#studying for a bio exam -> lots of memorization of information

[buggbuzz]

orgo 2 exam #3 tomorrow 😭😭 a little behind on studying but i still have time in the morning cause all i need to do really is the practice exam.

just wish i knew what's gonna be on the exam's reference sheet because theres like 25 complex reactions w/ unique reagents and rules i have to memorize on top of other stuff 💀

but considering i got a 79% on exam 2 with relatively similar study methods i should be okay!! i just want this to be over already 🙏

[woozisnoots]

modest jeon wonwoo

° pairing: wonwoo x reader ° genre: university!au, host club!au, fluff ° word count: ~1.7k ° warnings: none! ° a/n: this had no business being this long and idek if i like it lol but I want to specifically dedicate this piece to @wonwoosimp​​ bc she’s literally the sweetest, best bean in the world [insert uwu meme here] thank you for gifting me my very first photocard, I literally cried opening it! I love you so much, I hope you enjoy!

welcome to the svt host club!

masterlist!

you entered university with a certain goal, a purpose. eventually, you were going to be the pediatric surgeon that the 13 year old you ushered you to be.

…let's just hope the knowledge of your brain was enough to get you through the first four years of pre-med. with your 3.7 high school GPA, you were lucky to get into your first choice college, let alone your current major

from the start of the semester, you dedicated yourself to studying the anatomy and physiology of the body until you knew every nook and cranny there was to know. and the library was the perfect sanctuary to get your shit together

as much as you loved your roommates, their constant fights over closet space and boy toys gave you no peace of mind what-so-ever

bless the library for being opened 24/7. If your roommates found you sleeping on their only working desk, you would find yourself waking up to the sound of tripping freshmen trying to get to their first 8am class right in the middle of the hallway

but the lone table in the corner of the library just on the third floor did you good at staying focused. even provided some good naps in between every now and then

the day before your first anatomy test, you LOCKED yourself in the library. no one was going in OR OUT of the premise just to sit across from you on YOUR table until you fully memorized the different layers of epithelial tissue >:(

gosh, you even scattered all your notes across the table just so people got the memo that this seat was: [OFF LIMITS]

yes, off limits to everyone except a certain jeon wonwoo.

the way you met was abrupt to say the least

besides your table, you had a pretty good view of the entire campus — from the main health science building all the way to the student parking lot

and just below you, an astonishing sight of a mob of screaming girls chasing after a mouse guy in glasses. not to be inconsiderate and heartless, but unless you heard someone scream bloody murder, diving back into your flashcard you go

tissue after tissue, you start to get delusional because at this point, everything is starting to look the same

slumping down into your chair, you take a second to mentally recharge, drinking the water you’ve neglected for the past three hours

you time yourself for a five minute break, going through the notifications on your phone

before you could read your roommate’s ongoing ramble on the latest update of the “crazy good looking, god-like, elite host club that the university has to offer”

a ‘club’ that you didn’t even know anything about nor cared for

you hear a loud ‘thud’ coming from the bookcase in front of you

from the side the tall, lean guy with glasses that you saw earlier emerged with his hands gripping his tricep

you try not to draw too much attention to him. half the reason being you didn’t want to embarrass him by laughing at the fact he ran into a 10 feet tall bookcase

and you did not need this man distracting you. it’s your eight week streak being this productive, a new record for anything you’ve done in your entire life and your pride wouldn’t let you have it if you lost it just because you saw an attractive man on sight

you scribble down a decent guess to the tissue identification question that you’ve been stuck on for the past few minutes, not bothering to look up

“that’s actually dense connective tissue, not smooth”

jolting up from your seat, you look up realizing the guy 5 feet away is now right in front of your face looking down at all your papers

“you can tell because they’re striated”

you stare at him in disbelief wondering how he could have gotten so fast with just looking at it for a few seconds. eyeing him up and down, he definitely looked around the same age as you but he wasn’t someone you’ve seen around the science buildings. and you would know since you took the liberty of familiarizing almost everyone within the department

“do you mind if i sit here?” his hands already on the edge of the chair ready to pull it out from underneath him

“...yeah sure”

“oh i’m wonwoo by the way,” he says as you both exchange awkward stares and knowledgeable nods

okay well since he’s proven that he might be of help to you, you might as let him stay. from what you’ve gathered, he didn’t have any stuff on him aside from his phone that you watch him get out of his front pocket, getting ready to play pacman

forget how attractive he is, this guy has some brains.

for the rest of the day, as you guys sat across from each other, wonwoo would occasionally bounce back and forth between giving you study tips and playing whatever game he decides to play at that moment in time

he was surprisingly really good at this? he knew more things about the subject than your professors did, and that’s saying a lot. like you’ve been looking at cells for WEEKS and you were lucky to get at least half of them. which begs the question:

“how do you magically know all this?”

the blank expression on his face tells you he wasn’t expecting that question but he quickly shrugs it off. “i just know a few things from my parents that’s all”

you would have questioned him further but the time on your phone read “22:57” and you already broke your number rule about sleeping early before a big test

as you pack up all your stuff, wonwoo pushes his chair in, bidding you farewell

“good luck on your test tomorrow!”

you appreciate the gesture, mentally thanking him for his help and proceed to go back to your dorms, preparing yourself to tell your roommate all about the exciting? day you had

“YOU MORON. JEON WONWOO?”

laying flat on your back on your bed, you cover the bottom half of your face, quivering under your sheets as you stare at your roommate’s outrageous outburst

you explain what happened and who you met today at the library. when your roommate asked to describe him in more detail, all you said was that he was pretty smart for someone who wasn’t particularly in your major

your roommate lets out a loud scream into their pillow, gripping the bed sheets before giving you the earful of the century

“he’s just being modest. he’s a korean lit major but he’s one of the uni’s top students since both his parents are the head of the science department.

…AND he’s one of the most requested host club members. so you caught yourself one big fish today bud.”

top student? science department? HOST CLUB? none of that was processing in your brain. the one club that you wanted nothing to do with and you just happened to meet their top money maker

grand.

the thought didn’t keep you up at night only because you thought that today’s encounter was just coincidence and you probably would never have to see him again.

(sad though, your roommate was right. he is rather good looking.)

the time that it took for you to take your test the next day flew by so fast that you questioned if it even happened. the first step you took out the classroom, you start to second guess all your answers, regretting that you didn’t check a third or even fourth time before submitting

your train of thought halts when you see jeon wonwoo standing in the empty hallway

“i’m sure you aced it”

and just like in a netflix original romance movie, he reveals a bouquet of pink begonias from behind his back while shyly adjusting his glasses

“these are for you. to congratulate you”

weird way to phrase it but you were still gonna take the flowers. “host club tendencies?”

“so you found out?”

from a distance, you can hear the rushing footsteps from downstairs followed by a sense of purpose. “i think i was bound to” :/

you didn’t know how you felt about the current situation. you had no idea what host club was until you got here and you still don’t know what they even do. for all you knew, this could just be a gesture to get them more clients

but if his actions were genuine… you wouldn’t mind seeing him again

“i have to start learning muscles for our next exam. heard it was one of the hardest ones. i’m not sure if you have more studying tricks up your sleeve?”

“i might.” a cocking little grin now appearing on his face

“good. same place at the library tomorrow then. and this time? try not to bring your dedicated fans wherever you go”

so these study sessions continued. you guys occasionally had to change spots - from cafe to an empty bio lab - if the mob ever saw a single hair follicle that might be his

but each time, wonwoo brought something more just himself. one day it would be coffee, others days it would be food. things to keep you motivated.

for a korean lit major, he was taking a lot of time out of his day to help you, being attentive to all the strategies that help you study and such

possibly making your assumption from months back, true.

by the time finals rolled around, aside from the spursts of review here and there, study sessions became more casual. you didn’t feel the need to overwork our brain since you already knew all the information (something you actually learned from wonwoo himself)

possibly the last meeting you’d have with him was similar to your first: just you two together but him playing on his phone. and yet before the night ended

“i have a proposal.”

“i’m not giving you money for your dumb club.” bold of him to assume you would-

“no but i really appreciate the thought :)

why don’t we turn these study sessions into… study dates instead?”

:0

your assumption after 6 months later: finally confirmed

“but that’s only IF you ace your finals.”

well let’s just say at the very end, you had a successful first semester and are now one step closer towards being the surgeon of your dreams.

plus, you even landed yourself a pretty cool boyfriend in the process

let’s hope his parents put in a good word for you when you apply to med school!

[bearsfakedthemoonlanding]

STUDY ADVICE FROM A PRE-MED DROP OUT

1. if you have to write an essay and you don’t know where to start, make either a bullet list or a graphic organizer.  

in the list you’re just gonna start listing things you might say. not even nicely. never phrase it nicely, you’re wasting your own time. 

just throw words on paper, i’m talking:

“here’s where i’ll talk about how sloths don’t have lungs” 

“FIND SOME DATA ABOUT SLOTH LUNGS”

in the graphic organizer take a piece of paper and fold it up into a bunch of squares

each square is a box

each box is a different topic for your essay

throw your thoughts in the squares.

if you have to do a research paper/literature review here’s what you’re gonna do

open a word document

open your PDF files. yep, all of them.

going one file at a time, copy sentences you like from the articles.  

paste them into your word document.

slap some quotation marks around it so you remember to paraphrase later

cite it there and then. if you’re APA just (guy’s name, 2020) right there with the quote. if you’re another style... i dunno how you do things 

now you won’t have to go back and organize later

you can use the boxes/list ideas above to paste those sentences into proper categories. that way you know what you’re talking about when.

build the categories as you go

you’re welcome

2. when you just can’t. focus. 

this advice works specifically for me, and it works extremely well. i don’t know how other people’s brains work, but here’s what ya do:

find a song without words, or at least a song in a language you don’t understand

it’s gotta be high energy

peppy

and catchy as all fuck

put your headphones on 

i like headphones because they hug my skull and make everything feel chill and locked n loaded

don’t know the science behind that one

turn the music the fuck up. not all the way. you don’t want it to be so loud it hurts/is distracting, but you should not be able to hear anything else around you

not your fingers typing

not your roommates/family in the next room

not your roommates/family in the SAME ROOM

no intrusions 

put that song on repeat. endless. repeat. 

this has worked for me a few different ways

1. in undergrad i listened to track 5 from Mulan (the one where she cuts her hair off) and found it so motivational that anytime i snapped outta the focus state and thought about taking a break, my thoughts would go “bring honor to your family, study.” and we’d be right back into it 

2. also in undergrad during an art class that i HATED. i would put on a song i also hated. something so annoying.  classic was “the years start coming and they don’t start comin and they don’t start coming and they--” yknow from shrek? from youtube?  jesus christ. 

the rule was i could turn the song off when i finished the project

i could take all the breaks i wanted, but the song stayed on

hell. absolute hell. but it worked. 

