In this post, I’m going to talk about the study methods that have worked for me and that I learned during my time at UCLA!
(see another post like this about being healthy here)
- Use a stickynote/index card and write a couple goals for today only. Don’t write too many or you will feel overwhelmed! Stick it on your laptop or planner or notebook (somewhere you will see it)
- Have a whiteboard at your desk and write down things you need to remember (like a simple equation or some vocab)
- While waiting for something (the bus, your coffee, the shower to warm up) have something to recite in your head (probably something you already know, but would like to reALLY KNOW)
- When you read, try to tie big concepts to things you would remember easily (like acronyms or symbols) like for example i remember gen chem oxidation as OIL RIG: Oxidation is Loss (of electrons) and Reduction is Gain (of electrons) and I remember the first four unordinary hydrocarbons from Me Eat Peanut Butter (lmao): Methane, Ethane, Propane, Butane
- Plan out your weeks!!! Plan when you will study on each day of the week and keep track of due dates
- Make it a habit to do homework/assignments AS SOON AS YOU CAN (like right after you snack or something after classes)
- Try not to think about how long you will study and rather think about the number of topics you will study
- Don’t stop until you feel confident in your knowledge OTHERWISE YOULL JUST LOSE IT IT ALL
- Keep your notes organized because you never know when something is gonna bite you in the butt again in the future
- Review everyday. Like, Serioouslyyyy. It helps a lot.
- Read before going to bed instead of being on your phone for 400 hours :C I THINK ITS TRUE THAT THE STUFF YOU READ BEFORE BED STAYS WITH YOU BETTER BC YOU GET TO SLEEP ON IT
- Try to keep your area quiet or have only white background noise because if someone is talking about the weather and you’re studying math, best believe you’ll only remember the weather
- Most of the time, you don’t need to read the introduction paragraphs.
- Read the bolded titles to see what you will be getting into
- Before class you can skim lightly!! It will help you not feel lost in class
- AFTER CLASS you will now FOCUS YOUR READING ON WHAT WAS SAID IN CLASS because most of the time, class-covered topics ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT! save yoself some time!!
- When reading after class, do NOT just read. If you go over something that makes you go ??? in even the slightest way, read it again to understand. Look it up. Do it in THAT moment because you’re gonna forget to do it later.
- If you don’t wanna read the whole darn book because ur lazy (like me) or you are cramming, READ!! THE!! SUMMARY!!!
- The back of the book might have some seriously useful appendixes
- Try not to skip the diagrams and pictures lol they’re there for a reason
- dont be on your phone or whatever during class time Like actually PAy attention because if you learn it now, you won’t have to try to learn it again later (you can be on your phone later)
- Take down everything written on the boards FOR SURE because if the professor/teacher thinks it’s important to write it, you better think it’s important too
- Be an engaged listener! Don’t let it slide straight thru ur head
- Try not to scribble your notes so you can read it later
- Make CLEAR HEADERS for the topics so you can find those notes quickly
- Def make friends in class in case you miss something on the notes ://
Doing Practice Problems and Homework
- Get yoUR HOMEWORK DONE FIRST OF ALL
- Homework is seriously a great study tool because your instructor assigned that FOR A REASON (aka it’s prob gonna be tested on)
- Try to know what you are doing before you start the homework so that you don’t feel lost as heck doing it
- When doing practice problems, if you have the answers, don’t be afraid to look at the answer the first time around if you don’t know how to do it. IVE SELF TAUGHT MYSELF SOOOOO MUCH by just looking at the answer to a question.
- DONT RELY ON THE ANSWERS THO
- Don’t memorize how to do the practice problems, you should memorize the method of solving the problem and understand each step clearly (and understand WHY you do that step!!!) just in case the test pulls some funky stuff on you
- The more you can do, the better. But don’t be sleepy and do them because you won’t really retain anything
My organic chem professor actually did a funny study on sleep and test scores. He said on his final exam he asked “How many hours of sleep did you get last night?”
and like obviously the more hours of sleep reported, generally the higher the student scored on the exam
SLEEEEPING IS GOOD FOR YOUR LEARNING
WHEN YOU SLEEP AND HIT THE REM CYCLE, YOUR BRAIN PROCESSES THE INFORMATION BETTER and it will really stay with you. So yall need to sleep. Don’t do the all nighters. You won’t remember anything
anyways like nike you should Just Do It
I hope you guys find this useful!! Remember that everyone has different needs and preferences, so take these tips as just tips and not rules!! Experiment with things, see what you like best, see what gives you the best scores.
Good luck with everything~ thank you for reading!
