Studying For College Final Exams!!!

[Gaolee]

I knew this guy who got accepted to a 10 month MBA program at Notre Dame out of college, who got straight A's. He would party until 2am EVERY morning and one time I asked him how he did it.

He said he would just open his backpack when he got home. He came home from class everyday and just did what he had to do each day. Then he would take a nap until about 7 or 8pm, and start the cycle all over again.

He just got it done so it didn't pile up and got stuff out of the way. He is now a successful executive with a big position in a Fortune 500 company and has been there about 15 years or so.

There's always one. I went to college with a guy who would show up at the last second, read somebody else's notes, and then spoil the curve on the final exam in classes like advanced molecular biochemistry and biophysics. He spent most of his time getting into all kinds of trouble, playing rugby, and drinking beer. Last I heard, he went on to medical school and was doing the same thing there. He was completely nuts, but he could get away with it because he was just a whole lot smarter than the rest of us. I can't get away with that, because I'm not smarter than anybody else, unfortunately.

 

[Pilgrim]

I had a fairly easy time in college because of two things: first, I'm fairly bright and I can remember stuff, and second, I can write very well, and very fast. since my major was Broadcasting, both of those were very helpful. (The fact that I could hold my beer well and was good on the air were also essential for that particular major at that point in time, 1968-1973.)

The only classes I struggled with were those requiring extensive memorization of details like the shape characteristics and gram staining of bacteria. Couldn't get interested in it, could not get my head around the memorization. That's one reason I know I'm not cut out to be in some professions.

OTOH, I can tell you which line of the vertical interval in analog video that Closed Caption info lives on. And which signals will communicate with certain video software. I'm convinced that a big part of the ability to retain info is based in what interests us. The stuff we care about, we remember. The rest is "gradoo and cruddy bits."

 

[slobake]

She hasn't replied since the OP. She is probably studying.

 

[Gaolee]

Good thing, too. We are full of really lousy advice and set poor examples for the youth of America.

 

[reddog]

Be well rested.

 

[TomA1234]

Avoid going on youtube to procrastinate like the plague. That easily eats up a couple of hours, then you realise it's too late to do anything.

 

[Chebass88]

Here are a couple of things that worked very well for me:

1. Minimize distractions (as much as you can). Turn your phone OFF, close the computer, etc. Otherwise you'll end up spending HOURS reading nonsense.

2. Go to a new location. I got some great studying done in a local starbucks. I'd commandeer a table, buy a coffee, and get a couple of hours of studying done. A local grocery store has an eat-in area, perfect for studying.

3. My best study tip I learned is to do it in 15 minute chunks. After 15 minutes has passed, get up, do a set of 10 pushups (don't do any more than this) and then immediately sit back down and continue studying for another 15 minutes. Keep track of the total. I got to the point where I could easily get over two hours of productive studying done.

 

[Pilgrim]

Good thing, too. We are full of really lousy advice and set poor examples for the youth of America.

OOH! OOH! OOH! Mr. Kotter!!!!!! MeMeMeMeMe!!!!

Wouldn't that be "The youts of america?"

 

[LiquidMidnight]

I always began studying a few weeks well before final exams, even before the last chapter/section or two were covered in class. Cognitive psychology studies have generally shown that studying spaced out over a longer period of time is more effective than focused studying crammed into a shorter period of time.

 

[Pilgrim]

Dangit, you're doing it the way it should be done. I knew there was someone this radical out there! No fair!

 

[Pilgrim]

I gave an F on a midterm essay this semester because the student wrote an essay that was thrown together by using the index of the textbook and made no reference at all to the relevant material we had talked about in class.

I turn papers back when they're just a collection of quotes pasted together with a couple of sentences in between quotes. I let them know that I want to see what they think, not read a collection of other people's thoughts.

 

[BassyBill]

There's a lot of good advice in this thread. I wish I could follow it myself, but I've never been able to work like that despite really trying hard to change my work patterns. I'm one of those people who have to be under real stress to perform my best when it comes to academic work. If I'm not under pressure, nothing gets done. It's a bummer as it's an absolute torment pulling all-nighters against tight deadlines to get something finished on time. But it's the only way that works for me. I wish it were otherwise. Coincidentally, my sister, who is exceptionally smart, works just the same way.

