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What study techniques work best for you and your courses?

e.i flashcards, recording a lecture, prolonged study sessions or more short bursts

college medicine spring25 premed
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Ciara’s Answer

It took a bit of trial and error to figure out what works best for me. To get into a "concentration zone", I like to listen to instrumental music. I also prefer to study in public - a library, cafe or even a family member's house. This helps me stay accountable and focused. I use the Pomodoro method, which means I study in 25 minute bursts and then take a 5 minute break. After four consecutive work sessions, I will take a longer 15 or 20 minute break. To actually learn material, I will read through the information / watch a lecture and write my own notes on the topic. I then read through my own notes a few times, saying the information out loud. I then cover my notes and quiz myself to check my memory. Once I'm satisfied I've retained a good amount of the information, I will practice doing exam style questions on the topic to lock in the knowledge.
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Evangeline’s Answer

If you've done any research into study methods, you've probably heard of passive studying vs active studying. Passive studying is just observing knowledge without altering it. Examples include reading or taking verbatim notes. Active studying is something that requires you to think or change the knowledge into a different format. Examples include practice questions, the blurt method (wring down everything you remember about a topic and going back to notes and adding to it), and the Feynman technique (explaining the topic to someone who knows nothing about the topic, you can use a pet, family member, plant, stuffed animal, etc). Active study methods are typically best, but a good combination is what I've been using.

For me, building a routine and developing good study habits has been a game-changer! Make sure to block off time for just studying and work it into your day. You may find that this looks different for you compared to other students. Maybe you want you wake up early to study, or maybe you work best at night. It's good to have a dedicated study spot. (Trust me, your bed will not work.) If you have a desk, that's great, but you can also use a kitchen table. If studying at home is not an option, find a good coffee shop or library near you. You don't have to go to the same spot every time, but have a few spots and experiment with what works best for you.

Use AI responsibly; I say this very cautiously because some people use AI in a way that isn't helpful. Don't use it to do assignments or cheat, but use it as a study tool. If a passage in a textbook isn't making sense, you can copy and paste the paragraph into an algorithm and ask it to explain it to you in a different way. Some prompts I've seen are "explain this to me like I'm 5" or "explain this to me using girl talk". AI can also be great for generating practice questions or tests. If you have a rubric or know what topics will be on the test, paste it into your AI system and ask for practice questions. Make sure to double-check your notes or textbook as AI can sometimes make mistakes.

If you have any other questions or need any other tips feel free to reach out. Hope this helps, and good luck during college!
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Hwal’s Answer

Fredy,

Two habits I've used come to mind. In my master's program (PA school), I was in class 8am-5pm, Monday to Friday, with many more hours spent at home and in the library in evenings and on weekends. Firstly, use of printed PowerPoint slides was important to me, while many of my classmates didn't print them out. I found that this allowed me to make notes and highlight quickly and easily, and reviewing for exams and reference became easier this way, because I could pull the slides out of my backpack instead of accessing them on my laptop. Secondly, I studied only when I was ready and able to. In order words, if and as soon as I sensed that I was reading the same paragraph repeatedly or otherwise wasn't ready to most efficiently understand and absorb information, I took a break until I felt ready to learn again.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any specific questions I can help with.

Hwal
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Madison’s Answer

I recommend 1. prepping ahead!! this will save you so so much time and stress. Always make a weekly or monthly schedule for what you need to study, how long it will take you, and plan how you can break that studying up into smaller time amounts that work well to still let you have a life outside of studying/school and take time for yourself and most most importantly sleep! A second good rule of thumb is by 2 days prior to a big exam you should be done reviewing all material for a 1st or 2nd time and be only doing a final review. Also quizzing yourself with a classmate is always fun too

Things that worked well for me: I wrote out what courses I was taking that semester. Made a spread sheet for each course and the exams in those classes/dates of the exams. I wrote out which lectures would be on each exam and then as I studied them I checked off how many times I had reviewed each lecture prior to the exam. This helped me organize where I was at time wise with studying for multiple courses/exams at the same time. For me, I tried to review one long in depth time for each lecture/class, then I did two more reviews where I tried to highlight/make notes on things I didn't know as well/needed to review more and then lastly, 2-3 days before each exam I wanted to be done with me 3 passes of the material from each lecture and then in those last 2-3 days I just re-read/reviewed the material (aka I was done learning anything NEW). I also then would get a friend and quiz each other on the lectures/material for a short period of time. Lastly, the morning of the exam (because I'm a morning person) I very quickly reviewed/re-read my notes one last time (helps with visual memory, or at least for me it does). I also wrote all my notes on one piece of paper or as small amounts of paper as possible which for me worked to help lower the intense volume of notes and only have the IMPORTANT things highlighted.

Hope this helps!
Madison
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Gisele’s Answer

You eventually understand how your brain works and find the best way to study. For me, it is repetition. Exhaustively reading and quizzing myself over and over on the same thing, the same way I prepare today for job interviews or an important work presentation. Read, review, quiz, repeat everything until it is perfect, or close to perfection. If there is no time, taking notes, reading the notes and 1-2 questions on the topics might help.
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