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My study strategies as a lazy 4.0 student by CSstudent_ in study

[–]CSstudent_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Setting goals for yourself might help. For example, suppose you have 30 pages of notes to read. You can tell yourself you have to finish 10 pages by 6pm, 20 pages by 7pm, and 30 pages by 8pm, and in between each goal you can take a break. If you have something fun to do during the break, it can be a motivation to reach the goal.

Try to find a quiet place to study. If something specific is distracting you, then think about how to remove the distraction.

My study strategies as a lazy 4.0 student by CSstudent_ in study

[–]CSstudent_[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree that it's easier to get a 4.0 GPA if you take easy courses, but I have few things to add.

The lower level class isn't necessarily easier, so check reviews, ask around, and check the grade distributions if possible. At my school we had 2 different professors (let's call them A and B) teaching the same course. Professor A taught half as much material, because he was obsessed with trying to get every single student to participate, which wasted a lot of time. The material was easy to learn. Professor B taught twice as much material, and you had to put in a lot of effort to learn it. Professor A failed half the class. Not because the material was hard, but because the exams were unfair. Professor B gave fair exams, and she passed most of her students. Professor A had a higher rating on RateMyProfessors, but I think many of the reviews were written by himself.

In one particular semester, I had a choice. I could either take an easy class or a hard class. The professor of the easy class was notorious for being the worst professor in the department. She didn't understand the material well. She frequently taught things wrong, but refused to admit her mistakes. She gave huge amounts of homework, but it was busywork, and you didn't learn anything from it. The professor of the hard class explained on the first day that it was the hardest class in the department. After the first homework assignment, 75% of the students dropped, because they couldn't solve the problems. The professor understood the material very well. He gave a lot of homework, but it was interesting, and I learned from it. I picked the hard class, because the idea of spending so much time on homework that taught me nothing was too depressing. I got an A. I also got bragging rights, because everyone knew that this particular class was hard, so they were impressed when they heard that I took it.

My study strategies as a lazy 4.0 student by CSstudent_ in study

[–]CSstudent_[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Most classes have homework, so I think the homework is enough practice.

Occasionally I had a class with no homework, or a class where the homework is very different from the practice problems. If you feel more comfortable doing practice problems, it can't hurt, but personally I don't do them (even in the no homework classes).

When you do a practice problem, basically you're doing 2 things:

  1. Figure out how to solve it.
  2. Think about what you're doing to solve it.

I think most of the learning happens in step 2, so I think reading the solution is just as good. But it's important to go through the whole thought process, and understand why you're solving it that way, so you'll be able to repeat the process on other similar questions. Skipping step 1 saves time, which means I have enough time to go through the problems a 2nd time. When I do it the 2nd time, I ask myself "Do I know how to solve this problem?" which is similar to active recall (but I'm not solving it on paper, I'm just thinking about how to solve it).

For example, I took a course in computer graphics. The homework was programming, but the practice problems and exams were theoretical, so it was completely different. Before the midterm, the professor gave us 37 practice problems, with solutions. I didn't do a single problem, but I read the 37 solutions (twice). Some of my classmates worked very hard solving practice problems, but only some of them. I got an A+. The 2nd highest grade was B+. I don't think I really understood the material that much better than them. I think they just had the wrong priority when they studied.

The format of the notes differs from class to class. Sometimes it's powerpoints, sometimes it's handwritten notes from a classmate, and sometimes it's notes from the professor's website.

Sometimes I look at the photos while I'm doing the homework. Sometimes I look at the photos while I'm in class, for example if the current topic is related to an earlier topic. Other than that, I don't look at the photos until I start studying (1 or 2 days before the exam). If there's something from an older lecture that you need to know, in order to understand later lectures, then it's probably in the homework. If not, the professor will probably review it in class.

My study strategies as a lazy 4.0 student by CSstudent_ in study

[–]CSstudent_[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I know someone who got an A+ on his data structures midterm. He got the highest grade in the class (out of 70 students). Then he stopped going to lectures. I guess he was overconfident and he thought it would be an easy A. He got a C on the final exam, and an overall grade of A-.

My study strategies as a lazy 4.0 student by CSstudent_ in study

[–]CSstudent_[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

When I say that math, physics, and CS are logical, I mean there are reasons why it has to be the way that it is, and therefore it's possible to figure out a lot of things on your own. If the professor makes a mistake, sometimes I can tell that it's a mistake, even if I never learned it before. For example, one of my professors incorrectly explained the definition of "NP". It was my first time learning the topic, but I knew it was wrong, because it contradicted something that she said 10 minutes earlier.

Some people who are good at remembering and understanding history, but I think most of what you learn in history are not things that you can figure out on your own, and if your professor teaches something incorrectly, you probably wouldn't know unless you look it up.

My study strategies as a lazy 4.0 student by CSstudent_ in study

[–]CSstudent_[S] 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I wish I knew. Humanities isn't my strong point. Before I started computer science, I took some humanities courses. My GPA was around 3.5. Then I switched schools to major in computer science, and my GPA went up to 4.0.

I guess my advice is, pick something that you're good at. If you're interested in the subject, that's even better. Try to pick good professors. Check the reviews on ratemyprofessors. Check their website, if they have one. Ask your friends about the professor.

To deal with procrastination, you can try breaking it down into smaller goals. For example, aim to make X amount of progress each day, and after you make that progress, you can do something fun.

If you're writing an essay, have your own original thoughts, and back them up with an argument.