Any advice...

[Gamingphreek]

2 Weeks ago I stayed up 45 straight hours studying for a test that I needed to do well on. I just got the grade back today, and I got a 40 - the lowest grade in the class.

He kept us after class the day before teaching new material for that test. He then told us which chapters the test would cover.

I studied all of those chapters and worked my butt off pouring over our homeworks and projects and reading the book.

The test turned out to be 10 questions, 8 of which were in depth questions from 1 chapter.

Can ANYONE offer me any advice? Apparently I am not doing something right in studying. While it isn't fair what he did - I obviously hadn't mastered the material in that chapter.

This happens to me often in the upper level classes. I get A's on homeworks and projects (In CS these are huge homeworks and projects) and I fail my tests. All of this always leaves me squeaking by with a C or C+.

-Kevin

 

[oznerol]

If you still like what you're doing and are capable of doing the homework and projects, don't get too bent over about the grades. You'll get your degree, get a job, and never have to deal with ridiculous tests ever again. Getting a C/C+ is fine.

 

[CraKaJaX]

What I usually do to study for tests is NOT read the book. Most books are confusing as all hell, so I'll go over the profs notes online. I'll re-do any examples we did in class that we went through. I'll do all the practice exams (if any are given out), and I'll go back and re-do all the homeworks for the chapters that are covered on the test. I'll repeat all of it until I feel good about it. If the material is ridiculous (as EE324 is for me right now) ... I get what I can and just bank on the average being shitty. If I get a 55 or 60 but am above average, I'm happy. This usually works. I'm an EE student btw.

 

[krylon]

If you are passing your upper levels, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Gamingphreek]

I am happy with what I am doing.

The test was a 3000 level Data Structures and Algorithms class. I studied the Trees and different structures extensively. I then looked to the sorting algorithms and focused on Disk I/O/Buffers last. The test turned out to be 90% sorting algorithms, 1 I/O question, and NO structures.

C/C+ is ok - but it isn't good enough for me. My parents are paying for my college (provided my grades are good) and I want my grades to reflect how hard I am trying in school.

-Kevin

 

[esun]

Having been a student a loooong time and having worked with dozens of students over the years, the only real bit of advice I can give you is you have to figure out what works for you. Everybody learns in their own way, and you need to figure out what your way is. I would recommend going to office hours every week and asking questions when you're confused.

Unfortunately, you may just have to accept that you're bad at taking tests. If that's the case, you need to learn how to be a better test taker. Maybe you're stressing out and rushing through tests. I don't know what it might be for you, but think about it and try something different if you keep failing tests.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
2 Weeks ago I stayed up 45 straight hours studying for a test that I needed to do well on. I just got the grade back today, and I got a 40 - the lowest grade in the class.

I studied all of those chapters and worked my butt off pouring over our homeworks and projects and reading the book.

The test turned out to be 10 questions, 8 of which were in depth questions from 1 chapter.

Can ANYONE offer me any advice? Apparently I am not doing something right in studying. While it isn't fair what he did - I obviously hadn't mastered the material in that chapter.

This happens to me often in the upper level classes. I get A's on homeworks and projects (In CS these are huge homeworks and projects) and I fail my tests. All of this always leaves me squeaking by with a C or C+.

-Kevin

1. Staying up 45 straight hours studying is a waste of time. It is highly inefficient. You'd be better served sleeping at least 3-4 hours and then tackling it again after the brief rest.

2. Problem-solving based classes don't usually emphasize knowing the text, but rather knowing the concepts and how to solve the problems. Skim skim skim otherwise.

3. You're right about not doing it right. You're not studying, you're cramming.

4. Sounds like fair game to me.

5. This last paragraph makes no sense. If you don't have trouble with the homework and projects, you should be doing fine on the tests. You are definitely studying and focusing on all the wrong things if this is not the case.

 

[Tu13erhead]

.

 

[LordMorpheus]

If you're working harder than everyone and still getting the worst grades, maybe you're in the wrong game. Do you like engineering or are you just in it for the jobs/parents said so?