For the record - I'm in my fifties and an academic at one of England's biggest universities, so I can't see me changing to better habits at this point.

 

[fdeck]

For the record - I'm in my fifties and an academic at one of England's biggest universities, so I can't see me changing to better habits at this point.

Same here. I comfort myself with the quote from Donald Rumsfeld: "You go to war with the army you have..."

Students have some leeway to choose courses based on what they are good at. When I was in college, the (academic) things that I was good at were writing and proofs. So I chose exclusively courses where the letter grade was based on those things. I was the first student at my college to submit a word processed term paper, and I think that most of my profs had never thought about how to grade a paper that was mechanically perfect. So long as I stuck with papers and proofs (including "derivations" in physics class), I got straight A's.

 

[hrodbert696]

Same here. I comfort myself with the quote from Donald Rumsfeld: "You go to war with the army you have..."

Students have some leeway to choose courses based on what they are good at. When I was in college, the (academic) things that I was good at were writing and proofs. So I chose exclusively courses where the letter grade was based on those things. I was the first student at my college to submit a word processed term paper, and I think that most of my profs had never thought about how to grade a paper that was mechanically perfect. So long as I stuck with papers and proofs (including "derivations" in physics class), I got straight A's.

I get students writing me all the time because they're anxious about their GPA. I think that in any kind of a system where students get to pick their courses, there is no more meaningless statistic than a GPA. You can pick courses that play to your strengths, or just that are easier or where the instructor has a reputation for being an generous grader, and wind up with a high GPA, or you can pick tough challenging courses that make you work hard just to keep your head above water, and wind up with a merely average or mediocre GPA. The number says absolutely nothing about how smart you are, how hard you worked, or how much you learned.

 

[LiquidMidnight]

While there was some course choice with respect to my undergraduate degree, the curriculum didn't allow as much liberty for course selection as perhaps many people think. Because of how my specific program was structured, I had to take additional classes outside of my major department and beyond normal general education requirements and electives, including additional physical science courses. And I definitely took courses in which I wasn't dispositioned towards due to interest, talent, or previous education. And because the program was geared towards those wishing to pursue graduate education, there was a bigger emphasis on research, which some students couldn't hack.

The importance placed on GPA is kind of funny. Much of my research interest focuses on legal sociology and the sociology of jurisprudence. Plus, I work in an area of law. One thing I find interesting is that attorneys' bios always list their latin honors from law school. While I think I have a blurb on my resume and CV that I graduated summa cum laude from college, I graduated from both my master's and PhD programs with a 4.0 in each; and with maybe the exception of an electronic job application somewhere along the line, I've never listed that on any biographical statement or on a resume. Nobody gives a crap about your GPA from grad school, but it appears to be something important after you leave law school (and sometimes business school, I've noticed as well). I hypothetize this is a function of the culture of clear winners and losers perpetuated by law school and the law system itself, which is also related to the competitive grading scheme that law schools have. It's definitely something I want to study.

 

[fdeck]

I get students writing me all the time because they're anxious about their GPA. I think that in any kind of a system where students get to pick their courses, there is no more meaningless statistic than a GPA. You can pick courses that play to your strengths, or just that are easier or where the instructor has a reputation for being an generous grader, and wind up with a high GPA, or you can pick tough challenging courses that make you work hard just to keep your head above water, and wind up with a merely average or mediocre GPA. The number says absolutely nothing about how smart you are, how hard you worked, or how much you learned.

I agree with you, but I was just a dumb college kid.

In my own case, I don't think that the game I played resulted in short-changing my education. It was a small liberal arts college, and with the exception of a few courses that everybody had to pass, I didn't take any fluff courses.

Proofs and derivations were the meat and potatoes of my major subjects anyway. My preference for written assignments over cramming probably accounts for why I've retained a lot of what I learned. The only course that I consciously avoided was organic chemistry.

Now, my approach to GPA was like my approach to money. I have to care about money because I'm responsible to a household and to my profession. But I don't think about money all the time. I probably only spent a few hours throughout my college career, actually thinking about my GPA strategy. There wasn't really a lot you could do about your GPA, other than studying more or choosing an easy major. I never engaged in grade grubbing.

 

[BassyBill]

I hate numerical or letter grading systems of any description. Such systems fly straight in the face of everything that research tells us about good assessment practice. But this isn't a new idea. Robert Pirsig was experimenting with not using grades back in the 60s. This extract from his book "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" is a great read on the topic (attached).

