#it’s literally. bio lab. chem lecture. chem lab. chem midterm

[doyeons]

i made it

only one more class but im withering away as we speak.. will i make it…..

[huilian]

Hello people! Since my grades for this semester have been released, I’m here to give some tips (and to remind myself what works) on studying! Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I took bio and chem classes that life sci kids take, and also math and physics classes and physics kids take. (Why? Ask me again in three years, please.) Also, I took an elective in Women Studies, which was the absolute highlight of my week (I want to minor in it, but I don’t have enough credits for that… more’s the pity). 

So! This year I got A+ in every sciency class, and an A in the women studies one, and I want to make this post to share some tips! 

Make your own notes

This is the absolute holy grail of studying tips, for me. I’ve been making summaries of things for years and it works extremely well for me. This is a way of interacting with the material, while also organizing all the bits and bobs of information that you have. I combined my class notes, powerpoints, and readings (when I have them) into a single word doc or handwritten note. It really helps to make connections between lectures, and it helps in understanding the material, since you’re actually writing it down. This also helps in determining which materials are important, and which ones are just not worth your time. Put diagrams and pictures in this document too, because you are going to need those when you study. 

If you do this, voila! You just have a study guide to study from when midterms/finals come. You don’t have to go searching for things when you’re studying, just focus on memorizing/understanding/connecting those things together. 

The only downside is this take TONS of time. For chem and physics I did them by hand, and it took me hours to do that, but since handwriting things help with memorizing, you will spend less time when you’re reviewing! For bio i basically just gave up in handwriting things (too many shits to write down) and type them, but compiling things from all my notes and readings do still take a lot of time. It works like a charm though, so as much time as it takes, I’ve been doing this religiously for years and I kept my A+ (or its equivalent). 

Cheat your brain

Find a place (or several) to study! You’ll then associate that place with studying and consequently feel weird when you’re there but not studying. When I don’t have the motivation to study I normally just force myself to be there, faf around for several minutes, and then suddenly the motivation to study comes. (Might not work for everyone though)

My mom drilled into my head that I SHALL NEVER SIT/LAY DOWN ON BEDS WHEN I HAVE OUTSIDE CLOTHES ON, so when I want to force myself up, I change to my outside clothes. Then I can’t laze around on my bed anymore (or fear the wrath of my mother. I’m literally halfway across the world, but she will know. SHE WILL KNOW.) and so I have to get up and do some work.

Use your damn resources!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OFFICE HOURS ARE MY SAVIOUR. Very few people actually go to office hours, and yeah, it sucks to be inside your classroom building for more than you actually have to, but this time is your one-to-one time with your prof, people. A lot of my friends are afraid to go to office hours because they think you have to have like, high-end questions to ask them. Spoiler alert, you don’t. I like to just go there and do my homework/assignment on office hours, in front of them, so when I have trouble doing it I literally just raise my head and call them over. It’s heaven. Really. Did I say that very few people actually go to office hours? Your prof will be bored there, and you coming would be the highlight of their day. Bonus points are that they will know you and then you can ask dumb questions to them and they will answer (I have asked so many dumb questions to my profs. Like, really really dumb. They still answered them.) 

Ps. they will also want to give you letters of recommendation. I scored a lab volunteer (that is currently on hold because of covid) as a first-year because of those letters of recommendation.

Pps. If you’re still scared of your prof’s office hours, go to your TA’s! Sometimes they have them, and those are also my saviour. Please please just go to office hours. 

If you have writing centers or writing advisors, schedule an appointment with them a few days before your essay is due. You will then have a deadline that’s a few days before the actual deadline, saving you from the panic of not having anything written the day before the deadline, and you will get so much help. They will tear your writing apart and piece them together to be something better than you could ever imagine. Please just go to them. 

For you math kids (or those who need a math class), desmos, wolfram aplha, symbolab, and all those websites/apps are amazing. But, don’t fall into the trap of using them mindlessly. I normally use them for tedious computations and/or to check my work. At the very least, try doing it first before putting it in those websites. Remember, you don’t have those websites when you’re taking midterms/finals. 

Still use them though. Especially for computations that you know you can do. It saves so much time. 

If your prof/TA offer extra lectures or office hours, grab it with both hands and run with it. Seriously, just do it. 

Use spell/grammar checker on your laptop. Please just do it. It saves so much time and effort. 

DO YOUR WORK!

Yeah, yeah, this is on every single tip you will ever see, but this is true. Do your work now, and you will save time when studying for midterms/finals. For things like math and physics and chem, doing your work now guarantees you understand what’s going on now, so that you don’t go half the semester barely understanding what’s going on and have to cram everything before the midterm. Doing the work is really really important because that’s how you learn, so please just do them regularly. You will be lost and confused if you don’t. 

Do your readings! Even if you don’t understand a single word being said in your readings, skim them before class. You’ll then recognize things in lectures, and that will jog your memory. One of my prof once said that if you read the material before lecture, even if you don’t understand it, your first exposure to that material won’t be on the lectures, so you actually learn/understand something from the lectures, instead of just seeing them for the very first time. 