3. brain rot. today i put on “DOTA” and typed for three solid hours. i normally can’t focus for more than twenty minutes. it’s a god send.

i tried super mario music, but there’s this really subtle static noise and some high pitched beeps in the background that make me feel like my brain is getting prodded 

but y’know, you do you.

3. if you have to memorize a lot of information really fast, write it out in a way that you can put a rhythm to and chant the fuck outta that 

i used to memorize 500+ bio notecards the night before the exam

i got A’s in bio. didn’t pay a lick of attention.

do i remember it now? fuck you. of course not. that’s rote memorization babeyyyy

this tip isn’t to learn, it’s to pass.

remember learning occurs in the concept, memorization occurs on the surface

[voidcat]

“the Hot Library Guy” –  Kuroo Tetsurou 

It’s your second year at uni and you’re taking biochemistry class.

Your prof is nice n very good but her exams are v hard, plus she’s so stern and it’s always her class in the morning (haha true story can u tell.)  You are late by 10 minutes or more? good bye 2 hours worth of class. Your gaze leaves her for a moment? better not b on the phone or good bye remaining of the class (STILL tru story, rip me)

So one day, you’re at the library studying, trying to memorize everything bc there’s just too much info to remember, so many details, clinic info, technical info and all that. At one point you huff out in exhaustion and throw your hands into the air in a “i give up” way. That’s when the guy sitting across you raises his head and asks if you need any help.

tbh you didnt even notice him until he spoke out but once you get a look at him, you’re done for! So all you can do is silently nod, bc what else can you do when a hot guy offers you the help you desperately need. you kinda wanna laugh at his ridicilous hair tho, but the rest of him? hallelujah!

He gets up to stand right beside you, leaning over you to get a look at your notes and asks you which parts you’re having trouble with. His way of explaining is very good, to your surprise. Any chem/biochem teacher you’ve had in the past? bye y’all i’ve just found someone better, hot, around my age and hopefully available.

He even comes up with few lame puns, jokes and outdated pop culture references to keep complicated stuff in mind. Once in a while you two brush hands, usually when he reaches out to turn the page or point at something. Since you’re at a library he speaks in a low tone and to make sure you hear him, he usually whispers speaks right besides your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. your brain? short circuited y/n.exe has stopped working

before you two can start a new topic, your phone vibrates; your roommate saying they got take out for the both of you, telling you to hurry or they’ll eat yours. Knowing that’s no joke, you pack your stuff hurriedly and go, thanking him in a rush. You’re about to enter your room, you realize you didnt ask for his name.

this results in going to the library more often, actually putting on nice clothes that compliments your figure and just a tint of make up once in a while…. secretly hoping he shows up again… so you sit at the same spot every time you go. Luck seems to be on your side sometimes because you see him few more times! He guesses who your prof is from the way you took your notes and gives you some tips for the upcoming exams.

You always get too caught up admiring him that you!! keep!! forgetting!! to ask!! for his name!!!! or number!!! and so ends your year without getting the name, number or at least the major of the hot library guy…… which sucks big time because the tips he gave you worked well, you got a very high grade and wanted to celebrate this with him on a night out 

Summer passes and third year!!! Hello again morning bio chem classes :/// Your prof announces she has a new assitant for that year. Literally no one cares bc the prev one was uptight af to please her. She informs you the new one will have an active part in your lab classes just like the last one and you all should go to them for any question that’s about exams or assignmens instead of “bothering” her.

And so ends that class and days go, without seeing the hot library guy… With each passing minute, you have less and less hope of seeing him again,, F

It’s time for first bio chem lab of the year! You arrive one minute before the class start, or so you though. You arrive in a hurry, only to see everyone else waiting outside the lab… the new assistant must’ve been late, you think. You use the extra heads up to put on your lab coat and suddenly hear an awfully familiar voice right besides your ear, you swear there’s a purr hidden between the words: “Hello stranger, fancy seeing you here~”

You don’t even need to turn your head to see him. But you do bc there’s no way you’ll pass up the opportunity to admire the wonder of nature that is him. But you must have calculated the distance between the two of you wrong; bc here you are, almost nose-to-nose with the hot library guy. He’s practically leaning over you, to be on your eye level obv, im short let me have this There’s a smirk dancing on his kissable lips and you can feel his breathing on yours.

Suddenly the future bio chem labs seem a lot more promising.

this one goes to @wordswithinmoments bc i was supposedly studying biochem and we got distracted lmao...

I’m not exactly content with this so there’s a high chance I’ll write it in the form of a fic too

[tiredbiostudent]

Do you have any tips on how to best study biology??

disclaimer I am the absolute worst person to ask about this but:

↠ really depends on the area. for cell bio/genetics/small scale stuff (not my forte at all sfdfsddsk), I would say it’s really important to understand how processes (e.g. cell respiration) work. there’s usually an obnoxious amount of genes, proteins, etc. with painfully similar names so I would also work on making sure you can distinguish which factors operate in which pathways. honestly I find this material really hard and usually overwhelming, but some ways to study could be trying to draw out a cycle or pathway from memory until you have it down, flashcards w protein/gene/etc names, stuff like that.

↠ for things like ecology (which. don’t @ me but is often just a lot of common sense) it might be more memorization based. usually a lot of hierarchies and patterns and things like that, so mind maps might be a good way to synthesize information across multiple topics? really exposing myself here but I have like. never studied for an ecology exam in my life so I can’t offer solid advice on this one sdfjkjdsffjdskj 

↠ for classes like animal diversity/zoology, I found it helpful to create sheets for each phyla/group/etc. with all the key synapomorphies or distinguishing traits and important info- I would say the tricky part of these classes is keeping all the information straight, bc it’s super easy to mix up characteristics between groups (especially w the worm phyla do not get me started). cue cards also worked well! creating tables of main characteristics like tissue level, type of reproduction, symmetry, etc. including all the groups was really effective to organize everything. creating cladograms w key synapomorphies/transitions for each progressing group also helped! lastly I would recommend trying to relate each phyla etc. you learn to animals you know in real life- helps you retain it and also if you’re stuck on a test and can’t remember if like, amphibians have scales or not, you can just think well every frog I know has moist skin so that ain’t it, yk?

↠ for evolution-based classes: really have a good understanding of evolutionary processes and concepts! focus on comprehending the logic behind each theory.  then after you’ve gone over those, relate examples etc. to each of them. also make sure you know how cladograms work (e.g. how to construct one; which two species are most closely related), and memorize the different terms (e.g. plesiomorphy, homology vs. homoplasy, random genetic drift, types of mutations). also try to synthesize the molecular concepts with overarching evolutionary theories- e.g. what kind of mutations or genetic dominance could result in this evolution occurring in this species? if all else fails answer w Darwin, 9 times out of 10 he’s involved somehow.

↠ for courses on plants: know alternation of generations inside OUT. having said that no I still don’t know exactly how it works jdfsdfskhfskd

hope this helped! sorry for having awful studying advice, it’s only because I am awful at studying ‘:) but if you have anymore specific questions I am happy to help out my baby bio students

[janenguyenstudies]

What I think Biotech freshmen should learn during your first year at IU

So my first year has finally ended. The curriculum for freshman year is pre-determined by the Office of Academics so I did not have a chance to change the schedule. I took about 7 subjects each semester, with a total of 2 semesters. If you do not have to take IE1 and IE2 classes, you can “jump” directly into the main curriculum. So in my first year I took: Calculus 1&2, Physics 1&2, General Biology and Chemistry plus 2 Bio and Chem labs, Organic Chemistry, Academic English 1&2 (Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening), Critical Thinking, Introduction to Biotechnology, P.E. It’s a relief that I could work through the courses although I was not excelling at STEM subjects in highschool. But college taught me all the amazing skills to study on my own and discover knowledge for my self-growth. Apart from schoolwork, I think any Biotech freshmen should also keep an eye on learning other extra skills of a scientist/professional, which I will list below. Do not worry because a year ago I entered this school while being a completely blank state, having seen so many of my friends succeeded in getting scholarships, leading extracurricular activities,... I felt hopeless sometimes but I believe in grinding one step at a time until I could accomplish the job. So my general experience boils down to being humble and let others teach you the skills, then practice slowly but firmly. You will be able to grow so much faster. And do not compare yourself with others’ success stories because everyone has their strengths and their own clock.

These are the lists of skills I have learnt and will continue to improve in the future. I will be expanding and giving more details about each point. This is in no chronological order:

 - Learn to make a positive affirmations/ orienting articles book: 

            During your whole college career, you will have a lot of moments of self-doubt, for example when your grades are not good, you've failed some classes, your part-time job application got turned down too many times (trust me I am so familiar with such rejections), some experiments got messy and returned no results, you wonder what your future in the field would look like. These are all scenarios that have happened to me in freshman year. 

