Study Habits?

[SuperGroove]

I'm in my sophomore year of College, and I'm doing terribly to start my first semester as a sophomore. I don't know what happened, but the little study habits that I had back in high school, have completely left me.

If I manage to get an A on the Calc 1 Final(Highly Unlikely), I'll still be able to manage a B or a C. Calc is too hard for me. f I manage to get an A on the Econ Final, I can pull my grade up to a High B. If I manage to get an A on the Bio I Exam, I can pull my grade up to a B. If If If. I'm going to enjoy my Thanksgiving, and get to work. The trouble is...I have TOO many distractions.

I've already unplugged my TV, and unplugged my xbox. they've been unplugged for about 1 and 1/2 months. My key distraction is the internet. However, I depend on it for my Calc Homework, which is always due online.

So my question is, what are your studying habits? Do you have any advice on how to study for a Calc Exam? I want to try and do all the problems from the book, but only half the answers are in the book. The odd number problems are always the easiest and are in the back of the book. The even are BUTT hard for me.

I know what to do for my Econ exam. I'm an econ major. To get an A, I must make an X. The pay and supply curve. The Higher I want my grade, the more money my teacher gets JUUUST kidding. 2000 level Econ is easy. I've just be butt lazy.

Bio...eh...seriously, this has got to be the second hardest thing that I've ever had to study for in my life. SO many terms, so vague of notes...and such poor reading material. The highest grade on my first BIO exam was a 75. I got a 42. Rounded up, the person with a 75 got an A, and I got a C+. What's the point of making tests so hard when no one aces them without a curve?!

Does anyone think that living in the dorms is detrimental to studying? I TRULY believe it is. There is no way in hell that I can get sleep before 4:00a.m. My Resident Advisor is buddy buddy with everyone and will not write anyone up for noise violation. Neither will security, because they want to be hip with the kids.

Next year...apartment. This year? :-/ I'm so worried...I have a 3.1 GPA right now, and would like it to remain so...at least until I can shake this laziness off(NOW).

SO how does everyone study?

 

[tweakmm]

you had study habits in high school? :Q
I wish I had some

 

[CTho9305]

Online assingments really bug me (and ones distributed in pdf, because the printers here are unreliable, so it is more convenient to view them in acrobat). The internet is a HUGE distraction .

 

[CrazyDe1]

That's the biggest waste of time ever doing every problem out of the book...
The key to school is to look at a few problems and make generalizations about them..look at them in a larger light and see how you can apply the pattern or the concept. Know how to use the equations and figure the rest out in the test.
On technical classes I find it useful to memorize homework problems. The way I see it is like this, everyone has a basic understanding of the material, even the dumbest kid. All you're trying to do is beat the curve by 10-15 points and homework will weight the rest of your grade enough to get you a high B or a low A...so if you memorize problems you have an advantage cause most test problems are just like homework problems. That and you've probably taken a test where you can do it all but one little thing gets you stuck and you can't quite rmember it. Well, if you have HW's memorized, you'll have it there for you. That and if the problems are exactly the same you can breeze through them. Yeah, it sounds bad and everything but it works. The more examples you have to draw from the better. I've got a 3.6 and I study and do hw about an hour a week. Now on weeks where I have embedded system labs due I spend like 8 hours in the lab, but I never do anything but go through and memorize HW's for tests. I went to half of my first diffeq class, they had to tell me who the prof was at the first test and I ended up w/ an A- in there just cause I memorized the HW's before tests.
There's people that read the whole book before a test...pointless...I find that notes are pretty useless too unless the professor specifically mentioned this will be on the test, then look at it.

 

[CrazyDe1]

Oh yeah, old tests and quizzes work too. If they aren't available find someone that already took the class and look at their tests...half the battle is being prepared and knowing what to expect cause a lot of the material is worthless. The really smart kids can simplify concepts and make them really simple.

 

[Supermercado]

I'd say enjoy Thanksgiving, but don't slack off over it. As much as I would like to relax over break (or work for a few days and earn some money), I have to write a program that's due Sunday night (RAWR!) and a paper for my military history class that's due the Wednesday after we get back. I'm going to a concert Tuesday night so I won't be home until Wednesday and I'm leaving Saturday to visit a friend of mine from high school for a night. So I get basically about two days of break, followed by a week of class, then finals.

What I'm trying to say is, don't not do anything over break. If nothing else, at least take one book home and try and study for 5 or 6 hours. If you look at it this way, it's 5 or 6 hours less you'll have to study when you're back at school.