Studying issues

[Deleted]

Greetings,
I am a student and I have an issue regarding the studying part. For the context I'll describe my past and present studying methods.
On my journey through educational system I've always relied on plain reading the text/paragraphs. That got me over high-school with no problems of any kind. Although I am study lazy, I've always managed to pull it out and getting good grades was no biggie. But now I am on a University, law-school to be precise and my old system of learning/studying is not enough apparently. I'm behind my school mates(from the first year) in the progression for about 2 years(if counted by the exams I've passed and they). I am mostly stressed about me getting lost in all the information and not being able to memorise the amount of knowledge needed to get a good grade rather than just passing or failing the test.
I've tried rewriting the notes, making my own notes from the book, reading the books/notes multiple times, but I'm still failing at pulling it through.
Even tried memorising it word by word but its my last resort and I am not able to study that way for more than a couple h/day. A friend told me to go read a book about learning, but allot of those books are just shooting blanks and can't really be taken for trustworthy.

So I have a few questions. If you are still studying how do you coop with the amount of theory or if you already ended your education path or w/e.
I am getting really frustrated about me not being able to pass the test I studied for like 2-3 weeks 6h/day studying or even getting a better grade.

I am thankful for any tips/strategies or just plain answers you have
Have a loot fun week
Cheers

[Spectral]

It's possible that you're just not very good at academics. It's not a talent everyone has.

I never really had to try, it all came natural, and I did very little work before grad school.

[Catta]

It's possible that you're just not very good at academics. It's not a talent everyone has.

I never really had to try, it all came natural, and I did very little work before grad school.

It really depends on the subject. You dont really have to be intelligent to become a doctor. You just need to have a good memory. Thats what our counselor tells us.

[Reg]

It really depends on the subject. You dont really have to be intelligent to become a doctor. You just need to have a good memory. Thats what our counselor tells us.

Quick! The headbone is connected to the ___________?!

[Catta]

Quick! The headbone is connected to the ___________?!

Deskbone...?

[Kasierith]

Deskbone...?

No no, I think it's a trick question.

Tail bone! These these are always supposed to rhyme!

[Reg]

Deskbone...?

Oh wait, you're foreign. You missed out on American childhood songs lol

[Kasierith]

Oh wait, you're foreign. You missed out on American childhood songs lol

Thank you for that. Now I'm going to have nightmares for months.

[Catta]

Oh wait, you're foreign. You missed out on American childhood songs lol

[video=youtube;e54m6XOpRgU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54m6XOpRgU[/ideo]

I do believe you are the foreigner

---------- Post added 2013-01-29 at 12:44 AM ----------

Thank you for that. Now I'm going to have nightmares for months.

You think you have it rough? Today i discovered that the bonebox i need for my study is not made of plastic. But a real skeleton. Put into a box. And I have to take it home.

[Arlon]

Im not sure how your exams are structured, but for general fluff stuff you can try to memorize the table of contents and pictures while reading the first sentance of every fragment.

[Tapaj]

annotate, annotate and when you are done, annotate some more. ( don't use highlighters )

Break down 2 paragraphs at a time, and ask yourself at least 5 questions regarding each. Write them down! all 10 questions, write out the answers. Move onto the next 2 paragraphs, do the same.

Once done with a chapter, review your questions, and see if you come up with the same answers, if not, ask yourself why?

Some have the gift of being able to absorb information with one pass, some others have the hardest of times. But when you question everything you read, and force yourself to answer 10 questions for every 2 paragraphs, you are in a sense making up your own review as you go, and the more you question, the more you write down your questions, the more you answer your questions, the better you put it to memory.

I do hope you do well, and good luck!

[Shadowmelded]

Well stressing out isn't going to help. Studying continuously is a bad idea so if that's your method you'd be better off stopping. Just make sure to take regular breaks, get away from whatever environment you're in when studying (study at the computer? go to another room and relax)

Case names are a pain in the ass to memorize so don't worry about getting the exact numbers and codes, just the names like 'Jamieson V Breingan' or 'R [Purdy] v DPP'
statutes are something you'll need to memorize pretty much directly though.

[Reg]

Thank you for that. Now I'm going to have nightmares for months.

That's not even the worst version. There is one with religious undertones. Ok, not so much undertones since they say things about the Lord lol

[Deleted]

Quick! The headbone is connected to the ___________?!

Head?

10chars

[Catta]

That's not even the worst version. There is one with religious undertones. Ok, not so much undertones since they say things about the Lord lol

Pff Fenris will eat them all at the dawn of Ragnarok.

[Annapolis]

I've found that as far as memorization goes, there's no supplement for time spent. You can spend time developing different ways to maximize your efficiency, but overall the most important thing is how much time you actually spend studying. Every once in a while while you're studying I'd also check yourself to make sure you're retaining the information. You don't want to just read for hours without retaining anything.

For me just reading material and then writing it down after is the way that works best. I write it down after about a couple hours of studying to test myself. Then I move on to the next topic.

[Prokne]

Have you asked your classmates how they study? It might also be useful to study with them since you could be overlooking what is important in a reading. If you study the wrong thing you might as well not study it. Knowing the right things to study can help you maximize your study time.

[Ragnarohk]

Oh wait, you're foreign. You missed out on American childhood songs lol

LOL if it where that easy T_T. I'm currently in my 2nd year of med school and i hit a brick wall with anatomy (Have been studying the cranium for a month now). I just hate the class, why? Because it´s 100% memory, I prefer subjects such as Physiology where stuff mostly flows and meshes together thanks to logic (Unlike Anatomy where you just repeat words). Anyhow OP I had a similar problem back in 1st year, I got used to doing nothing in High School (graduated with an average score of 91 without even studying for my finals).
You have to get to know what systems work for you better; there are various types of memory, I have an auditory/visual memory, I have to pay attention in class, use diagrams and read out loud (like as if you're giving a lecture or a class, just try to read or explain stuff out loud) and as far as anatomy goes I need an actual skull to study (we have like 10 real skulls in the anatomy lab) I just can't study with the vague images in books. Just try a little bit of everything at first, some people have to write stuff down and make their own summaries and diagrams. Also try to take small breaks every hour or so, don't study the same subject for 6 hours straight. If needed change subjects every few hours. And remember to always have enough sleep, your memory consolidates while you sleep and your attention spam will be better the next day

[Deleted]

It really depends on the subject. You dont really have to be intelligent to become a doctor. You just need to have a good memory. Thats what our counselor tells us.

Thats bollocks, you have to be able to think and problem solve really fast, if that is not intelligence I don't know what is.

[Ragnarohk]

Thats bollocks, you have to be able to think and problem solve really fast, if that is not intelligence I don't know what is.

Med School isn't too hard tho, If you pass through the first 3 years (pre-clinical courses) then you basically made it. The last 4 years are clinical rotations, and it's almost impossible to fail a rotation, unless you're really bad X_X. (Forgot to mention, Med School is 7 years here)