If you're not into engineering and you're bad at it, it might be time to explore other options. You'll be happier for it.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
If you're working harder than everyone and still getting the worst grades, maybe you're in the wrong game. Do you like engineering or are you just in it for the jobs/parents said so?

If you're not into engineering and you're bad at it, it might be time to explore other options. You'll be happier for it.

No - I love Computer Science. I enjoy doing the projects and feel like I master the material while working through them.

This test thing happens in most of my classes. I'm at the end of my Junior year here and I have just figured that it was because I never ever had to study in High School. I could just walk in, take a test, and get an A.

The all-nighters definitely aren't something I should be doing obviously. Just erase that from the study plan's board all together. Honestly, in this case, after the test when some classmates and I were talking about our answers, I knew what was wrong the instant they said it. I just didn't think of it until they said it... Could that be the lack of sleep playing in that instance?

-Kevin

Edit: I even got an Internship in the Intelligence Sector this summer that I am very excited about. I really honestly do like Computer Science.

 

[vshah]

do you go to all your classes/recitations? that helped me immensely when i was in exactly the same situation as you.

I went from:
not going to class/recitation
doing well no homework/projects
cramming for exams
getting Cs

to:
going to class/recitation
doing well on homework/projects
studying consistently (1 week in advance) for exams
getting As


of course, i started this revival a bit late in my college career, so I ended up with a pretty shit GPA (Computer Engineering). I still had 5 job offers. Don't let fear of not getting a job motivate you...it seems like you are doing it for other reasons which is good.


funny story:
once, while i was still in the "show up only for exams" phase, i came for a final in my ECE340 - Digital Computation class. The professor apparently hadn't printed enough exams, and he looks at me and asks "are you sure you're in this class?"

 

[waffleironhead]

FWIW I wouldnt worry about one course here are there. The prof. threw you a curve ball. If this is one low grade, I doubt your parents are going to pull the funding from you. They might withhold that tacoma they were gonna give you tho.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
FWIW I wouldnt worry about one course here are there. The prof. threw you a curve ball. If this is one low grade, I doubt your parents are going to pull the funding from you. They might withhold that tacoma they were gonna give you tho.

Haha - well they know that I am trying and am just coming up short in some cases.

My GPA right now is 2.64 - that isn't good enough for me.

So it all comes down to me cramming more than studying, pulling that all nighter, and not having found a study habit that works well for me.

I hate putting in so many hours of work and figuring out that I would have done just as well had a not studied

 

[Leros]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
FWIW I wouldnt worry about one course here are there. The prof. threw you a curve ball. If this is one low grade, I doubt your parents are going to pull the funding from you. They might withhold that tacoma they were gonna give you tho.

Haha - well they know that I am trying and am just coming up short in some cases.

My GPA right now is 2.64 - that isn't good enough for me.

So it all comes down to me cramming more than studying, pulling that all nighter, and not having found a study habit that works well for me.

I hate putting in so many hours of work and figuring out that I would have done just as well had a not studied

A 2.64 is pretty low. I thought you said you were doing good until now?

 

[LordMorpheus]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: LordMorpheus
If you're working harder than everyone and still getting the worst grades, maybe you're in the wrong game. Do you like engineering or are you just in it for the jobs/parents said so?

If you're not into engineering and you're bad at it, it might be time to explore other options. You'll be happier for it.

No - I love Computer Science. I enjoy doing the projects and feel like I master the material while working through them.

This test thing happens in most of my classes. I'm at the end of my Junior year here and I have just figured that it was because I never ever had to study in High School. I could just walk in, take a test, and get an A.

The all-nighters definitely aren't something I should be doing obviously. Just erase that from the study plan's board all together. Honestly, in this case, after the test when some classmates and I were talking about our answers, I knew what was wrong the instant they said it. I just didn't think of it until they said it... Could that be the lack of sleep playing in that instance?