Therefore, I have found a way to cope with self-doubt and boost my confidence, which is to make a collection of positive affirmations and orienting articles. I would form an imagined overview of my own career path reading all these writings and finally came to recording my own path . I use all forms of note-jotting tools to record them. I tend to record 1) Experience snippets from influencing scientists in my field, whom I happen to follow on Facebook 2) Lists of “What college kids need to practice before they graduate” (Dr.Le Tham Duong 's Facebook) 3) Ybox 's Shared tips for career orientation column (Link) 4) Short paragraphs from the books that I have read. The paragraphs often contain insights into what successful people (in Biotech or in Finance) have thought, have planned, and have acted on. For digital copy of the books, I save the snippets into a file called "Clippings" and later export them through the website called clippings.io

- Have an online note-taking tools for jotting down important thinking (recommend Keep or Evernote for quick jot, while Onenote is more suitable for recording lectures thanks to its structure that resembles a binder)

A snippet of my Evernote, where I store career advice:

- Learn to do research properly (what is a journal, what is a citation management software, what is the structure of a paper[abstract, introduction, methods, data analysis, discussion, conclusion], poster, conferences). You can begin to search for academic papers using Google Scholar scholar.google.com. However, there are countless of other websites for published journals that serve different sience fields. You need to dig into Google further to find them.

- Learn to write essays (basic tasks are covered in Writing AE courses including brainstorming, reading, citings, argumentative essay, process essay, preparing thesis statement)

- Join a lab: learn the safety guidelines, learn who is in control of the lab, what researches/projects are being carried there). As for this, you need to make contact with professors from our department. Most professors here are friendly and willing to help if you just come up and ask a question after class. To be eligible to join their labs,  - Learn to write a proper email to a professor: to ask for what will be on the next test, whether you can be a volunteer in their lab (usually by cold-email, and the professor will likely ask for your background: your highschool grades, your motivation,...); write email to an employer asking for a temporary position. - Learn to write a meeting minute: a sum-up of your meeting with other team members - Learn to answer basic questions for a volunteer opportunity: what is your strength, what is your past experience, what do you know about us, what is your free-time - Learn to write a CV: using topcv,... or downloading free templates on the Internet and write a motivation letter: What you are currently doing, what problems have you solved for your employers, and what can you do to help your new employers solve their problems.

- Learn to create an attractive presentation by using Canvas and learn to deliver ideas effectively (recommended book Think on your feet [Lib 1]).

I have discovered Canvas only for a year, but its graphics are so attractive and appealing to my taste, so here is my presentation for Finals using Canvas:

- Learn a programming language or a second language: recommend Python or R, and any foreign language that you feel interested in, but your ultimate goal would be to comfortably use that language in academic reading and exchanging ideas through writing and speaking (which is a long journey of 4+ years learning), so choose wisely. - Learn to create an online presence through a blog (Tumblr, Wordpress, Github, StackExchange,...), stalk your favorite experts on Quora and Reddit, make a habit to have a journal article delivered to your inbox every morning (me being Medium, Pocket, Nature); then Instagram or YouTube - Recommended books for incomming freshmen: How to be a straight-A student, Do not eat alone (socializing skills) - Recommended Medium sites: - Recommended Newspapers: The Economist, The Guardian, The New York Times Opinions Columns, Nature’s columns, The Scientific American. - Recommended Youtube Channels:  - Recommended Podcasts: listen passively on the bus, but try to paraphrase in your own words what you have understood about their conversation: - Recommended study spots: Den Da Coffeeshop, The Coffeehouse, Library of [...] in District 1, Central Library (Thu Duc District), IU Library.

- Learn the Pomodoro technique and Forest app: - Important websites for study resources: libgen, khanacademy, Coursehero (post only a short paragraph to get 1 free upload), scripd organic chemistry tutor, for jobs: ybox.vn - If your laptop is capable (with decent hardware), learn Adobe Tools (Video editing, Photoshop,...). My laptop can only run Linux Mint, so I chose to learn the skill of citation management and research (using less resource). Basically do not become computer-illiterate. - To reduce eye-strain, buy an e-reader to read scientific papers, do not print out all of them. - One exception to IU: you can bring one two-sided A4 paper into certain exams: this is my note for Calculus class:

- Learn to write a grand summary of formulas for Physics 2, meta-sum of all exercise questions - Prepare for IELTS (if you haven't taken IELTS already): you'll need it to pass IE classes, or apply for an exchange program. Ultimately, you need at least 6.0 in IELTS to graduate. I stumbled upon this careful list of tips from a senior student in our BT department who got an 8.0 => Link

Basically, follow Ngoc Bach’s page on Facebook to receive fully-solved exam materials, add ielts-simon.com into the mix, learn 560 academic word list, listen to Ted Talk and podcasts, do tests on ieltsonlinetests.com, do Cambridge IELTS book 9-14 and you’re good to go. - Have your eyes on competitions that spark your interest (innovative competition, writing contests, speaking and debating contests,...)

- Develop your fitness routine to protect your sanity when academic coursework overwhelm you and make you gain 15 pounds.

I do home HIIT exercises on Fitness Blender’s Youtube channel, Emi Wong, Chloe Ting home workouts in the beginning. 

Later I went to the gym and do split routines with weights, then threw in squats, deadlifts, lunges and HIIT on treadmill. This is how my current routine look like: (I work out only 4 times/week)

- Learn to use flashcards. (Quizlet has premade flashcards for biology class)

- Learn to manage personal finance: what is budget, expenses, income,... - Learn some google tweaks to pirate stuff. (especially textbook files and solutions files) - Learn to make handwritten A4 notes. I will post my own handwritten notes for Critical Thinking Mid (final is taken), Calculus II Mid and Final. - Learn to create meta sets for formulas and problems. I will post my formula set for Physics II and Problem/Skill set for Organic Chemistry. For Physics II, I learned my hard lesson is that it is better to do past exams than to solve advance textbook problems, so I stuck with past exams posted by TA and learnt by heart all the formulas, SI units. For Organic Chemistry you need a skillset checklist (like in the Wade textbook). Also there are questions from the slides such as the connection of amylopectin,... But they won't challenge you to think much. Only the amount of information to be memorized is deemed challenging here. - Intro to Biotech was quite easy and you could prepare in advance. 3 faculty members (from 3 fields: plant, animal, pharma) will take turn giving you an overview lecture. The exam will ask “Write what you know about those fields and their applications”, openbook-style. So hear me out and search for Overview powerpoints of that field, then write your own essay, print it out and bring it with you into the exam. Your power should be spent on Calculus and Physics, not on memorizing the essay.

[biopsychs]

I love microbiology but it is a difficult class and is made even more difficult when you have a bad prof. I started this post after I took an introduction to microbiology class but waited to finish it until I completed an upper year microbiology class this past semester. This way I can also provide insight and tips on what will help you not only in the class but also how to make sure you are prepared for upper year classes.

Topics you may cover in your intro microbio class:

History of microbiology

Microbial taxonomy (naming and classification)

Microscopy and specimen preparation

Prokaryotic cell structure and function

Microbial nutrition and growth

Control of microorganisms by chemical and physical agents

Microbial metabolism (including energy, enzymes, regulation, chemosynthesis, photosynthesis, and biosynthesis)

Microbial genetics (including replication, mutation,  gene expression, gene regulation, recombination, plasmids, etc.)

Virology

Immunology

And areas of/related to microbiology you may explore in upper classes may include: environmental microbiology, food and industrial microbiology, immunology, medical microbiology, molecular genetics, prokaryotic physiology, virology, and more!

Tip #1: Understand new material at the end of every week

Microbiology is a content heavy course. Even if you’re busy with other classes and responsibilities, do a thorough review of new content you’ve learned over the past week. Give yourself time to get help/go to office hours in case you don’t understand a concept (you can’t do this if you leave studying till the last minute).

Tip #2: Know the names of important microorganisms

This all depends on your prof. I had an insane prof who wanted us to know the names of every single microbe he mentioned in passing, but this shouldn’t be the case for everyone. The prof for my upper level microbiology class provided bonus marks if we could state the specific genus of a microorganism in any of our examples on the final exam. If you can, talk to students who have taken the class before for more insight.

Regardless, make sure you know the species, genus, etc. of microbes that your prof spent a significant amount of time talking about or ones that come up more than once.

Tip #3: Pay attention when you’re learning about metabolism

I say this for two reasons: (1) Metabolism is a difficult topic to understand and (2) It will benefit you to have a good understanding of metabolism now. Metabolism covers a wide range of ideas and concepts -- having a good understanding will help you in upper level bio/biochem classes and will help you link ideas together.

Tip #4: Study the material in different ways

Revise your notes in a variety of ways. I prefer to type my notes and write them out after class. Typing allows me to get all the info down, I can insert diagrams from lecture slides as I go, and leaves me with a detailed study guide to use when I’m studying for finals (I also add material from the textbook not covered in lectures to my typed notes after class). Writing out my notes afterwards reinforces the material, allows me to shorten my notes to the important stuff (e.g. I only draw necessary diagrams), and allows me to reorganize the material (e.g. make acronyms, put the info into a table, compare and contrast 2 concepts like cellular respiration and photosynthesis).

You can also use other methods to study such as flashcards, mind maps, read the material out loud, etc. Only use a method if it actually works for you -- for example, lots of people use flashcards to study but I rarely use them.

Another really good way to study is to make a practice test or at least think about how your prof will test certain concepts. This is a really helpful strategy for preparing for multiple choice and written questions.

Tip #5: Study with friends

This also ties into the idea of thoroughly learning new material at the end of every week. Plan a weekly study session or talk to your friends and hold each other accountable for staying on top of things.

I usually just met with one or two of my friends before each midterm. We would find a room with a whiteboard and spend an entire afternoon going over our notes together. I had other friends who would meet at least once a week and review the past week’s material together.

Tip #6: Draw it out

I personally love using whiteboards to study and would definitely recommend buying your own. If you don’t have one though, find an empty classroom with a whiteboard or just draw it out on a blank page. Don’t draw out every diagram you have available to you -- find the most useful ones! I like to draw out a process and then write down the description of the process side by side.

I also like to combine diagrams that I find useful. Drawing diagrams also works if you’re trying to compare and contrast processes. Having all the info laid out in one place can help you see what is truly similar or different, rather than trying to memorize the processes as separate things.

For example, I had a few different diagrams for photosynthesis in my notes. Instead of studying them separately I combined them together so I had all the info in one place.

Tip #7: Utilize all the resources available to you

Ask questions! Go to office hours! Most profs are happy to help meeting with them one-on-one really ensures you are getting a good understanding.

