Looking for advice to improve my grades in my Senior year at university

[Barracuda]

Thank you all very much. I can see a major change in my study sessions. Setting S.M.A.R.T goals makes a big difference. It doesn't have to be voluminous when i start. I only need to hit my daily target which culminates to the overall course syllabus. And lots of practice.
I really do wonder if toppers stick to a study type i.e Maybe they go for the past questions first, then study the notes after to cover what's left.

 

[mcastillo356]

Hi, Barracuda, I'm very happy that you've found a way, a practical one.

I really do wonder if toppers stick to a study type i.e Maybe they go for the past questions first, then study the notes after to cover what's left.

Maybe. The question is that you've discovered on your own how to achieve. I'm proud of you.
Greetings!

 

[Barracuda]

Hi, Barracuda, I'm very happy that you've found a way, a practical one.

Maybe. The question is that you've discovered on your own how to achieve. I'm proud of you.
Greetings!

Thank you very much sir.

 

[Barracuda]

Hello everyone,
A quick update. I'm still on the project, I've developed a study habit, I've managed to reduce some of my distractions (mostly my smartphone...i bought a small basic phone which i have with me almost all the time, and deleted most of the apps on my smartphone). Looking back, I really don't know why I found it so difficult to study, it's tremendously hard at first, but when you get into the habit, it's easy and effortless. I also found a mentor in my class, we communicated on phone, and he said no problem. He wanted to know who I was, I was reluctant telling him, I wanted us to meet physically because I didn't want him judging me based on my past, and for him to know how serious I was. He was cool about it and said he'd help. It's funny how easy it is to find help if we'd just ask. Far too many times, we struggle over trivial things because we fail to ask(i wish i knew this sooner). This quote keeps coming up.."Ask and it shall be given unto you". Sharing my experience is mostly for people who are in a similar situation as I am, to share what works for me, and my hassles.
A problem I've been dealing with recently is remembering derivations without needing to look at it over and over again. The instruction i got was to understand the physics behind it, that the math is just 30% of the derivation, while the physics concepts/ principles are 70%. Then try to solve it myself without looking at the book, do it for 4-5 days.. then I'll be fine. I'm yet to try it.
Moving forward, I'll update once a week.
Thank you for making it this far.

 

[Barracuda]

Hello,
I tried attaching concepts to diagrams. In my case, it doesn't apply to all courses I'm having. So I'm making use of rote memorization, and flash cards. School has resumed, currently I have covered a lot out of the syllabuses of the courses. I still feel I'm lagging, because for example, if the teacher asks a question, anytime I try to say the answer, I have to think really deep to bring out the answer, and it's not always right! Meanwhile, my class scholar, pulls it out in a flash with little loss of information. What am I doing wrong?

 

[PeroK]

What am I doing wrong?

Why do you think you are doing something wrong? You need to judge yourself by objective criteria relevant to what you want to achieve. That ultimately must mean understand enough of the material to pass your exams.

 

[gleem]

I think this has been pointed out that improving your capabilities whether intellectual or physical cannot be accomplished overnight. It can take months to show significant progress. Having taken so long to take action, you may only see significant progress toward the end of your courses.

 

[Vanadium 50]

What am I doing wrong?

You got a lot of advice in January. You didn't want to take it. Now you're not where you wanted to be.

Do you really need us to retype what we said last month?

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I'm seldom optimistic about student improvement in the absence of full ownership of their present condition.

 

[Barracuda]

Why do you think you are doing something wrong? You need to judge yourself by objective criteria relevant to what you want to achieve. That ultimately must mean understand enough of the material to pass your exams.

Yes, Thank you.
I was ranting. I was being unreasonable. When I try to recall what I've read during study sessions, I'm able to do so, not perfectly, but the more I try to recall, the more i discover gaps in my understanding. Since exams are an extension of my study sessions. Ultimately, the more accurately I can recall what I've read(not necessarily during classes), the more proficient I'll be during tests and exam?