Do the assignments! My prof once told the class about a student that did great on midterms and finals, but never submit any of their assignment, and that student barely pass the class. DO YOUR ASSIGNMENTS

Do the extra credit, if you have them. My women studies class have participation grades, my bio class have participation, my friend’s physics class have extra quizzes. If you can, do them. My friend barely passed his midterms, but got a solid B+ in his final grade because he did all the extra credits. It helps you by adding the opportunities in which you can interact with the material too! 

Go to lectures. Please. Your prof knows what they want you to know, and so those things ARE GOING TO BE ON TESTS. Just go to lectures. I know it sucked, but please just go. 

Miscellaneous

Take breaks! This is also on every study tips you can ever find, but this is very important. One piece of advice I once got was that your brain is a muscle, so exercise it the way you would every other muscle. You don’t go bench-pressing 100kg of weights for hours on end. You go to the gym for a few hours, then you rest. Treat your brain like that. 

Don’t schedule one-hour breaks between classes. It’s not long enough to do anything of actual worth, unless you want that one-hour to be a full-on break. Then go ahead. But don’t think you can do any work of actualy worth in an one-hour break. (It’s because a one-hour break between classes are not actually one hour. You have the time cut off from leaving the previous class, and I usually dither because I know I don’t have anything afterwards. Then you have the time cut off from going to the next class, where I also usually take my time. So a one-hour break between classes are actually more like a half-hour.) 

Schedule in buffer time! You know how sometimes shit happens? This is your fail-safe. Your buffer, to help maintain a pH of sanity. A half-hour here or there. This time can be used if your bus is late, or if you suddenly misjudge how long it will take you to do your assignment, or if you suddenly find yourself needing to curl up in a ball because of cramps. Don’t schedule anything here. You can use it as a break if you don’t need it, but normally you will need it anyways, so don’t keep a few slots open in your schedule to be a buffer. 

Make friends in your lectures! Then you will have at least one reason to go to your lectures. As a bonus you will have someone to study with too! 

Find something nice for you to do, just for yourself. I take ballet classes every week and forget about everything I have to do when I’m in ballet class. It keeps you sane. 

So there you are folks! Stay sane and stay healthy! 

[biopsychs]

What I Learned From University (1st Year)

FIRST YEAR

Everyone is super friendly, especially in the first few weeks → Introduce yourself to the people sitting near you for the first few weeks of lectures. Everyone is looking for a friend or at least someone to talk to!!

If you commute, make that time productive → My bus ride was an hour there and back each day. It sucks but I would try to be productive for at least half of the commute. I have a post about being productive on public transport here.

On that note, stay on campus as long as possible each day → As soon as I got back home I would procrastinate every little thing. Stay in an already productive environment for as long as possible.

Maybe don’t buy your textbooks used → I thought I was being smart by buying used textbooks (most schools will have a buy and sell facebook page for textbooks). I ended up having to pay for access codes in order to do my online homework – access codes that cost ~$70 separately and came included with new textbooks anyways. Email your prof or talk to someone who has recently taken the class to find out if you need an access code. If you do, your best bet is to buy a new version of the textbook (unless you can get a seriously cheap used textbook).

Print off your timetable and find all of your classes before the first day → This helped me so much! I found exactly where all my classes were before the first day of class. I wrote down little tricks to help me remember where everything was (i.e. my calc lecture is in the arts and science building which is also where the only subway on campus is).

Don’t knock living at home to save money → If you’re lucky enough to have a college or university close to home at least consider living at home. Getting your own place or living in dorms is expensive. (But if you have to find off campus housing on your own, don’t leave it too late or you might not find a place)

Figure out the best way to take notes for each class → You have to customize the way you study for each class, all depending on the prof and the content. I hand-wrote notes for some classes (chem, calc, and physics), but not others (psych and bio). If you’re writing by hand you can always just annotate your textbook notes or lecture slides (if they’re posted before class). If you fall behind while taking notes, just leave a gap and check out a friend’s notes after class.

Adjust your expectations → Don’t expect to get straight A’s, like you might have in high school. You can strive for straight A’s but be realistic as time goes on. For classes I struggled with, I expected to be near the class average. If I was a lot lower than the class average then I would know to invest more time.

Make time for physical activity → If we’re being honest I hardly exercised during uni. Go for at least a half hour walk each day and try to start a physical activity routine. Get a friend and join a sports team, go to a fitness class, or commit to some form of a daily workout with them! You’ll feel bad bailing on someone else, plus working out is more fun with other people.

Review content throughout the semester → Reviewing little bits of content will save you a massive content review right before finals! Look through old notes while you wait for your daily coffee or take 15 minutes to watch some khan academy videos on stuff you learned in the first month of classes.