You can also ask your lab TA for clarification on concepts, because often the content you cover in labs is tied to content covered in lectures. My TA heard us all complaining about how our prof did not properly explain a difficult concept. So, she did a quick search and found the name of a youtube channel she remembered learning from in her undergrad.

As well, if the textbook for your class proves to be useful then actually use it! I like to read over the textbook chapter before class because then I can focus on understanding the fine details during lecture. (I’ve also compiled some online useful books and online resources at the bottom of this post for you to check out.)

Advice specifically for labs:

Use aseptic technique! Wash your hands, work close to the flame, etc. If you’re not sure about something, wait and ask your TA. And try not to spill anything. Someone in my lab spilled a tube of E.coli broth on their lab notebook which then had to be autoclaved, which meant they had to buy a new notebook.

DON’T FORGET TO FLAME THE LOOP!!

Even though you’ll be working in partners make sure you can do everything on your own. It might be easier to have your partner hold a piece of equipment while you do something else but it won’t help you when you’re doing the same work alone during a lab exam or as a research assistant.

Make sure you can do a Gram stain properly. If you can’t do a proper Gram stain consistently you can ask your TA if you can practice on a few slides or have them watch you do a Gram stain to correct any mistakes you’re making.

Be specific when answering questions. Your TA wants to make sure you know exactly what you’re doing. Also, write down the full name (species + genus) of the microorganism you’re working with the first time you mention it and then feel free to use the abbreviated form after (i.e. write down Escherichia coli first but refer to it as E.coli thereafter)

Listen and be safe. Your TA will probably stress safety a lot but make sure you pay attention if they tell you need to take certain precautions with certain microorganisms (especially where to dispose certain samples).

Have fun! My favourite memory of the lab was when we were looking at samples we had prepared from soil the week prior. Everyone was comparing the fungi that had grown in their petri dishes and trying to see who had the most “fuzzy” sample.

Plan your time well. Read through your prelab carefully and make note of tasks that may take up more time (waiting for molten agar to cool, waiting for a sample to dry so you can heat fix the slide, etc.).

Label everything! You really don’t want to forget which test tube contains which organism or which tube is which when performing a serial dilution

Tie in things you do in the lab to things you’ve learned in lectures. You’ll make lecture material more interesting and you might learn different applications of what you’re doing in the lab.

At the end of the lab: Dispose of your materials in the proper waste bins! Wipe down your lab bench! Wash your hands!

Microbiology resources:

Some books related to microbiology/cell biology (note: these books aren’t meant as study materials but discuss some really interesting topics related to microbiology): The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Young, Microbe Hunters by Paul de Kruif, Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling Our Modern Plague by Martin Blaser, and Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic by David Quammen.

For my class I used Prescott’s Microbiology ( Willey, Joanne M., Sherwood, Linda M., Woolverton, Christopher J.; 8/e) and A Photographic Atlas for the Microbiology Laboratory (Leboffe, M.J. and Pierce, B.E.)

For online resources I will always recommend Khan Academy. I found they didn’t have everything I needed for this class specifically but the topics they did cover were explained well.

Wikipedia! I’ve had multiple profs this year tell me to use Wikipedia. Please don’t go citing Wikipedia in any of your lab reports (but you can look at their references at the bottom of page to find more info). Wikipedia is good for finding up to date information, especially for information related to microbial taxonomy.

Some Youtube channels that have helpful videos include: Armando Hasudungan, Bozeman Science, Crash Course (also I’m pretty sure there’s a song about the Krebs Cycle out there)

Check out my other posts here!

[acadeamic]

Hi, una! (What a great name btw!!) I was looking through your posts and (I hope this isn't creepy lol sorry!) I noticed you're taking AP bio - I'm taking that class too! I'm like, super not doing well in that class and I was wondering if you had any advice/tips/resources on how you study for ap bio. Sorry if this comes across as stalkerish lol I'm just really struggling in that class rn. Thanks so much! 💛

hi anon!

first off, thank you so much!! you are SO sweet:') dw, it's not creepy at all, i don't mind a bit! it's why that info is there, hehe

as for AP bio, i can't say it's my BEST class, but i do have some tips & methods for both studying & exam-taking, which is how i'm going to split my answer here!

for general studying

focus on big ideas! my teacher often stressed which things the exam prioritized, and told us which things always showed up on the exam vs. what you only need to know a little bit of. as a general rule, i'd say make sure you know the basic concepts, even if you can't remember specific things.

don't rely too heavily on the textbook. there's a lot of information in there, which can be hard to absorb. not all that information is essential, either. if you have access to it, i would use the princeton review or the 5 steps to a 5 books. they're a lot more compact, succinct, and easier to study from.

find good ways to remember things! my teacher sometimes made these semi-elaborate stories that would help us conceptualize or remember particular processes. for example: the action-potential graph and process was given to us as a potassium party, with the sodium-potassium pump being the bouncer that only let in potassium up until a certain voltage, and so on. it's a bit simplistic, but i swear it works! another thing she did was have us make cutouts to explain the DNA to RNA process, so that we could act it out with the paper shapes. you may want to ask your teacher or someone who knows about bio to share one of these methods if they have one, or search it up online as something like "easy ways to remember [xyz]".

some things you really will just have to memorize. for example: the types of reproducive isolation. for me, what works best is note-taking and flashcards. i like to write things repeatedly until they stick, with intervals in between to see how much i can name & describe at the top of my head. there are other ways to go about plain memorization, but this is what works for me and it's nice to be able to look back at what i've written before tests to study!

albert.io has TONS of AP bio MCQs and FRQs. i would definitely take advantage of this resource if you can. the quantity of questions can be a bit overwhelming, so don't start from the beginning but rather where you need the most practice (albert also has practice questions for tons of other courses too, AP or non-AP, so check that out if you're interested!)

personally what i like to do before tests and some exams is, as i kind of said, rewriting my notes. not in as much detail, but key ideas, concepts or diagrams that i feel are important or are things that faded from my mind throughout the year and that i now have to relearn.

ASK FOR HELP! if you have any resource centers at your school, go to them! if what your AP bio teacher is saying doesn't click with you, try someone else with some teaching experience! watching videos and taking notes are great, but sometimes you just need another human being to give you some one-on-one help and explanations for things you're confused about. if you don't have some kind of science help center at your school, i would ask your peers! if there's something you don't understand, most students really don't mind taking 5-10 minutes to run through something with you.

for taking the exam

the AP bio exam is a reading exam as well a science exam. oftentimes you don't have to know exactly what's going on in order to get the right answer. things like drawing graphs in the FRQ or making educated guesses based on word choice in the MCQ are things you can do w/o remembering specific details. figure out what the question is asking first without worrying about the knowledge you have! for example: an MCQ may be about the ethics of a certain medical procedure. one answer choice will probably start with "should.... [xyz]" as opposed to "can/how does [xyz]" and you can immediately rule out the others because of the word choice, which is factual and not theoretical, without knowing exactly what the biology-related information behind the question is.

in the middle of the MCQ, they're going to have a LONG stretch of questions based off of a (series of) graph(s). they do this because it's where you're probably getting tired. you'll be burned out, and you'll want to either rush through it, or you'll be frustrated bc it's so long. LEAVE THOSE. skim through it and answer what you know, but if there's something that currently looks too unappealing, then circle it and come back. once you're done, you can come back to it with a set of fresh eyes and you'll often notice that they were less complicated than you initially thought.

on a similar note, don't be afraid to skip questions to come back to them. if it's taking you more than a few seconds the first time around and/or you have no idea what the question's about, circle it and move on. get as many questions bubbled in before going back and spending a bit more time on the questions you weren't sure about. again, you may be surprised to find that it wasn't too complicated after all. if you're feeling tired of MCQs in general, skip to the math portion at the end! do those, it's a different structure than the MCQ (which is the bulk of the section) and it may clear your mind a little bit.

for the FRQ, again, it's a reading exam. never leave a question unanswered. if you remember vaguely what they're referring to in the question, try and get down a sentence with some key words. the grading rubric doesn't care about eloquency, but about the relevance of the words you put on paper.

some FRQs are meant to be shorter and more detailed than the others. the first two questions are worth 10 points each and take more time to complete. if you're not sure, just draw the graph they ask you to and move on for now. the other questions are worth 3, 4 maybe 5 points? get through those and DON'T spend too much time writing for them. those often only require, like, 2 sentences. save your time!!

i hope this was at least somewhat helpful! good luck, anon, lmk how it goes💓

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

I did my best to put it in some kind of order but it got messy and I'm helpless about what I should write even after having read the FAQ and more than 20 pages of your posts so bear with me, please. The more I studied the functions, the less I know. So I'm really annoyed when people do things in a certain way because that's how it was done - there's nothing wrong with sticking to tried ways but everyone should think why they do it instead of mindlessly following a set path. (1/???)

A note to readers: if I may ask, please hold back your own sarcasm and such.

I don’t explicitly set a length limit anywhere for asks as most people stop at a fairly reasonable 5 or 6 - I’ve gotten extremely long asks only a few other times and those were mostly overnight for me so I didn’t get to weigh in in medias res, so while this person definitely needs to work on editing there’s some good content. Had there been anything egregiously offensive, ignorant, or annoying I’d have been much more brusque or I’d just have blocked them; this was a genuine misread of the situation. It’s really hard for me to define what’s good to send for typing; it’s very much a case of knowing it when I see it and I know that can be difficult for some people to interpret. Answer is below the jump.

Hi anon,

I may have had some mild fun at your expense; when I see someone is 10 messages deep and talking about Mamma Mia I have to say I have concerns about their ability to decide what is relevant information.

Anyway I’m going to answer this piece by piece. This will not be my, uh, least snarky answer; the cost of doing business of mbti typing with me for no money is that I like to enjoy myself. But I will attempt to also provide a good faith answer as you have some solid examples within all this.

I did my best to put it in some kind of order but it got messy and I'm helpless about what I should write even after having read the FAQ and more than 20 pages of your posts so bear with me, please.