-Kevin

Edit: I even got an Internship in the Intelligence Sector this summer that I am very excited about. I really honestly do like Computer Science.

Well in that case tough it out and take your C's. It might make getting job #1 a little harder, but after that it's all resume and zero transcript (getting job #1 will be lots easier if you have at least a 3.0, though, many companies have cutoffs there).

It's unfortunate that you don't test well but you'll be fine.

 

[TecHNooB]

Studying efficiently is about asking the right questions and making the best logical connections while keeping the actual concept simple. Always figure out what is emphasized and what else could be asked that hasn't been yet. After you have a thorough understanding, the last part is execution. Trust that you have covered everything that could be asked on an exam. Your job when taking the exam is to decipher what's on it into one of the concepts you have learned. Sometimes that's the hardest part. If other students can 'see' it, you can too

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: Leros

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
FWIW I wouldnt worry about one course here are there. The prof. threw you a curve ball. If this is one low grade, I doubt your parents are going to pull the funding from you. They might withhold that tacoma they were gonna give you tho.

Haha - well they know that I am trying and am just coming up short in some cases.

My GPA right now is 2.64 - that isn't good enough for me.

So it all comes down to me cramming more than studying, pulling that all nighter, and not having found a study habit that works well for me.

I hate putting in so many hours of work and figuring out that I would have done just as well had a not studied

A 2.64 is pretty low. I thought you said you were doing good until now?

No - way back in High School I did fine. In college things have always been this way which is why my GPA is the way it is.

This year (Junior year) I have been working my butt off trying to get to a 3.0 but it just keeps slipping further away despite all the different ways I am trying to study for the tests.

I did say I was doing well on Projects/Homework (Those are huge in CS) which ends up saving my grades. I just desperately want to put everything together. I know I am capable - the material isn't hard (Though the books/notes, while interesting, admittedly suck for teaching)

-Kevin

 

[Tu13erhead]

.

 

[Gibson486]

DOn't just study it, learn it. You probably spent your time looking over every little detail. No, get the big picture. I was the same way and my gpa dipped down to 2.5 by junior year. At one time and i lost my scholarship. I changed my methods to actually started understanding what I was doing. I graduated with a 2.99999. What good is studying if you are just going to try memorize every little detail and you do not know why it is important? If you understand the basics and how it generally works, the harder stuff becomes easier.

 

[LordSnailz]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
DOn't just study it, learn it. You probably spent your time looking over every little detail. No, get the big picture. I was the same way and my gpa dipped down to 2.5 by junior year. At one time and i lost my scholarship. I changed my methods to actually started understanding what I was doing. I graduated with a 2.99999. What good is studying if you are just going to try memorize every little detail and you do not know why it is important? If you understand the basics and how it generally works, the harder stuff becomes easier.

This.

There is something missing in your understanding if you're doing all the hw and scoring low in your exam. Technically, if most of the questions were from ch1 you're missing something fundamental.

If you look back at your exam, why did you missed the questions? If you were to redo the exam right now, how would you do?

 

[CountZero]

Don't think of yourself as a victim. The test would really only be unfair if it was written in French tests that only cover a subset of material are pretty common.

Your studying habits sound pretty bad. Some people can work like that but obviously you aren't one of them. When you get HW back and you do well do you still miss some pieces of the problems? Make sure you clearly know why you missed what you missed. Do you know why you missed the exam questions, can you do them now? Talk with the professor or TAs, not the night before the exam but the week or so leading up to the exam.

The week leading up to the exam spend 1-3 hours a night studying, go over old problems, look through the book, whatever seem applicable for the class. This will help you find out what you are weak on early and ask questions if you need to. For me the night before a big exam I'd spend 2 hours tops studying, at that point it should be review and you are just making sure you still remember it. I would intentionally end my nights doing something fun (gaming, tv, whatever) and then maybe 30 minute review the morning of.

Good luck!

