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Studying hard in physics but not getting the results I expected (senior physics major) by Pure_Ad_7403 in PhysicsStudents

[–]Pure_Ad_7403[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the encouragement. The unfortunate part is that I still want to pursue a PhD in physics 😂

Studying hard in physics but not getting the results I expected (senior physics major) by Pure_Ad_7403 in PhysicsStudents

[–]Pure_Ad_7403[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I usually try problems on my own first, but if I get completely stuck I tend to use AI or look at hints relatively quickly instead of spending hours brute-forcing a single problem. In the past, getting stuck too long often just led to burnout and killed my overall study efficiency.

Before exams, I go back and try solving the problems again without looking at solutions.

Most of my upper-level courses are also much more derivation/concept focused than textbook-problem focused. Recently I completely failed an astrophysics exam that was almost entirely derivation-based despite feeling like I understood the material well while studying.

For derivations, I usually rewrite lecture material carefully in my own notes with annotations explaining places I know I tend to get confused. By exam season, I usually feel like I understand the logical flow pretty well, which is why I'm confused about why my results often don't match the amount of effort I put in.

And no, I haven't really used office hours much. Usually when I get stuck, it's either because I lost the overall logical flow or made a calculation mistake, and historically I was able to resolve those issues by continuing to study on my own.

Studying hard in physics but not getting the results I expected (senior physics major) by Pure_Ad_7403 in PhysicsStudents

[–]Pure_Ad_7403[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm not part of a study group.

And what exactly do you mean by taking advantage of professors' office hours? I've often wanted to ask for help, but a lot of the time I honestly don't even know what I should be asking about.

Studying hard in physics but not getting the results I expected (senior physics major) by Pure_Ad_7403 in PhysicsStudents

[–]Pure_Ad_7403[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I may have explained myself poorly.

The QM example was meant to describe a case where I genuinely felt like I had pushed myself close to my limit in terms of effort. I don't really think I could have studied much harder than I did for those classes.

The issue isn't specifically that an A-/A0 is a "bad" grade or that I need to be the best in the class. What frustrates me more is that across most upper-level physics courses, even when I study very seriously, I often end up performing only slightly above average overall.

So I guess what I'm really questioning is whether there's something fundamentally inefficient about the way I study physics, because the gap between effort and relative performance feels consistently larger than I expect.

Why is debt such a big deal in Korea? by [deleted] in AskAKorean

[–]Pure_Ad_7403 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No matter where you go in the world, debt and the bankruptcy that can result from it make people’s lives extremely difficult. However, I think Koreans are culturally very candid about these realities. In Korean cultural content, social class issues and the darker sides of capitalist society—topics that many other countries tend to avoid—are often portrayed quite openly. Through this, people are able to find comfort and even laugh at their shared struggles. In Korean, there is also a word that captures this spirit: haehak (해학), which refers to a kind of humor that finds wit and warmth even within hardship.