4 answers
Anna
Student
Aluva, Kerala, India
9
Questions
Asked
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Entrance Exam Studying Tips
I am currently doing my high school and wanted to prepare for my college entrance exam. I wanted to become a doctor. My problem is that I am really lazy to study but I wish to study. Most of the days I am really unproductive. But I wanted to study well and make my parents proud and get into my dream university. I am really poor in mathematics physics and chemistry also biology. I wanted some study tips that are really effective. Thank You. #college #science #medicine
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4 answers
Allison Truong
Business Sales
1
Answer
Columbus, Ohio
Updated
Allison’s Answer
Hi Anna, It is great that you can identify that you have issues staying motivated and focused. I dealt with the same issues of finding myself "unproductive". Here is my advice.
Start by identifying
-HOW you learn best. Some people have a photographic memory and can retain information simply by reading it, others, like myself, need to be more hands-on- doing examples creating diagrams, or picturing real-life scenarios and examples.
-When are you most mentally engaged during the day? Are you an early bird or do you prefer evenings?
-What is making you unproductive. Are you not studying so you can.... take a nap? hang with friends? play video games? Identify what is taking up your study time.
After identifying these things... I would create an agenda for each day. Try to write down your plans in time blocks. Example
7-3- Class
3-4- relax / go for a walk / watch tv whatever activity you choose to do to relax
4-5- homework
5-5:30- study (I like to be more detailed to ensure I remain productive) ie. Practice exam Chapter 4 section 5.
5:30-5:45-brain break.
5:45-6:00- Review flash cards ....
so on and so forth.
When you are studying- make sure you are studying information to LEARN it not to simply memorize it... If you struggle in math/science simply memorizing the equations and memorizing the steps to get the answer will NOT help you retain the information in the long run. Utilize one on one time with a teacher after school or whenever you can.... LEARN what the process it. and WHY it works. This will help ensure you can apply the information on any question in any test or exam.
I hope this helps! Good Luck
Start by identifying
-HOW you learn best. Some people have a photographic memory and can retain information simply by reading it, others, like myself, need to be more hands-on- doing examples creating diagrams, or picturing real-life scenarios and examples.
-When are you most mentally engaged during the day? Are you an early bird or do you prefer evenings?
-What is making you unproductive. Are you not studying so you can.... take a nap? hang with friends? play video games? Identify what is taking up your study time.
After identifying these things... I would create an agenda for each day. Try to write down your plans in time blocks. Example
7-3- Class
3-4- relax / go for a walk / watch tv whatever activity you choose to do to relax
4-5- homework
5-5:30- study (I like to be more detailed to ensure I remain productive) ie. Practice exam Chapter 4 section 5.
5:30-5:45-brain break.
5:45-6:00- Review flash cards ....
so on and so forth.
When you are studying- make sure you are studying information to LEARN it not to simply memorize it... If you struggle in math/science simply memorizing the equations and memorizing the steps to get the answer will NOT help you retain the information in the long run. Utilize one on one time with a teacher after school or whenever you can.... LEARN what the process it. and WHY it works. This will help ensure you can apply the information on any question in any test or exam.
I hope this helps! Good Luck
Allison, great answer for Anna! I agree with all of it. The only thing I would add is for Anna to set a specific place for her studying, free of distraction, so that her subconscious knows when she settles there, she means business!
Karen A. Larson
Dana Paduraru
Software Development Engineer
38
Answers
United States
Updated
Dana’s Answer
Hi there! Here are some tips and just general thoughts that worked for me:
✅ Find a way to deal with procastination. I see that you are willing to study and have this career that you are thinking of. However, it's hard for you to be productive. For me, the hardest thing was to just start learning. I kept procastinating, meaning that I kept postponing it or doing other things that where not as important as studying.
✅ What helped me deal with procastination was thinking about my long term goals. I wanted to make my family proud as well, I wanted to have a financially stable life, and I wanted to feel that I am growing and becoming a better me. What are your long term goals?
✅ In order to achieve these long term goals, I needed to think and write down some objectives - something like "pass the university admission exam with at least 80%". On another question on CareerVillage I wrote about why setting goals is important: https://www.careervillage.org/questions/484769/why-is-setting-goals-important
✅I realized that when I am not productive, I actually feel more stressed or sad. When I learn, I become happier and more hopeful regarding my future career.
✅I planned and designed a schedule for studying. You can try doing this with each subject that you need to study for. Think about your current situation, how much you know, and think about what level you want to reach on that topic. What do you need to learn in order to reach that level? (the level could be, for example, getting big grades at that subject in school).
✅ For planning I used a physical agenda and I also used Google Docs and Google Sheets. I had a calendar in which I wrote what I learned everyday and I also wrote my personal deadlines there. One personal deadline could, for example, be "Study the anatomy of the heart by next week".
✅ I made everything beautiful but didn't spend too much time on it. I have many friends who are in medicine school, who kept telling me that they realized they spent too much time on drawing beautiful schemes and highlighting words in all sorts of ways, instead of actually studying. So find a few techniques that work for you and stick to them. Your notes do not have to be perfect or look super beautiful. They have to help you study better. A technique could be, for instance, using certain highlighting colors for certain things, like new terms, very important terms, etc.
✅ Take notes! About everything you study, while watching videos/reading a book/learning a new math technique etc.
✅ PRACTICE! This is what helped me get into university and in internships. When you practice, you remember better, you become faster, and you see patterns more easily. In maths, for instance, this helps whenever you solve a problem.