 

[Barracuda]

I think this has been pointed out that improving your capabilities whether intellectual or physical cannot be accomplished overnight. It can take months to show significant progress. Having taken so long to take action, you may only see significant progress toward the end of your courses.

I was slipping to old habits i.e expecting the result without the process. That's why I never saw progress in the first place.
Thank you, I needed the alignment.

 

[PeroK]

When I try to recall what I've read during study sessions, I'm able to do so, not perfectly, but the more I try to recall, the more i discover gaps in my understanding.

This sounds like the right approach. Undergrad physics courses are distinctly non-trivial. Your brain needs time to absorb the ideas fully. Being able to identify what you don't quite understand yet is a big step in the right direction. That describes my learning process, for what it's worth.

 

[Barracuda]

You got a lot of advice in January. You didn't want to take it. Now you're not where you wanted to be.

Do you really need us to retype what we said last month?

I took the advise, and I follow it daily. I was comparing myself to someone else. Which I shouldn't have done. Moving forward, I'll contrast myself to only myself, and make sure i see progress.
Thank you for the much needed reminder,
and alignment again sir.

 

[Barracuda]

I'm seldom optimistic about student improvement in the absence of full ownership of their present condition.

I try to remind myself as often as possible, that I'm not smart. Not to bring my self down, but as a reminder that I have to work harder than everyone else.
I fail, and forget that sometimes. I might have to paste it on my wall.

 

[Barracuda]

Your brain needs time to absorb the ideas fully. Being able to identify what you don't quite understand yet is a big step in the right direction

Yes sir, noted.
I will focus more on recalling rather than rereading.

 

[Mayhem]

I went from being a C-D student to an A-B student just by applying myself more. Really, the best advice I have to give is that you should learn to be comfortable feeling stupid and be anti-complacent. There might be gaps in your knowledge which hurt to acknowledge, and never, ever is a textbook problem "too trivial". That is, until you get your grades up.

 

[austinuni]

I adopted the following study method in graduate school and I went from a C average as an undergraduate to all As earned in graduate school. It also helped that I had acquired work experience before graduate school. And of course there is grade inflation in graduate school.

When I read a textbook, I would attempt to capture the key concepts and equations while I am reading, look away from the textbook and attempt to memorize them, and them write them down on a pad of paper from memory. Then at the end of the chapter, I would review all the notes that I had taken and make sure I understood them all and they were correct. When the exam time came, I would use the notes I had written down to help memorize and study.

I think the process of reading, memorizing, and then writing down the concepts from short-term memory forced me to expend more mental energy over just reading the text.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

Maybe, and it maybe not economically feasible, is to may withdraw from the semester, take a year off and use it to study previous material. This will feel in some of the gaps you may have with physics. However, this requires extreme motivation, and a commitment to study every day and not just memorize and play flash card games. Moreover, I am reluctant to offer this advice, since you have an issue studying during the semester, when things like improving oneself, sticking to a schedule, and not really caring about grades/graduation.

In all honesty, your expectations are not grounded in reality. You can't just do things last minute and expect a different outcome. Moreover, you also lack maturity. Since you are in senior year, and now just realized that that you need to hit the books hard. What happened Freshman, Junior, Sophomore year? This is something a kid would do.

Now, I do apologize if my tone is a bit ruff. But I make no apologies for the spirit of my message. What I am trying to get at, is that its not to late to actually become a productive and studious adult. But don't expect things to change overnight, especially if you are not consistent.

Do you even like physics? Is that truly the reason as to why you cannot focus?

Is it possible to retake some of the courses and have the poor grade replaced with the better grade? This may also help you with filling in gaps in your knowledge while also awarding you a better gpa, if you actually try. However, there is a financial price to pay...