As you can see I will not really bear with you but I do appreciate you doing some research

The more I studied the functions, the less I know. So I'm really annoyed when people do things in a certain way because that's how it was done - there's nothing wrong with sticking to tried ways but everyone should think why they do it instead of mindlessly following a set path. (1/???)

I feel like people use this sort of language to be like “please don’t type me as a high Si user” when in fact this is EXTREMELY high healthy Si user. Thought it could be a lower Si user as well. Anyway, moving on

For example, it's sad how many people believe in God just because thats how they were raised without actually reading the Bible (no hard feelings to believers, I also believe)

I’m...not going to unpack that

I like to speak out loud some ideas with no thoughts of acting on them but some people tend to believe I'm dead set on the idea and it causes some misunderstandings. Also, I have at least 6 back up plans for my future in case some of them won't fly. (2/???)

Here’s the deal when people say they’ve studied EVERYTHING and then ramble on for a long time and can’t type themselves I often suspect the issue isn’t that they don’t know MBTI but that they need to learn themselves. Contingency plans tend to be Ne-Si; speaking out loud with no plans to act is pretty normal.

I plan on going to a country abroad in 2 years from now and I've already made plans what I want to see there. I have a list of places I need to visit arranged in order so I could visit as many places in the most effective way because I don't want to waste my precious time spend there. I also enjoy telling people about my plans of going there as it makes me really excited. The unknown excites me and I enjoy wandering around a city I visit for the first time because I don't know it.

I can’t type off of this specifically yet but it’s interesting because you have extremely detailed plans (more of a sensing thing) but for a trip that I can’t imagine you’ve finalized if it’s that far off.

Wandering around cities is great though, I agree with you there.

I'm also really good at remembering routes and getting to the destination. I like figuring out how to get there.

Maybe immature Si user actually? Getting really indignant about poor use of Si, plus that bit about the bible I said I wouldn’t unpack sounds like it could be as well especially if paired with Fe and/or Christian views of religion.

I'm a bit reserved at first as I need to test the waters before I decide I like someone. It takes me sometime to warm up but I actually enjoy small talk and feel tempted to speak to a cashier at shop or a fellow passenger at bus which isn't as socially acceptable at my country so I don't really do this - I don't want to come across as a weird person but at the same time, (4/???)

I'm not really bothered to play a social game and I often seem to be rude (resting bitch face, actually I'm not judgmental and I'm quite chill about most of things). I know in mbti e vs i isn't perceived in a traditional way but I identify as ambivert as most of people, heh. My introverted friends say I'm an extravert but extraverts find me a quiet girl. I'm also 9w1 if that helps.

Yeah I’m thinking ISFJ now honestly, not wanting to violate social norms, introverted but enjoys small talk, and 9w1 goes with ISFJ a lot.

I've been also always thought to be a smart one who knows a lot of stuff about many things (5/???)

I could say I'm a walking contradiction as I mentioned in my previous post btw I'm sorry I asked you to type me with a vague info, this time I put a lot of effort ♡ Oh god please don’t say you’re a walking contradiction, I truly believe your intentions are good here and I do not hold this against you but that phrase is what guys who think they’re going to make it in a band despite having no talent say in their tinder bios.

At first I was sure I'm Ne/Si but now I see a possibility of being Ni/Se.I often forget what I'm supposed to do as I've just done because I had this super relevant thing to write but I forgot, damn it.

You seem very nice and perhaps just sort of young so I would suggest...writing this in advance instead of stream of consciousness which might help you organize your thoughts and edit yourself a little? I’m writing this response in advance. Like 90% of my answers I write in a Google Doc and then paste it into the Tumblr askbox later. It’s great.

(6/???) I'm getting lost in the numbers

Hard same.

I'm also quite stubborn and I'll study a thing as long as it's needed for me to fully understand it - it drives me crazy when I study for an exam, I ask my friend for help because I don't understand the concept and she tells me I don't need to understand it, I just need to memorize it.

Sounds very much like Ti here, which fits the earlier typing of Fe-user.

I do things for 101% or I don't do it at all.

I’m guilty of saying this too; I think many people see this quality in themselves unfortunately and I’m not sure it ultimately means much.

I also have a friend who helps me to stay grounded as she remembers some stuff for me and I'm pretty sure I'll be lost without her (7/???) I didn't think I wrotesomuch

yeah...about that.

I'm quite oblivious on daily basis, I went through school hallway and didn't notice a big ballot box. I only notice things when i want to and it's not a natural thing for me. But when I do pay attention, I'm sometimes mischievous on purpose and enjoy pushing buttons of others. I work on not doing it, I promiseI have a great talent to focusing on irrelevant things and I struggle to do well in my infp teacher classes - even though I know I need a shitload of details from readings (8/???)

So here’s the thing: I really don’t think you use Ni. First of all, the stream of consciousness thing tends to be something Ni users don’t like to do in my experience: they like to edit. They also just...don’t sound the way you do? Like this is rambly but it’s coherent in a way an INFJ ramble of this nature wouldn’t be. You could be an INTP actually with rigid low Si and Fe instead of immature higher Si though. But I’m pretty confident at this point you use the Fe-Ti and Ne-Si axes.

One thing I do find funny, even though I suppose I set people up for it, is when I get asks that are like “here is the detailed description of when I didn’t notice a detail and here is what I didn’t notice”. Like, we do all miss things and while it’s more common in intuitives, my legally-blind-without-glasses Si-dom mother does this too because she can’t see for shit, so.

to do well in exam, I always choose things that aren't relevant to her. She's an excellent teacher and I enjoy her insights. As for Ni/Se, I'm amazed how many things my peers do without thinking about consequences. For example, I wouldn't drink till I'm unconscious because I know I would upset my parents. I perceived it as ni, might be wrong though.

You are wrong in that this isn’t Ni, it’s called basic self-preservation. I’ve gotten extremely drunk from time to time in my life but I have never gotten drunk to the point of involuntary passing out because that is when you fucking die. Your instincts are correct here, your reasoning about your parents is probably Fe, but your decision itself is not Ni.

(9/???) Now, I'm geniually sorry I wrote so much even though I'm not usually but this case is special

I appreciate the apology but this is something I often observe with people who use Fe: they’ll apologize several timesfor long asks or asks that ignore the FAQ or whatever, but like, they still do it. I’ve had to have this conversation IRL with Fe users actually, of “I’m really not looking for an apology, I’m looking for the thing you’ve apologized for to stop.” That is a whole other post about communication though that I may make tomorrow.

I'm also really into helping others[(what contradicts with my mischief, here we go again (I didn't like the 2nd part of mamma Mia as much as the first - it was too sad, I cried in the cinema and the holiday-happy-vibe was missing, it's off topic, isnt it, the second part is called mamma mia: here we go again and I liked the first part so much I watched it like 20 times and know all the songs by heart)] (10/???)

This was the point where I decided to start fucking with you and to turn off anon, not going to lie, because I hadn’t read the rest but I saw 10/??? after an off-topic post about Mamma Mia and was like “okay we’re going to finish it now”

Anyway from this whole thing I cannot decide if you are an ISFJ or INTP, but I’m going to guess INTP as the 9w1 might be what was making me think high Fe before.

[philomathstudies]

Introduction: Hi! I’m Annie, I recently graduated as valedictorian of a class of almost 700, and I’m about to be a freshman at Johns Hopkins (go blue jays!!). High school was some of the best and worst moments of my life, and looking back, there are so many things that I wish I’d done and things that made me successful, so I wanted to share them! Of course, disclaimer, these tips may not apply to everyone!

(These tips generally apply to all classes, but if you have a specific subject you want tips on, I’ve taken these AP courses: european history, world history, us gov’t, macroeconomics, lang, lit, calc ab, chemistry, physics 1, physics c, environmental science, art: drawing, biology, human geography, chinese, and art history. Feel free to message me!)

College applications are a crapshoot- I can’t begin to tell you the number of incredible, brilliant people with extraordinary, international level achievements that got denied at top schools in favor of those lacking those accomplishments. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean those who got in don’t have qualities that earned them a spot, it just speaks to the unpredictable nature of the college application process. When deans of admission at top schools openly say they could reject all admitted students and build the same exemplary class from the waitlist, or that they have enough qualified applicants to fill 3 or 4 classes with, there’s a certain amount of luck involved. Therefore I urge all rising seniors to go into this process realizing that the odds are not in your favor. I went into the process with too much blind hope, too confident in my ability to be that lucky 1 in 10 (or less) that would gain admission, and I was sorely disappointed. So that leads me to my next tip…

Don’t do things just for your college application- Those slim acceptance rates are the exact reason I urge you not to join things solely for how good they look on a college application. It seems counterintuitive; wouldn’t they give you a better chance of acceptance? However, my point is not to dissuade you from extracurriculars, but rather to commit to ones that genuinely make you happy. As I wrote above, the process is so competitive that even international achievements may mean rejection, so don’t waste your high school experience by dedicating so much time and effort to something that you feel obligated to do.

Try everything your freshman and sophomore year- My biggest regret is not joining clubs where my passions lie simply because I was too lazy or scared of things like public speaking my freshman year. It’s much more intimidating to join as upperclassmen, and you may not be able to participate at all the levels/in all the ways people who have dedicated 3-4 years can. Even if you don’t think its for you (like debate for me because of my fear of public speaking), I urge you to expand your horizons and push yourself out of your comfort zone. Many clubs give you great opportunities to build leadership, public speaking, etc. skills and to find your passions.

Know both sides of the flashcard- I learned this tip from my organic chemistry class, and I’d never though about how useful it is. For example, if you’re memorizing polyatomic ions, it’s extremely important that you know both the formula and the name, as either version may show up on the exam. Not doing this also makes the weaknesses in your memorization evident- whenever I study vocab, I tend to glance at the side with the term and only memorize the definition. This meant that when I was given only the definitions, I couldn’t remember the word they defined, because I was so used to being given the vocab word and responding with the definition. 

The first lecture of the unit is one of the most important for STEM classes- I know the beginning of the unit can often seem like the perfect time to tune out, as it goes over information you’ve previously learned or the easiest material of the topic, but it often forms the foundation for everything else in the unit. For example, the first lecture on a stoichiometry unit will probably teach you dimensional analysis, a skill integral to calculating molecular or empirical formulas, moles or grams of a substance, etc. 