Think seriously about how much you can handle → Don’t take on too many responsibilities at once and consider all of your options! I worked weekends and some week nights throughout the school year. Looking back I should have worked less because my stress levels were way too high. Also, quite a few people I talked to took 4 classes instead of 5, for their first semester of university. I don’t think I would have done it, in the end, but it’s always something to consider.

Have fun but be responsible at parties → Always go to parties with people you trust!! If you didn’t do much partying/drinking during high school (like me), remember to pace yourself when drinking! Eat before you go out and have some water between each drink, till you find your limit. Don’t let yourself be peer-pressured into anything but also don’t be afraid to have fun! And check out if your uni has a safe walk program (someone will come and walk you back to your dorm or your car if you feel unsafe or nervous for any reason)

When procrastination hits, aim to be productive in some way → The only reason my biology mark was so high was because I would study biology whenever I got sick of studying for physics and calculus. If you know you need to study but just can’t do it, start by being productive in some other way – study a subject you do like, do your laundry, organize your study area, etc. Get your brain to start thinking productively.

Labs are difficult so be prepared → I had so many labs first year. Some tips: eat and hydrate before labs, never assume you can finish your prelab last minute, be nice to your lab partner, always remember lab safety (don’t be the person trying to wear shorts in the lab, TAs will not hesitate to kick you out), don’t rush through an experiment but be efficient, and ask for help (even if you feel like you’re bothering your TA).

Please go to bed early. Sleep affects everything → I was so dumb and would never go to bed early even though I had to be up at 6 am almost every day to catch the bus. Lack of sleep will catch up to you eventually!! Also, all nighters are not necessary, unless you make them necessary. I prioritized and never had to stay awake too late. And never pull an all nighter the night before an exam (you’re better off getting sleep and resting your brain).

Bring a water bottle everywhere → Buy a decent water bottle and always carry it with you. Even though my uni is small there are still tons of spots around campus where I can refill my water bottle!! Stay hydrated my friends!

A practice problem a day keeps the F away → This saying probably works best for science classes, but I guess a reading a day will get you somewhere too. Do something for every class each day, even if it’s just a practice problem or a quick reading. Develop a routine!

You’ll have lots of midterms → I was under the impression that midterms happened just once a semester (I thought I would have one week where I had a midterm for each class). That was not my reality. I had 2 or 3 midterms for each of my classes scattered throughout the semester. Study really hard for your first set of midterms till you get used to the high expectations!

Don’t worry about what other people are doing or thinking → This is mostly in regards to social media. I was bummed when I looked back on my first year of university, because I felt like I hadn’t done anything fun compared to other people. You only see the image that other people want you to see. You don’t know how hard someone worked or how hard they didn’t work. Just focus on you and how you can affect positive results in your life.

Other people literally don’t care about your appearance → My friend’s little sister visited campus and asked us “Why is everyone wearing sweatpants?” People literally don’t care. Dress nice and put lots of makeup on one day, because you feel like it, and wear sweats the next day.

Start essays and reports as soon as possible → You never know what might come up so be prepared for the worst! Outline your essay or graph your data as soon as you can.

Eat healthy and do meal prep → You can eat healthy during university! Set aside a couple of nights each week to do meal prep. Cook food in bulk to save money and don’t eat out too much. Try to have at least 1 serving of fruits or veggies with each meal or snack you eat!

Find a good study spot on campus → Explore your campus and figure out your favourite places to study. I had a couple of spots where I would always meet my friends to study and quiet spots where no one would bother me. Studying outside or in an area with natural light is always good.

Don’t be afraid to talk to your profs and TAs → This is the number one thing I’m going to try to do more of in my second year. TAs are chill to talk to and they can tell you tons of useful information on what upper year classes are like, which professors are good, why they chose to go to grad school, etc. If you’re struggling in lectures or labs, talk to your prof or TA! Make an appointment and be sure you can tell them exactly which concepts you’re struggling with or at least where you got lost. One of my profs told us he just waits hopefully during office hours for someone to come in. (Also profs love it if you ask them about their research or any topics they seem passionate about during lectures.)

Explore all the resources your university has to offer → My university has a program that is basically people bringing their dogs around for students to pet, in order to relieve stress. It actually works and gave me something to look forward to! Just be aware of your options so that if something in your life changes you know where you can go to ask for help.

Get a planner and utilize it → There’s no excuse not to have a planner of some sort. Use your phone, get a bullet journal, or buy a cheap planner. Have somewhere where you can record important deadlines and make to do lists. I also recommend back planning all of your studying at the beginning of the semester. Write down your midterms and finals dates and write down how much you’re going to study each day leading up to the exam. This way you’ll be able to look ahead at each month and figure out what needs to be done (i.e. getting an essay done early because the due date falls during a busy week of midterms)

This post ended up being a lot longer than I expected whoops. Take the things I said into consideration but remember that everyone’s experience will be different. Good luck to everyone heading to university!

My Other Posts:

AP lit tips

high school biology

organization tips

physics doesn’t have to suck: how to enjoy and do well in your required physics classes

recommended reads

reminders for myself

using your time wisely on public transport

what i learned from high school