<p>The problem with coursework is that coursework is structured in such a way as to “measure” knowledge at the end of the course. It provides no means of measuring knowledge months after the course, when one may have absorbed the course material better (especially since learning is best done over a period of months, especially as one must review the material in order to learn material on top of that). One could choose research, but you can’t really compare one’s research with another, and the results of research are highly dependent on chance variables such as the selection of project and that of mentor.</p>
<p>I know that there are the GRE Subject tests, but the level of those subject tests aren’t so high. Moreover, I don’t want to be accused of being a “lazy ■■■■■■■” just because of high GRE scores and low GPA. I do pull numerous all-nighters and spend numerous hours on homework - it’s just that my learning style is different from that of others, and as a result, I don’t absorb material very well on the first try, but absorb it better through mistakes that I’ve made (and I tend to be motivated by coursework to pull all-nighters to study - it’s harder to do that by purely self-studying). I’m actually less distractible during all-nighters (but it’s just the way I tend to operationalize how hard I need to work).</p>
<p>Ideally, I’d like there to be an exam system similar to that of AP exams and SAT II exams (or the systems that some other universities use, that you can pass out of the material). But yet here, you can only take exams by taking more and more courses. Evidently, it’s not a good way to demonstrate knowledge because people learn at different rates and some may learn better after reviewing the material over a period of months after the course.</p>
<p>I could try to arrange with a professor to “re-take” an exam independently of the course - but that’s not going to accomplish anything… (unless the professor is going to write a rec for me). </p>
<p>Anyways, this is how I tend to view lectures:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=97194[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=97194</a></p>
<p>Anyways, so my questions are
(1) anyone with similar experiences?
(2) any suggestions other than pre-studying? (which is the obvious route, which I’m planning on doing, but this isn’t going to help with courses I already didn’t do that well in - but learned well through self-study later on)</p>
<p>You seem to say that pre-studying and pulling all nighters actually works for you. It is obvious that your problem is time management not some learning disability/difference.</p>
<p>Keep a diary of what you do over the course of a week in, say, 15 minute increments. Chances are there is a LOT of time that is simply wasted or used ineffectively. Heck, I guarantee you will find HOURS of wasted time. Find it and use it.</p>
<p>College courses are set up to require about 2 hours of study for each hour of class time. It works out to something like a full time job - about 40 hours a week. (This is not a co-incidence, BTW.) Even if you need twice the normal amount of study time (4 hours/class hour) you’re looking at about 48 hours of studying per week outside class. Something that is EASILY doable while leaving time for a social life. Even THREE TIMES average is doable, though that will cut into your social life. Every course comes with a syllabus - use it to plan your study times. </p>
<p>To succede in academics you have to meet certain requirements. How you do that is up to you - but the system is not going to change no matter how unfair it might seem to you.</p>
<p>Incidentally, the attitude about lectures in that thread you linked is just plain stupid. Get over it and go to class.</p>
<p>I’ve taken steps to curb my wasted time almost to a minimum now (only occasional checks at the news, e-mail, etc) [but I still find it necessary to study for longer periods of time by relinquishing sleep time - which has not affected my performance that much - some people are fine under sleep deprivation]. Also, I’m primarily into math/science (where even instructors recognize that you learn material by doing problems, not by going to class).</p>
<p>The main thing is that knowledge in math/science is cumulative. My knowledge in linear algebra or differential equations may not be complete by the time I “finish” a course, but I need to review it later on, and find my understanding of them MUCH improved after reviewing them (after finishing a course that only lasts for 2.5 months)</p>
<p>And under the traditional system, I don’t find ways to demonstrate knowledge in fields that I’ve self-studied. I’d like a way to do this (I could jack exams off MIT OCW - but then I can’t prove that I took them out cold without looking at the answers)</p>
<p>As was said in your previous thread - if you want to be in college or grad school, you have to play by the rules. That includes classes. No other way.</p>
<p>I recommend you don’t skip classes in grad school. You will fail your first year, simply because your profs will not accept it. And perhaps - just perhaps - it is time for you to recognize that your profs know more about what you need to know and how to get that information to you than you do. The sooner you try to be more openminded, the more you will succeed.</p>
<p>As I’m taking grad courses right now, I have personal experience that many professors don’t really mind it that much if you skip classes (in math/science). They are more likely to mind it in the Humanities</p>
<p>Yeah - good luck with continuing that in grad school. Perhaps yours is exceptionally lax, but even the people in the sciences I know don’t get away with that.</p>