Buy/sell books secondhand- Everyone knows how expensive college textbooks are, but between SAT and AP prep books, and books for English, high school books can cost quite a bit of money too. Unless they redesigned the exam recently, you absolutely don’t need the newest edition of the review book, so buy from upperclassmen and then sell it to underclassmen the following year.

Learn to self study- Unless you’re really lucky, you’re guaranteed to have a teacher who doesn’t teach, teaches badly, or whose teaching style just doesn’t work for you. Personally, I find that self learning, especially if I’m struggling because resources such as textbooks and online explanations, and videos seem to contradict, really helps me understand the topic throughly. In AP bio, my teacher had us create claymation videos on the processes of cellular respiration and photosynthesis independently. It was incredibly frustrating and confusing because all the resources described the cycles in varying degrees of details, but I felt like I genuinely understood the topic, instead of having been spoon-fed the information and memorizing it. Obviously, this method isn’t very efficient for frequent use, but the key is to try to understand the material independently instead of going to the teacher the moment you hit a snag. 

Keep your backpack/binders/notebooks reasonably organized- When teachers ask for homework to be passed up and you have to dig through mountains of papers in your backpack, not only is that super stressful, but a lot of teachers won’t let you turn it in after they have already collected all the papers. I was definitely guilty of being lazy and just stuffing papers, once I got them, into my backpack instead of taking a few seconds to slide them into a binder, and as a result I got 0s on lots of homework because either I couldn’t find it at the time or because everything was so messy I didn’t remember there was homework. Try to have some sort of organization system going on or at least a homework folder, because those 0s add up and can be the difference between an 89 and 90. 

You’re gonna get senioritis, badly, and that’s ok- I’ve always been the type of person who did every homework assignment and was very focused on grades, so the idea that I would completely let myself ago seemed absurd to me. Don’t underestimate what senior year does to you. I can honestly count on one hand the econ worksheets that I actually turned in during senior year, and I made my first B in a grading period during the spring. I was very stressed about how awful my grades were, but unable to muster the energy to do anything about it. And you know what, it’s ok. It’s senior year, you can give yourself a break. Yes, your senior grades are still important for college applications, so don’t go from straight A’s to straight C’s, but for the most part, all the hard work is behind you. Do keep in mind that these habits may haunt you when you’re a college freshman. I haven’t started classes yet, but based on how little I studied for the math placement exam for my college, senioitis doesn’t magically end when you graduate, so don’t let it get completely out of control during the year. 

Learn how to do math without a calculator- If you take either of the AP Calculuses or the SAT, you need to master this skill because there are sections of the exams that are strictly non-calculator.  Beyond that, when you get to calculus, you’ll be introduced to complicated concepts, where not being able to multiply by hand will drag you down. 

Keep old notes- Not only for finals, but some topics are very interdisciplinary, like biochemistry, so it’s very important that you have a working knowledge of both biology and chemistry. As you take advanced classes, such as for me, taking physics c after physics 1, it will be assumed that you have completely mastered the basics, and they will be skipped or referenced very quickly. It is very useful to look at notes on the basics, which provide the foundation for the advanced material you learn. 

Invest in a whiteboard- Whenever I was learning about processes or cycles, from the Krebs cycle to organic chemistry mechanisms, it was really useful to practice drawing the steps over and over again. Then when it came to the test, I could do a brain dump and draw out the information as a reference. 

Understand formulas instead of blindly memorizing- This basically has physics and calculus written all over it. In physics, you should be given formula charts during exams, and in any case, something like F=ma isn’t terribly hard to memorize. The problem comes when there are a multitude of formulas that are derived from one of the fundamental equations. Of course, deriving from scratch each time is incredibly tedious, but I want to dissuade you from simply memorizing it or storing it on your calculator, because that means you probably don’t understand the physics behind it. What makes physics so difficult and different from any other subject you’ve taken is that every problem will have a slightly different scenario that tests your understanding of the physics behind it. 

Use all the time given to you during tests- I know I hate looking back through my test because I just get so bored halfway through, but missing points because of silly mistakes is honestly the most frustrating thing ever when you had plenty of time to check. Depending on if I have time, I like to cover my original work and resolve the question. If checking answers is not your thing, try slowing now when you first see each question, and checking your work briefly each step. 

Form study groups- Talking about something, especially teaching it to someone, always helped me remember something so much better than reading it on paper. It’s also so important to have second interpretations of the information you’re studying to ensure that you don’t make a huge misconception.  

AP students: released/practice exams are your best friend- Obviously, they’re the best resources for studying for the AP exam, but they’re also a great tool for a hint at what your teacher’s tests may look like. AP teachers have access to tons of College Board material and will often use questions directly from old exams. 

If you start getting confused during a lecture- Many times this is because I didn’t pay attention during the very beginning, so I’m missing that important foundation I talked about in the previous tip. Of course, I typically wouldn’t recommend doing things other than listening to what is currently being taught, but in this case, I would just get more confused and it’s a waste of time. So I discretely go back to my previous notes and focus on understanding them. 

The most stressful part of schoolwork is just thinking about your assignments- There’s always specific period of time that threatens to kill me- a week where I had two competitions simultaneously, in cities 3 hours apart. When you’re taking 7 AP classes at the same time, just reading over your to-do list will make you want to cry. Even on a normal day, as I go to classes throughout the day and my list of homework gets longer and longer, it makes me so stressed to where I’m planning out how to finish everything and I’m no longer listening in class. It overwhelmed me so much that I just wanted to take a nap and avoid school. But every single time, stressing about the work I have is 1000x worse than sitting down and actually going through each task. I find that what had seemed impossible before was very doable, and many times I even finished early enough to relax before bed. Keep a positive mindset, don’t underestimate your abilities, and have the discipline to start working immediately on the hardest days, and you’ll be fine. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the workload that is able to be handled by one person can work for another, and things like mental illnesses are things I have no experience in, so this is definitely just something that worked for me and is not applicable to everyone. 

Best of luck with high school! If you have any questions, feel free to send me an ask!

My AP World masterpost

Asks I’ve answered about school

[realtalk-tj]

Without asking too much, is the physics final exam doable (the midterm was realllllyyyyy hard for me but I somehow managed to get a B with the enormous curve - is it comparable in difficulty)? If i study a whole lot, can i count on it to raise my grade?

Response From Fleur:

Hi there, because of honor code stuff, we can’t tell you anything more than general stuff about assessment patterns within a class. We can’t tell you what’s going to be on a particular test or how hard you’re going to find it...etc. Finals are typically different year to year. If you have questions about the specific content and expectations for the physics final, I’d talk to your teacher about that. I’d then make a list of everything that could be on the final. And I would study the heck out of that stuff until you understand it inside outside backward forwards and into another dimension. Your teacher will probably be able to give you a much better answer than any of us. What you’re going to find difficult is different than what other people find difficult. I remember that in physics understanding the conceptual aspect was the most difficult and important part of the subject for me to learn. If I didn’t understand the concepts, forget the math, it wasn’t going to happen, I wouldn’t be able to do a single problem. I had to really work to get some of the insane multiple choice problems I encountered throughout the class right.

I never took the Physics final tho so I have zero clue what in the world was on it or how hard it was. I do however think that with having a year of experience in Physics, if you were to really study (and I mean like hours upon hours of proper preparation), that you should feel confident in your ability to do pretty well for yourself on the test. I know it’s hard to impossible to be 100% sure you’ll do well enough to raise your grade, and I think the best thing you can do in this case is to give it your absolute best and be proud of that.

If you haven’t been doing as well as you’d want to on Physics assessments so far, I’d improve upon your study habits for this test. 

For ideas on study habits, I listed methods on how I study for college tests I am determined to get an A on here: http://realtalk-tj.tumblr.com/post/171712417656/what-are-some-good-study-methods-for-bio-i#notes

^A lot of this stuff is applicable to Physics (memorizing conceptual stuff, memorizing formulas and how to move the variables in them around and how to put one formula in another formula). You need to memorize basic knowledge like that before you can go on and draw from the information you’ve learned to reach new conclusions on challenging problems. 

It will take you many hours of studying if you’re going to score really high on this test so I’d start a while in advance. Also, this is your place to learn the conceptual aspect of TJ Physics (conceptual meaning the part that requires no math, like understanding why you set up a certain problem that way). There’s also the minds on physics (MOPS) on this website. I don’t know if you guys are required to do it for class but it HELPS a LOT. The more time I spent essentially memorizing the conceptual information on this website, the better I did in TJ Physics. Good luck with the final!

[juxtaposed-roses]

2L OCI Advice

What’s up lawblrs?

So with OCI season for 2Ls in full swing, I figured I’d throw out some advice that may help those of you firm-hunting avoid some of the anxiety, panic, and general negativity that I endured during my OCI stint. 

First off, I’ll say that I was not an ideal big-firm candidate. I went to USC, which is rankings-wise a fantastic school, but 1L was not kind to my GPA. For the first time in my life, my GPA did not start with a 3. I spent the summer after 1L externing for a federal judge and wondering whether it was worth even going back to law school with such an uphill battle ahead. My academic advisor even told me to treat OCI as a series of ‘practice interviews’ since, in his opinion, I didn’t have a shot in hell at a big-firm offer. 

Well, I’m living proof that his advice was wrong. 

My tips will likely be most helpful for those of you that didn’t ace the first slew of law courses thrown at you, but really they apply to anyone. 

If you are sitting pretty with high 1L grades, congratulations! Seriously! My advice to you is to not let your grades go to your head. I watched with dismay as many of my friends in the top 10% got dozens of interviews, tons of callbacks, but at the end of all the wining and dining had no offers. It’s not a coincidence. From my experience, firms are looking for confident but not arrogant. They want personable but not too chatty. And most of all, they want someone who has a vision for their future legal career, but is also humble enough to admit that they don’t have it all figured out yet and are open to trying new things. 

