College, Caffeine, and All-nighters

[Curlew]

Happy birthday Curlew.  You were born on a great day.  The same one as me.  I feel your pain in college my birthday was always right in the middle of finals so i always had to have a delayed party.  I wont even go into what i had to do sometimes to stay up and study.  So how old are ya now?
Rabbit27

lol its an excellent day, im 20 now, and for all the birthday wishers thank you


as for the "dont need to remeber chem, then why are you sating your money and time", three words: general education requirments

[zoozoo]

GL and happy birthday!

[mbailey]

Naw I wast just wondering if they autopsy found some kind of congenital defect of some kind, or abnormality in his heart. Ive never heard of energy drinks being a cause of death. I agree they have no place in sports from the dehydration alone.

Sry Rich, my comments came across as rude, wasnt intentional. Its been a long day and im sick as a dog.  

[CHAPPY]

wut

[MORAY37]

lol its an excellent day, im 20 now, and for all the birthday wishers thank you


as for the "dont need to remeber chem, then why are you sating your money and time", three words: general education requirments

Curlew, what are you majoring in, if you don't mind me asking?

There is no college I'm aware of (of course, I could be wrong there, if your Dean was very forward thinking...) that Chem is a general requirement for graduation,  unless you are using basic Chem (CHM 1020 or lower (CHM 101-102, depending on your school's numbering system)) for a general elective sub-requirement.   CHM 1020 (101-102) is basically repackaged high school chemistry, without any expectations..on the same level as Astronomy.

If you were made to take CHM 1045 (CHM 105-106) for any reason and you aren't majoring in any science, your advisor is crap.  Also, if you are majoring in any science, and have the attitude that you don't need to remember chemistry in three weeks, drop out now.  You'll save yourself alot of heartache when you realize, honestly, that's all you really need to KNOW.

[Coog03]

Good Luck Sir. I have my last exam as a college students on thurs @ 2. I know how you feel man.


 

[Xasthur]

Don't kill your body just to get through some exams... Most people fail at least one subject through their college studies, according to my head of department.

I noticed that my grades were sliding from quite good to just borderline when I got to the 2/3s point of my degree. For one of my end of semester papers I put in so little effort and churned such an utter load of crap that I only passed by a few marks. My teacher was quite friendly too and I was the only guy in a class full of f- king bra-burner militant lesbians that actually offered something in the classes, so I believe he let me pass based solely on his discretion. It was then that I decided that I needed to take a break from study and come back after a year with a fresh mind and a slightly more padded wallet, so I took intermission and worked for a year.

Studying full time and working a couple of shifts a week just to pay for the bare essentials like food and petrol just to get to uni really sucks a lot of balls, so I decided to get away from that and start making some money so I could waste it on my car, a gaming PC, a massive TV and PS3, lots of expensive beer and whatever else I wanted.

It was the best thing I could have done, I'll be going back to uni next year with a fresh mind after what ended up being an 18 month intermission. I've had time to work full-time at a job that will be perfect when I go back to uni and generally turn my brain off and relax.

I have also decided that one must treat uni (or college for you yanks) like a 9-5 job. Even if you have one lecture and a class and are only needed on campus for 2 or 3 hours, stay there after and study. Do the homework that day, do the required reading and start borrowing some books from the library. It's all too easy to fall into the "sweet, I've only got a half day, I can do such and such for the rest of the day" attitude. Whatever you do.... don't go to the bar before lectures. Nothing makes it harder to get through a lecture and get anything out of it than the 'beer tireds'. 

Even if you tank your exams and fail everything, you'll only have set yourself back six months.... in the grand scheme of things, that's pretty minimal damage.

Just take this position that you're in as a valuable lesson that sacrificing an hour a day during the semester will save you stressing out and pulling all-nighters just to get the grades you want. Come back next semester fresh and calm and just do the leg-work when you should. I'm sure that you've got something of a brain between your ears, so it's not like you'll have to bust your knackers every night doing course work just to get through it.

Hopefully, I can take my own advice in my final year and get the work done. 

Good luck, mate.

[Simaril]

Remember that first post, where you asked about a "real doctor"? For what its worth, your hook snagged one.

I got accepted into a program that essentially reserved a seat in med school before I even started college. While that reduced stress in one way, it increased it in another -- since the program was set up to get us through the 8 years of college and med school in just 6 years. I started college 3 weeks after high school graduation, and kept going (including all the summers but one). In college we carried 18-21 semester hours, and though they don't do credit hours in med school they said the load would be about the same as 50-60 hours. (In the states college is considered full time at about 14 credit hours).

Needless to say, that was a lot of studying.

Our med school did things differently from a testing standpoint as well. There were no tests, quizzes, or homework papers through the semesters. Our entire grade came down to the final exam. Period. And, exams were all given in the same week, back to back -- 8 hours per day, for 5 days straight. Some serious pressure. (And the testings haven't  stopped -- after med school, residency, and fellowships there are Subspecialty Board exams....and after THAT there are recertification exams every 7-10 years.)

So allow me at least a few cc's of credibility.   I've done lots and lots of tests, and I can tell you that cramming is only slightly better than showing up raw. It's popular only because it allows you to think you're doing something while you're busy putting off the discomfort of studying. Like most kinds of procrastination, it ends up causing more suffereing than you would have gotten if you just dabbled away at it.

When you get enough sleep, your mind will remember things FAR better, and even more you'll be able to make those 2nd level connections between things you DO know and what the test is asking. I could detail several times I read a major point question (like 25% of final grade) and had no idea what to do....but after a few minutes of doodling the steps needed to get from what they gave me to what they wanted popped into place.

As long as you have a modicum of knowlege, you are better off with a rested, undrugged brain than with an exhausted crammed one.

[Xasthur]

As long as you have a modicum of knowlege, you are better off with a rested, undrugged brain than with an exhausted crammed one.

^ That is this whole thread in a sentence.

[Rich46yo]

Sry Rich, my comments came across as rude, wasnt intentional. Its been a long day and im sick as a dog.  

bailey I know you to well to ever think that.

[Dadsguns]

Some tips that worked for me

1. Eat a pasta meal the night before the exam
2. Get plenty of sleep
3. Eat a Banana or two a couple of hours before the exam (Brain Food)

Good Luck, and Happy B-Day 

[Xasthur]

I'm buying a laptop to take to uni for next year, just a cheap one without the bells and whistles so that I'm not tempted to use it for anything outside of word and uni-based web stuff.

I reckon if I keep it 'fun-free' I'll be able to avoid the hours of procrastination that plagued my studies last year.

[Simaril]

Back in the day....

...we had 2 guys in my group who had those reserved seats in med school locked up. Then they got a console game system for the dorm room.

Their grades went into the hopper, and they didn't get to advance. Gaming and high pressure studies are a dangerous mix!

[Curlew]

I'm buying a laptop to take to uni for next year, just a cheap one without the bells and whistles so that I'm not tempted to use it for anything outside of word and uni-based web stuff.

I reckon if I keep it 'fun-free' I'll be able to avoid the hours of procrastination that plagued my studies last year.

ANy computer can run flash games lol

[Scherf]

"Like most kinds of procrastination, it ends up causing more suffereing than you would have gotten if you just dabbled away at it."

amen, brother