 

[Pilgrim]

I have a brother who's a Chemical Engineer; it wasn't easy for him, but he worked his butt off and made it through. He's now one of the senior people working on nuclear waste disposal at the Hanford Reservation in Central Washington. My sister is a veterinarian; she took two bachelor's degrees to get a high enough GPA for Vet school - and yes, they have extremely high GPA requirements. She worked hard and applied three times before getting into vet school. Both of them knew what they wanted and worked hard to get it.

My youngest brother got a B.S in Ag Econ, followed by an MBA, and at age 49 changed careers and went to Nursing school, completing it successfully.

Me? I was in Broadcasting as a B.A.. I loved being on the air, and the curriculum was just right for how hard I wanted to work - which wasn't very hard. But I was good at a wide range of topics, wrote well and studied enough to stay near a 3.0 average. Later I got a Master's in Adult Education, and then spent 10 years earning a PhD in a combination of Adult Ed and Educational Technology.

Education has gotten each one of us where we wanted to go, and it didn't happen fast for any of us. SO study for those exams and hang in there.

 

[hrodbert696]

I agree with you, but I was just a dumb college kid.

In my own case, I don't think that the game I played resulted in short-changing my education. It was a small liberal arts college, and with the exception of a few courses that everybody had to pass, I didn't take any fluff courses.

Proofs and derivations were the meat and potatoes of my major subjects anyway. My preference for written assignments over cramming probably accounts for why I've retained a lot of what I learned. The only course that I consciously avoided was organic chemistry.

Now, my approach to GPA was like my approach to money. I have to care about money because I'm responsible to a household and to my profession. But I don't think about money all the time. I probably only spent a few hours throughout my college career, actually thinking about my GPA strategy. There wasn't really a lot you could do about your GPA, other than studying more or choosing an easy major. I never engaged in grade grubbing.

Oh, I wasn't implying you were grade-grubbing. Deliberately picking easy classes (we called them "gut" classes when I was an undergrad) to ramp up your GPA is one thing, choosing classes to develop your strengths is another. My GPA definitely rose as I got graduation requirements out of the way and started focusing more courses in my major and topics I was curious or passionate about. I'm just observing that, particularly as an academic adviser, I had students who fought hard for a B- and others who coasted through an easy A. The A on the report card was absolutely NOT testimony to harder work or greater intelligence.

I hate numerical or letter grading systems of any description. Such systems fly straight in the face of everything that research tells us about good assessment practice. But this isn't a new idea. Robert Pirsig was experimenting with not using grades back in the 60s. This extract from his book "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance" is a great read on the topic (attached).

Thanks for this. I particularly appreciate his portrait of the returning student - I've often noted the difference with the non-trads (older students returning to school after having worked), who are far more motivated and have a clearer sense of why they're in school compared to the average run of traditional kids.

 

[hrodbert696]

While there was some course choice with respect to my undergraduate degree, the curriculum didn't allow as much liberty for course selection as perhaps many people think. Because of how my specific program was structured, I had to take additional classes outside of my major department and beyond normal general education requirements and electives, including additional physical science courses. And I definitely took courses in which I wasn't dispositioned towards due to interest, talent, or previous education. And because the program was geared towards those wishing to pursue graduate education, there was a bigger emphasis on research, which some students couldn't hack.

The importance placed on GPA is kind of funny. Much of my research interest focuses on legal sociology and the sociology of jurisprudence. Plus, I work in an area of law. One thing I find interesting is that attorneys' bios always list their latin honors from law school. While I think I have a blurb on my resume and CV that I graduated summa cum laude from college, I graduated from both my master's and PhD programs with a 4.0 in each; and with maybe the exception of an electronic job application somewhere along the line, I've never listed that on any biographical statement or on a resume. Nobody gives a crap about your GPA from grad school, but it appears to be something important after you leave law school (and sometimes business school, I've noticed as well). I hypothetize this is a function of the culture of clear winners and losers perpetuated by law school and the law system itself, which is also related to the competitive grading scheme that law schools have. It's definitely something I want to study.

True. And I would argue that GPA becomes more meaningful as the range of course choices narrows and as it homogenizes, which I think is often the case in law school. It becomes meaningful if everyone is taking the same courses from the same instructors.