OCI Interview Tips

1. RESEARCH.

This is the easiest and for some reason the most under-utilized resource. Look, these interviewers are seeing hundreds of law students. You have to stand out from the pack. One easy way to do this is to know the firms. Cold. 

I spent hours researching the 11 firms that I got interviews with. I knew where their offices were, what types of law they practiced, whether or not they collaborated across offices, how their partnership schemes worked. There is no substitute for research and preparation. 

When conducting your research, I’d suggest making a file of sorts for each firm. Note the differences between them. The big firms have so many commonalities, but the differences are key. Come up with very specific and targeted questions for each firm, that show them you spent the time researching. Once you have the information, you need to make it work for you. 

I tried to make connections between my resume and the firm’s practices. It paid off. At the start of the interview, I saw the eyes of each interviewer scan my resume for my GPA, and finding 2.98, I saw many an eye glaze over. But once I showed off my meticulous research, I gained back their attention. Once I connected that research to the skills and activities demonstrated by my resume I saw many interviewers pick up my resume again for a second look. And once I laid out how my career vision fit with their firm and its culture, I went from the recycle bin to the ‘maybe’ pile. 

I cannot stress the importance of preparation enough. There’s a lot of talk out there that the big firms have GPA floors. For a few, that might be the case. But, while there may be guidelines in place, if you make an impression despite your grades, they CAN and WILL bend the rules if they think it will benefit them long-term. So what if you got an offer because you’re an exception to the rule? Point is, you got the offer!

2. Hobbies

For most situations, the ‘hobbies’ section of your resume is a total throw-away. It’s usually the first thing people delete when more room is needed. In OCI-land, the ‘hobbies’ line is crucial. I wish someone had told me this before my interviews. I happen to have eclectic interests, so my hobbies line included DJ’ing, French cooking, and studying Mandarin. I cannot tell you how much these three activities were brought up in conversation. I spent all 20 minutes in my Gibson interview discussing my latest deep-house mix. I recalled tales of my summer in Beijing, speaking Mandarin to shopkeepers. My point here is this: interviewers are people too. They are people that have to sit in a stuffy hotel or conference room all day listening to law students talk about themselves. The more interesting you can make that conversation, the better your chances of being memorable. 

Now, there is one cautionary bit: make sure whatever you write down is real. You can’t list ‘Russian literature’ as a hobby if you don’t actually read Russian literature. Believe me, they will ask questions about whatever you write in that section, so make sure they are hobbies you can talk about with enthusiasm! Avoid hobbies like ‘running’, ‘cooking’, or ‘music’. Be more specific. Take the time to buff up you hobbies section, and reap the rewards come interview time. Sure, firms are searching for legal talent. But they also don’t want robots! Show off your personality!

3. Questions about Grades

I think my biggest fear going into OCI was that I was going to have to defend my low grades to all the interviewers. I spent days trying to come up with answers to a question I didn’t have the slightest clue how to answer. I had taken my studies seriously. I went to class, read all of those horrid casebooks, outlined, made charts. I worked harder during 1L than I had in all my years of academia combined. So why didn’t my grades reflect that? FUCK IF I KNOW!

So I prepared some bullshit excuse about essay exam strategy and my general inability to excel on multiple choice tests, and I had it locked and loaded. 

But, to my surprise, not one interviewer asked about my grades. Not one! I couldn’t believe it. But looking back on it, it makes perfect sense. The number on your resume is the past. There’s nothing to be gained by asking about it in an interview, it’s a waste of time. Because those interviewers know that law school grades are ambiguous at best, and while they’ll take note of what your GPA is, it really doesn’t carry the day. Every firm has hired students in the top 10% that have proven to be disappointing associates. Every firm has also hired students with dismal 1L grades who turn out to be fantastic lawyers. So if you give them enough reason to suspect that your grades are not an accurate reflection of your skills, you may tip the scales in your favor!

4. More Research

Let’s say you’ve made it through the interviews and you’ve managed to get a callback. Against all odds, I got two callbacks with big firms. Callbacks are the real interview. Depending on the firm, you may be scheduled alone or with a group of other hopefuls. Again, your aim is to stand out from everyone else. How do you do that with low grades? RESEARCH!

You will be given a list of all the people at the firm that you will be sitting down with during the callback. Many people scan that list and never look at it again until the day of. DO NOT BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. 

At the very least, you need to go onto the firm’s website and look up each name, read the bios, and as a bonus, begin to place names with faces. But to really use this information to your advantage, I would suggest finding conversation starters in those firm bios. It’s a lot easier to drum up a natural conversation with an old white guy if you know you both like a certain sport’s team or went to the same undergrad. Honestly, I think that knowing names and remembering things about each of the associates and partners I met on my callbacks was my key to success. Why? Because people want to work with people they like. And people tend to like people that show a genuine interest in them and are easy to talk to. Be that person! 

Aside from researching the people on that list, you should also know some basic information about the founding partners of the firm and managing partners of the office you are interviewing for. Even if those people are not on the list of interviewers. Why? Because partners will drop in sometimes if they have a free minute and know that a callback is going on that day. This happened to me during my Bryan Cave callback. The managing partner of the office popped his head into one of my scheduled interviews just to say hello. I had done my research so I knew his name and that he practiced employment law. We ended up chatting about that area of law for 15 minutes, because I was taking a labor arbitration course and seemed interested in what he had to say. You can’t BUY that type of Facetime! Had I not researched, that encounter might have been a quick ‘hello’ and I might never have gotten an offer. 

But I did do my research, and that, coupled with a bit of luck, landed me a summer offer. Which led to the best summer associateship I could have ever asked for, and in the end, an offer for an associate position after graduation. 

I’m not saying that conquering OCI with low 1L grades is any picnic in the park. It sucks. And many firms that I really liked tossed my resume in the garbage bin after looking at my GPA. That was tough. But there were a few firms that saw past the number and were willing to take a chance on me. And I’m happy to report that sometimes a chance is all you need. 

GOOD LUCK 2Ls! You’ve got this!

[corpasa]

5 Essential Steps to Study for an Online Exam

The following is a guest post by Robbie Marquis, a college student. If you would like to submit a guest post, please contact us. 

College is one of the busiest phases of a student’s life. There are so many things to keep in mind and balance that you tend to lose time for other parts of your life. Of course, right now, your studies are your top priorities, but if you ever find yourself cramming for some last minute studying, remember that it definitely will be a difficult task to undertake, but with enough focus and determination, nothing is impossible. To make it easier for you to retain everything that you study, here are some steps that you might have to take.

1. Turn Off Social Media

Social media has definitely changed how we see our world nowadays. It has altered the way we stay updated about the ins and outs of the current world and the way we keep in touch with the people around us. Essentially, social media has become a very important tool for us to stay in the loop and create new acquaintances.

But if you have errands to do, books to read and online exams to pass, then you will need to keep yourself from checking your social media feeds in the meantime. Whether it is your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other platforms that you use for social connections, if it won’t help you focus on your studies or even pull your attention away from it, it’s better to leave it alone until you are done with your online exams.

Social media has made a reputation on its own for affecting the focus of many students and even affecting their scholastic performances. So if you want to keep your focus on nothing else but your studying, then stay away from any gadgets that may allow you from opening your accounts. Turn off your phone, laptop and other online devices and stick to reading and memorizing your lessons to make sure that you pass your exams.

2. Gather All Your Materials Before you Cram for an Online Exam

There is nothing more frustrating and panic-inducing than knowing that you don’t have all your study materials available. Not to mention that it’s affecting your study session! So it’s ideal to always keep all your books and notes in one place and ready to use at all times. And if you have an exam coming up soon, get all of your materials ready beforehand.

Aside from getting your documents ready, it’s also best to always have your study station ready and available for your sessions. Keep your desk clean and make sure that the only things you have available on your table are your books, notebooks, pens and papers, or if you have notes on your laptop, then you might want to keep that handy, too. Take away anything that might distract you and once you have started studying, you should just focus on getting yourself ready for your upcoming online exams.

Another good thing that you should do is for you to get some important details about your upcoming exams. Once it is announced that you have an online exam coming up, you should write down the exam’s location, date, and time.

It will also be helpful if you can find out what its focus will be as it can help you understand what you have to study and retain. Some professors give out some pointers beforehand, but if it’s something that is not available, you might want to ask your professor to provide these details to you and your classmates as it can help you concentrate your studies only on topics that are covered.

3. Review All Your Notes or Flashcards One More Time

Whenever preparing for an online exam, you should never underestimate the importance of taking down notes or preparing cards to review everything that you have read and studied. By writing things down, you get to retain information better. By reading back the notes you have prepared, you get to refresh the information in your brain and hone your brain’s ability to easily recall information.

This is why it is essential to schedule a study session, either by yourself or with a group. There are, of course, pros and cons to both setups. If you study by yourself, you tend to get bored or get distracted and no one can tell you off or remind you to go back and focus on studying. On the other hand, by studying with a group, you have like-minded people to throw questions and answers to and to review your lessons with, but there is a tendency for the study sessions to veer away from what really needs to get done. But if you are really determined or focused on reviewing and absorbing as much information as you can, there will always be a way. All you need to do is focus, focus, focus.

4. Focus only on the Big Ideas & Key Details

Speaking of focus, did you know that you can teach your brain to be selective in the information that it retains? Instead of trying to cram every single information from a book into your brain, you can instead focus on the valuable information and tune your attention out from the unimportant details. This might sound challenging to some, but there are ways to improve your ability for selective attention.

First of all, you need to identify which of the topics you need to study are the most difficult to retain. Maybe you are doing well with Chemistry, but you need to improve your understanding of some topics in Calculus. By knowing which of the subjects are more challenging for you, you get to improve your focus and prepare your brain as to what needs to be prioritized.

Next, you should establish your goal. The good thing about online exams is that it usually provides the examinees with an introduction about what they will be looking forward to in terms of the exam proper. If you have that information ready, then you can easily shift your focus on what sections or chapters will be included in your online exams. It will also help if you have an idea about the style of the examination. Will it be multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks, essay style, or a mixture of each. By anticipating the challenges that you may encounter in your online exams, you’ll be able to identify what information you need to focus on.

