the exam is another thing. So, unless you do it already, practise a lot.

The way I was studying at the end of the university (which turned out to me as the most cost/effort effective method after 5 years) was getting exams from the previous years and solving problems from there. Only when I didn't know something I was going back to the books and studying the given topic and its context to the level that let me solve the problem.

But as others have pointed out - you have to provide us more details of what and how you study already to get more targeted answers.

rot_barth · 2016-10-18T10:45:17+00:00

My creds: Ivy-league, graduate degrees, academic awards, top of class. Mediocre student in college until I figured out what worked.

For difficult classes (Stem/law/medicine): 1. Read authoritative book. Highlight all important material and anything in bold.

Concatenate highlighted info into a set of notes (iteration #1)
Take class notes. Add in information that is not repeated to your notes (iteration #2)
If you are able to get old exam questions, after you take them cold (for practice), go back & highlight the areas that were tested. Add in any info you thought was not important but was tested to your notes.
Take this set of notes and further distill down /copy so it's more efficient (iteration #3). What you should have in front of you is a highly efficient, readable, and meaningful (to you) set of notes that have condensed the material down from an insane volume of words into something that is personally meaningful.
Copy said notes (iteration #4). Test self. Throw away new copy in the garbage. Repeat as necessary.

And yes, 4-5 hours of studying daily is not ridiculous for the tough stuff. Particularly because you are now learning how to learn. Don't be fooled by your successful classmates - they are doing this when you don't see them. What worked well for me was to do this in a marathon 8-12 hour Saturday session with breaks for lunch and a little basketball. I disappeared in the morning and would not be seen until about 8pm on sat night when I finished up, it was time to head out for dinner, drinks, and debauchery. Worked like a charm.

edited for formatting/ease of reading

jjfast666 · 2016-10-18T06:38:10+00:00

What are your study methods? You told us how long, but now how. People learn in different ways.

Reading, highlighting, rewriting, typing, flash cards, etc.

batfish55 · 2016-10-18T10:18:48+00:00

I never learned how to study in high school, I was smart enough that I didn't need to. Then I went to the CC and had a bit of a rough awakening. There definitely was a learning curve.

First, don't be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. That was a big hangup for me. If your school has tutors, be there. A lot. Whether there are tutors or not, start/join study groups. Daily. For hours. My physics 1 prof had a horrible accent. Couldn't understand a fucking thing he said. Started a study group, was there 5-6 hours a day. At university, my worst quarter had me on campus 12 hours a day during the week, 6-8 hours a day on the weekend.

Second, find your method. Mine was rote repetition. Copy the notes. Quiz myself in my head. Didn't get it right? Write it down again. Over and over. Some people did flash cards.

Third, disregard wimmins and focus on school. What are you? A student. That's your full time job. You can chase pussy after you get your degree. Nothing will distract your from your studies like pussy. Hell, you're doing STEM, you'll get a decent job if you finish your degree, then it'll be easier to pull tail anyway.

MunteanClan · 2016-10-20T18:47:29+00:00

Try studying in 25-30 min sessions with a 5 min break . It will keep u more focused.

[deleted] · 2016-10-18T06:40:30+00:00

I brought a cheap set of weights in to where I work. Its an Army facility so most smoke breaks come down to the soldiers doing a few sets with my weights when they can't sit at their desk anymore.

And that's what I do. Do a couple of sets. Planks for 60 seconds. 25 push ups on the hour with a Sgt down the hall.

Get the adrenaline and HGH flowing. Good for focus. And keep in mind, college and modern schooling is not constructed for men. It's very women centric. Never got good grades for my BS degree. Didn't ever matter getting a job.

Icanus · 2016-10-18T08:10:10+00:00

Good grades are for girls, being great is for men.
Go out and be great.

(also, keep trying different study methods until you find your thing. It took me year to find out I just need to retype my notes while reading the handbook)

Machopsdontcry · 2016-10-18T06:42:12+00:00

It could be you are overdoing things. In life there are only two things that matter imo: making money and fucking girls.

So what if you only got 79% in your test, it's just a test. The only tests that really need passing are the shit tests girls will throw your way.

You're only retarded if you choose to believe you are. You've listed your qualities, now go out there and show everybody what you're capable of achieving. If I were you I'd stop putting so much pressure on tings which in the long run mean very little. The more fun you have, the more confident you'll feel and the better your life will be. Good luck

Title	How do I study better guys ? I feel dumb as hell
Author	Dio_Brando_Joestar
Upvotes	0
Comments	11
Date	October 18, 2016 6:23 AM UTC (9 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/582dm0/how_do_i_study_better_guys_i_feel_dumb_as_hell/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/how-do-i-study-better-guys-i-feel-dumb-as-hell.76230 https://theredarchive.com/post/76230

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