✅ For biology and other subjects in which you need to study by reading, try to find the best way to memorize and actually deeply learn what you read. For example, you can try summarizing what you read, you can study out loud, you can ask others to ask you questions, you can use flashcards to train yourself to answer questions. Something that worked for me when I had to read a PDF of many slides was to go through the whole PDF once, in order to have a general view, and then go through it again at a more detailed level, asking myself questions about the things I don't know and then Googling them.
✅ Have a good schedule. This involves:
- sleeping well
- eating well
- not stressing too much, taking time to relax
I hope this helps and don't hesitate if you have any other questions! What I think you need to do now is.. just start! Start planning, change the plans if you need to, and start studying! Good luck! <3
✅ Find a way to deal with procastination. I see that you are willing to study and have this career that you are thinking of. However, it's hard for you to be productive. For me, the hardest thing was to just start learning. I kept procastinating, meaning that I kept postponing it or doing other things that where not as important as studying.
✅ What helped me deal with procastination was thinking about my long term goals. I wanted to make my family proud as well, I wanted to have a financially stable life, and I wanted to feel that I am growing and becoming a better me. What are your long term goals?
✅ In order to achieve these long term goals, I needed to think and write down some objectives - something like "pass the university admission exam with at least 80%". On another question on CareerVillage I wrote about why setting goals is important: https://www.careervillage.org/questions/484769/why-is-setting-goals-important
✅I realized that when I am not productive, I actually feel more stressed or sad. When I learn, I become happier and more hopeful regarding my future career.
✅I planned and designed a schedule for studying. You can try doing this with each subject that you need to study for. Think about your current situation, how much you know, and think about what level you want to reach on that topic. What do you need to learn in order to reach that level? (the level could be, for example, getting big grades at that subject in school).
✅ For planning I used a physical agenda and I also used Google Docs and Google Sheets. I had a calendar in which I wrote what I learned everyday and I also wrote my personal deadlines there. One personal deadline could, for example, be "Study the anatomy of the heart by next week".
✅ I made everything beautiful but didn't spend too much time on it. I have many friends who are in medicine school, who kept telling me that they realized they spent too much time on drawing beautiful schemes and highlighting words in all sorts of ways, instead of actually studying. So find a few techniques that work for you and stick to them. Your notes do not have to be perfect or look super beautiful. They have to help you study better. A technique could be, for instance, using certain highlighting colors for certain things, like new terms, very important terms, etc.
✅ Take notes! About everything you study, while watching videos/reading a book/learning a new math technique etc.
✅ PRACTICE! This is what helped me get into university and in internships. When you practice, you remember better, you become faster, and you see patterns more easily. In maths, for instance, this helps whenever you solve a problem.
✅ For biology and other subjects in which you need to study by reading, try to find the best way to memorize and actually deeply learn what you read. For example, you can try summarizing what you read, you can study out loud, you can ask others to ask you questions, you can use flashcards to train yourself to answer questions. Something that worked for me when I had to read a PDF of many slides was to go through the whole PDF once, in order to have a general view, and then go through it again at a more detailed level, asking myself questions about the things I don't know and then Googling them.
✅ Have a good schedule. This involves:
- sleeping well
- eating well
- not stressing too much, taking time to relax
I hope this helps and don't hesitate if you have any other questions! What I think you need to do now is.. just start! Start planning, change the plans if you need to, and start studying! Good luck! <3
Connie Misket
1
Answer
Salt Lake City, Utah
Updated
Connie’s Answer
I agree with many items in the previous responses and think that the first step is realizing that it's an issue for you - because now you can do something about it! I would suggest scheduling specific times to study and reward yourself for doing it. Even little blocks of time are better than nothing and get you in the habit of accomplishing your goals. Remove your phone from the area , or take advantage of an app that temporarily blocks the other apps that distract you while you're studying.
And find the methods of studying that work best for you. Perhaps you retain information simply by reading, or by taking notes and organizing the information in a way that makes sense to you or using flashcards if there are things you need to memorize. Or maybe try explaining it aloud, whether that is just aloud to yourself or a friend or family member. I know some of the things that I feel I've learned the best over the years were things that I needed to explain to someone else. That process seems to make me think through it in a way that I understand it more deeply and remember it. But I think we all process things a little differently, so do what works for you.
And find the methods of studying that work best for you. Perhaps you retain information simply by reading, or by taking notes and organizing the information in a way that makes sense to you or using flashcards if there are things you need to memorize. Or maybe try explaining it aloud, whether that is just aloud to yourself or a friend or family member. I know some of the things that I feel I've learned the best over the years were things that I needed to explain to someone else. That process seems to make me think through it in a way that I understand it more deeply and remember it. But I think we all process things a little differently, so do what works for you.
Allen Moore
Solutions Architecture
4
Answers
Florence, Alabama
Updated
Allen’s Answer
I think because you're asking the questions you're on the right track. Having identified an issue but not attempting to correct it is a recipe for failure. As a life long learner at 53 years old, currently studying for my doctorate, scheduling your studies are critical. Resolve to set incremental goals you can achieve. If you set your goals to far out and you miss them often you will either burn out or feel dejected by the coursework and give up. When you study I find taking notes are helpful. Just because you begin on the page in the upper left and end at the lower right it is incorrect to assume you took anything from the materials. Other methods I find helpful, flashcards as Dana suggested, you tube, self-checks summaries, and listening to a pod cast on the topic.
Good luck and stay the course.
Good luck and stay the course.