Lastly, you need to keep yourself focused on nothing else but your study session. You might have a few other things on your to-do list, but by understanding the importance of passing your upcoming examination, you can keep yourself from doing other less important matters. By knowing what to focus on and what ideas or topics matter, your brain can then filter out all the unimportant information and just retain all the necessary details.

5. Set Goals & Rewards as you Study for an Online Exam

Studying for an exam involves a lot of focus and hard work. It might sound like it is an easy task to undertake, considering that all you need to do is sit down, read and write down some important stuff. But it takes a lot of energy for your brain to sponge in as much information as necessary in a short span of time. This is why, as much as possible, last minute studying is not always advisable.

Overworking your brain can sometimes affect your mental and physical health. You might have to sacrifice sleep hours, not be able to eat a proper meal, or even have to drink some carbonated, caffeinated or sugary drinks just to keep you going while you burn the midnight oil. By the end of your study sessions and online exams, you might feel so drained out. But you have done your best to ace your exams, so you deserve nothing but some much-needed R and R.

A good practice that usually encourages us to meet a specific goal is by giving ourselves a reward. It could be something like scheduling a relaxing weekend trip to a spa resort with your BFF or significant other if you pass your online exams. Or maybe you’ll throw a house party and invite everyone in your class to join you. Whatever reward works for you, it’s a good thing to give yourself a prize for accomplishing something important.

Whether you are trying to balance your life as a working student, as a parent pursuing a college degree, or as an active member of your college’s org, the fact remains that your study should always be a part of your list of priorities. Studying should always be a constant practice, so that you won’t have to stress yourself and tire your brain out by doing it last minute. A more relaxed and laid-back study session will help improve your focus on everything that you need to retain. This way you are ready, even for surprise quizzes or exams.

Whether you are preparing for a big online test or just for a weekly quiz, it’s still important to be in control of your studies. Remember that it will take a lot of time, energy and effort before you can get that much coveted diploma, so make every moment count. Who knows, if you are hardworking enough, maybe you can get rewarded with some honors on your graduation day!

Author’s Bio: Robbie served as the Vice President of the Student Congress at OU and has dedicated his collegiate time to representing the students. Some of Robbie’s other interests include writing reminders for himself on sticky notes and putting them everywhere, learning how to become a better leader, watching or performing spoken-word poetry, or doing things that inspire him.

Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Touro College.

The post 5 Essential Steps to Study for an Online Exam appeared first on Online Education Blog of Touro College.

5 Essential Steps to Study for an Online Exam published first on https://medium.com/@DLBusinessNow

[woojinstudies]

After several terribly unproductive quarters in uni, I’ve finally turned my fate around with some no BS study tips! These are what have seriously been helping me out.

Plan your daily schedule: I’ve realized that using a planner does not work for me whatsoever-- what does work for me is to have a small whiteboard on my desk.  Either the night before or the morning of, I’ll write down a couple tasks I want to finish that day.  I don’t like putting specific times because they can be discouraging, but I’ll just put down general things like “study for bio” or “do study guide questions #3 and #4″.  This way, I’ll have something to reference to while I work, and it feels super good to erase it at the end of the day!

Have a work pattern: I have a much bigger whiteboard on my desk as well! I handwrite the monthly calendar and write down any midterms, exams or special occasions for that month.  I also write what tasks I want to specifically work on on what days.  This month, I’ve been pretty generic- I just divide what I want to do on weekdays (ie: copy notes, spend 2 hours on my art homework) and what I want to do on weekends.  Establishing a pattern → establishing a good habit → being less intimidated by schoolwork!

Handwritten study guides + quizlet: If the class I’m taking has a study guide, I’ll handwrite the content (which has been proven to help you memorize more effectively) with markers and pens so that it’s more fun and more memorable.  As a STEM major, I find that it really helps to make quizlets out of your lecture notes; I typically transfer them to Anki afterwards and study them from there.

Interact with your notes: I know a lot of people say re-reading your notes doesn’t help much, but I’ve found that reading them and annotating them helps a lot! Typically the day before a exam I’ll go through all my lecture notes and just jot down responsive comments on the margins.  I’ll write them informally or even draw pictures.  The point here is to condense and strip the information of all its fancy-schmancy wording and translate it into understandable language.  Remember, these notes are for you!

Study groups are not always helpful: while they may be fun, I’ve found that I actually do quite poorly when I work in groups.  If I don’t want to study alone I’ll typically study with one other person.  Make sure your study buddy is someone you can trust to do the work with you, though! Having someone equally motivated will make all the difference.

Have coffee or tea while you study: this is probably the most optional, but having a yummy drink to sip on while you work will definitely help with a positive mindset while you work.  If I’m feeling drowsy in the afternoon, I’ll have some coffee, and I’ll go for green tea if I want to stay up a little more during the evening.  

Take reasonable breaks: a reasonable break is going outside to stretch or walk around, or browse social media for, say, 15 minutes (I use Lanes.io if I want to do this since it times your breaks.  Really helpful site!).  An unreasonable break is binge-watching a Netflix series.  Watching anything longer than 30 minutes is already taking away a lot of your study time.  Keep it simple and don’t get sidetracked!

Keep your electronics away: SO IMPORTANT.  How can you study if your laptop and phone are constantly buzzing with notifications?  I’ve turned my text notifications off, and I find that it helps greatly with my focus.  If you have bluetooth headphones and want to use your computer to listen to music, I suggest setting your laptop away from you (doesn’t have to be too far, just not too within reach) and darkening the display.  This way, you can get into the groove while staying on top of things.

[my-bobohu-blog]

AAAAAHHHH OMG elaine i love science and learning so sooo much just like how you do i think!!!! and today was my first day of college and im taking chemistry biology and some other classes im so exciteksjdsdjfhs i wanna get a phd and do research on genetics or nanobiology sjkdhfskd im so EXCITEDDD!!!!!! i cant contain myself i read like 3 chapters ahead already...but i was wondering if you have any advice? for like studying chem, bio and for lab work? THANK YOU!!! good luck on ur classes too!!

WHAT UP NERD!!!!!

OMGOMGOMG IM SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!!!! dude seriously the sciences… just give me so much life hohoho literally get it bc biology is the study of life sldkjghaljsf bYE

ANYWAYS with chem and bio, the concepts are pretty straight forward and i think there is a lot of memorization involved and also knowing where to apply what you learn in the those contexts. i think bio and chem are EXTREMELY important to have strong foundations with especially since you want to go into that in the future! so take REALLY GOOD notes. like REALLY GOOD notes because it will definitely pay off when you need to go back to reference them later. like take your time to do the readings, take notes from the readings, take notes in class, and also review and revise your notes before exams! OH ALSO THE DIAGRAMS/FIGURES IN THE TEXTBOOK THAT ILLUSTRATE PROCESSES/MECHANISMS ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS. LEARN THEM WELL. REDRAW THEM IN YOUR NOTES. TAKE THEM APART AND REALLY TAKE TIME TO UNDERSTAND THEM.

something i do is that i take reading notes from the text book, then i take notes in class, and after a unit or before an exam, i create new notes that help sum up what i learned but more concisely and in different terms so that i can wrap my head around concepts better! 

when it comes to lab, be prepared. do the assigned readings before lab ALWAYS (never go into lab blind) and do your best to connect the lab activity back to the concepts you learned in class! they always go hand in hand so one will reinforce the other :D and a lot of people will say that lab is a drag because it’s like 3-4 hours of just class wasted (WHICH IS WHAT HEATHENS WOULD SAY) but honestly if you just keep an open mind and focus on harnessing your skills and learning new techniques, then lab is actually SUPER COOL because you’re /DOING THAT/ you’re actually DOING REACTIONS THAT YOU READ ABOUT. i think it’s pretty great lol (there will be some labs where you’re like is this necessary but always remind yourself that you have to start somewhere and it never hurts to have a strong foundation) 

GOOD LUCK SWEETIE PIE!!! I HOPE YOU HAVE A FUCKING AMAZING TIME!!!! you’re gonna learn a lot and it’s gonna be pretty awesome as long as you keep an open mind and you’re willing to accept the information that comes your way!

[ttoffeecake]

Five Things I Learned From My First Year at University

 1. Always Do The Readings

Even just skimming the section before the lecture will do wonders. I found that I was able to recognize key words and concepts during the lecture, and it helped me understand and memorize aspects of the lesson better. 

2. Labs are a Bitch 

I’m in sciences so a lot of my courses had a lab component, and they were awful. I felt like as if they were another course added to my course load. Post and pre lab assignments took up a lot of time, the manuals were sometimes incoherent, and sometimes they don’t even relate to the section of the lecture I was on. Labs were a lot of work but they weren’t impossible, a lot of times I found answers and clarifications online or in help rooms; and (except for that one bitchy bio TA I had) all my TAs were very helpful and understanding. 

3. Email is So Important 

In high school, the only time I ever used email was when I was emailing my teachers my overdue assignments, so I thought I could get away with not checking my email in university. But I soon realized email was essential. Some of the emails I got included syllabus changes, exam information,extended or changed deadlines, and posted grades. My bio prof even gave us a a question that would be on our exam. 

4. Reviewing Everyday/Doing Practise Questions Everyday!!!

Again, in high school the only time I studied was before an exam but in university the semesters are a lot shorter, and there is a lot more information that you have to learn. The only way to learn/memorize/master all the material is to review and practise everyday. What I learned, the hard way, is that there is no way you can cram a semester’s worth of information in two days. 

5. A Good or Bad Prof can Make or Break You

I’ve heard people say that it is ridiculous to pick and choose classes based on professors but I disagree. A professor’s teaching style, experience, and expectations can end up defining your grade. I found it really helpful to go on forums and websites (like ratemyprof) to read reviews on a professor to get a sense of their teaching style and expectations. 

First year, I’m not going to lie, was hell. I cried a lot but I also learned a lot, and I’m still learning. I think the toughest thing for me about university was that reality and adulthood just smacked me in face and left a big bruise that I’m still putting ice on. Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you have a good day! (lol if any actually reads this)