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: LordSnailz

Originally posted by: Gibson486
DOn't just study it, learn it. You probably spent your time looking over every little detail. No, get the big picture. I was the same way and my gpa dipped down to 2.5 by junior year. At one time and i lost my scholarship. I changed my methods to actually started understanding what I was doing. I graduated with a 2.99999. What good is studying if you are just going to try memorize every little detail and you do not know why it is important? If you understand the basics and how it generally works, the harder stuff becomes easier.

This.

There is something missing in your understanding if you're doing all the hw and scoring low in your exam. Technically, if most of the questions were from ch1 you're missing something fundamental.

If you look back at your exam, why did you missed the questions? If you were to redo the exam right now, how would you do?

It wasn't from Chapter 1 - that was bad wording on my part. It was from 1 chapter in the series of chapters in this exam term.

If I redid the test, I definitely would be able to get an A on it. Not only that - I wouldn't have put so much effort into studying all the different parts of the I/O Subsystem, buffers, and Structures - I would have put it into the algorithm analysis and sorting methods.

The don't study, but learn, is definitely something I am falling short on. I do; however, master everything on projects. If we did a bunch of smaller projects during the semester to teach topics - I would have an A.

Even with the 40 I got on the test, the 48 on the test before that - I still, after factoring in my other grades have a 74 (C) in the course. We still have 1 Project and 1 Homework left in addition to the final. It is highly possible I can still get a B for the class - I really really want that too.

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: CountZero
Don't think of yourself as a victim. The test would really only be unfair if it was written in French tests that only cover a subset of material are pretty common.

Your studying habits sound pretty bad. Some people can work like that but obviously you aren't one of them. When you get HW back and you do well do you still miss some pieces of the problems? Make sure you clearly know why you missed what you missed. Do you know why you missed the exam questions, can you do them now? Talk with the professor or TAs, not the night before the exam but the week or so leading up to the exam.

The week leading up to the exam spend 1-3 hours a night studying, go over old problems, look through the book, whatever seem applicable for the class. This will help you find out what you are weak on early and ask questions if you need to. For me the night before a big exam I'd spend 2 hours tops studying, at that point it should be review and you are just making sure you still remember it. I would intentionally end my nights doing something fun (gaming, tv, whatever) and then maybe 30 minute review the morning of.

Good luck!

I asked my friend who told me that he does all of his other assignments in advance and completely clears out his schedule the day before a test. He then studies in 1 hour blocks the entire day with 15 minute breaks (Longer for food and classes). He always gets A's.

Clearly, this isn't the best way for me - I definitely am going to have to start studying the week before. I guess my main problem with studying a week before is that I'm worried I'll have forgotten the material come 1 week later (That in addition to trying to complete all other work).

Looks like my time management still isn't where it needs to be.... Thanks for all the advice guys. Keep it coming - I am putting everything I can into getting good grades this semester.

-Kevin

 

[blahblah99]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
2 Weeks ago I stayed up 45 straight hours studying for a test that I needed to do well on. I just got the grade back today, and I got a 40 - the lowest grade in the class.

He kept us after class the day before teaching new material for that test. He then told us which chapters the test would cover.

I studied all of those chapters and worked my butt off pouring over our homeworks and projects and reading the book.

The test turned out to be 10 questions, 8 of which were in depth questions from 1 chapter.

Can ANYONE offer me any advice? Apparently I am not doing something right in studying. While it isn't fair what he did - I obviously hadn't mastered the material in that chapter.

This happens to me often in the upper level classes. I get A's on homeworks and projects (In CS these are huge homeworks and projects) and I fail my tests. All of this always leaves me squeaking by with a C or C+.

-Kevin

With engineering classes you have to read the material and UNDERSTAND the principles and theories, not just memorize it. Engineering classes aren't like musicology classes. You can't simply just memorize text and regurgitate it on the exam.

 

[polarbear6]

Dude these are the basics.. sorting and stuff.. Most of my friends say its very boring. But wait It will get interesting after they start teaching you stuff like COMPUTER ORGANIZATIONS.. JAVA... .Net..Web designing..