Struggling With Science Courses - Need Advice

Alix2012
Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:44:36 +0000

@ Gutter - What wuroc15 said is absolutely true. It’s no coincidence that only 10% of preMeds make it to Med school and most Bio/Biochem/Chem/Physics/Neuro majors change their majors. However, i’m definitely not saying to change your major! I gave you Econ/Business as an alternative because you mentioned wanting a good job after graduation (and those majors are considered easier than Biochem). Anyway:

Go to office hours, talk to TA’s. Form a study group - there’s lots of people struggling in class, so maybe get together with 2-5 people and you can study together, explain things to each other you might not get on your own. For me, explaining things to other people really helps.

Don’t just read 50 straight pages of your Chem textbooks - read it SLOWLY and pause every couple of pages, think about it, maybe do a sample problem (there’s usually one in the margins). Pretend in your head you’re explaining a difficult concept to someone. Summarize the material to yourself every couple of pages. Don’t just read it blindly because you’ll forget.

Don’t read the chapter in order over and over! People tend to remember the beginning and end and forget the middle. The first time you read a chapter, read it beginning to end. Then go back and select random passages, and read a couple pages from there. If you’re re-reading a chapter, select a random passage in the middle and start from there - I remember learning this in HS Psych class, it works. :)

Also, it sounds like you’re having difficulty making connections (e.g your wood/float example). I’m not really sure how to address this, but another tip about not reading blindly: remember to provide examples to yourself when you read. Like if you were reading a passage about hydrolysis breaking polysaccharides into monosaccharides, think of examples (Glucose + Fructose = sucrose, sorry I can’t type out the symbols!) and explain it to yourself with the examples. This method of studying is slower, but more efficient. Learn concepts, never strive to memorize a ridiculous amount of info!

Basically, study actively rather than passively.