 

[PhDeezNutz]

Is it possible to retake some of the courses and have the poor grade replaced with the better grade? This may also help you with filling in gaps in your knowledge while also awarding you a better gpa, if you actually try. However, there is a financial price to pay...

OP, this might be your best option, if it is even an option.

Upper level STEM classes are demanding as is. Furthermore the material builds on itself; if you slacked off in the beginning you likely don’t have the foundation to contend with later material. To rebuild your foundation and contend with new material in a month’s time is a tall order.

On another note, a lot of your behaviors sound like symptoms of ADD/ADHD and possibly depression. I’m neither a psychiatrist or therapist but you might consider seeing one on campus.

All the best.

Edit: 9 courses? Are you crazy? Even if they aren’t all STEM that is crazy.

 

[jtbell]

I have 9 courses this semester,

I can't imagine any US university allowing a student to take 9 full-length courses in one semester. Unless perhaps the student signs a waiver saying that he takes full responsibility for the outcome.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I can't imagine any US university allowing a student to take 9 full-length courses in one semester. Unless perhaps the student signs a waiver saying that he takes full responsibility for the outcome.

When I was a student, regardless of course load, I always took full responsibility for the outcome.

Maybe the problem these days is that universities have allowed students with ordinary course loads to shift responsibility for the outcome.

 

[jtbell]

I dug out from my files a copy of my college's catalog, from the year before I retired (2015-16). In the chapter "Academic Policies and Procedures", section "Academic Course Loads", is the statement "No student will be given more than 21 credit hours per semester. This total includes correspondence, extension and audit courses." At 3 credit hours per normal lecture-only course, that corresponds to 7 courses.

We probably did tend to be more paternalistic than large universities.

 

[Barracuda]

I adopted the following study method in graduate school and I went from a C average as an undergraduate to all As earned in graduate school. It also helped that I had acquired work experience before graduate school. And of course there is grade inflation in graduate school.

When I read a textbook, I would attempt to capture the key concepts and equations while I am reading, look away from the textbook and attempt to memorize them, and them write them down on a pad of paper from memory. Then at the end of the chapter, I would review all the notes that I had taken and make sure I understood them all and they were correct. When the exam time came, I would use the notes I had written down to help memorize and study.

I think the process of reading, memorizing, and then writing down the concepts from short-term memory forced me to expend more mental energy over just reading the text.

That's what I've been using, rather than forced memorization, I read about half a page, and explain it in my own words out loud, if i make a mistake, I go back to the material. When I've got the concept down, I write a brief summary down on my jotter which I read later to review.

 

[Barracuda]

Maybe, and it maybe not economically feasible, is to may withdraw from the semester, take a year off and use it to study previous material. This will feel in some of the gaps you may have with physics. However, this requires extreme motivation, and a commitment to study every day and not just memorize and play flash card games. Moreover, I am reluctant to offer this advice, since you have an issue studying during the semester, when things like improving oneself, sticking to a schedule, and not really caring about grades/graduation.

In all honesty, your expectations are not grounded in reality. You can't just do things last minute and expect a different outcome. Moreover, you also lack maturity. Since you are in senior year, and now just realized that that you need to hit the books hard. What happened Freshman, Junior, Sophomore year? This is something a kid would do.

Now, I do apologize if my tone is a bit ruff. But I make no apologies for the spirit of my message. What I am trying to get at, is that its not to late to actually become a productive and studious adult. But don't expect things to change overnight, especially if you are not consistent.

Do you even like physics? Is that truly the reason as to why you cannot focus?

Is it possible to retake some of the courses and have the poor grade replaced with the better grade? This may also help you with filling in gaps in your knowledge while also awarding you a better gpa, if you actually try. However, there is a financial price to pay...

I always liked physics growing up. My favorite youtuber has always been vsauce. It's because of him I went into physics in the first place. Somewhere along the line, I got discouraged by the sheer amount of studying I needed to do to pass my exams, I just thought everyone was made differently, and I couldn't possibly do better. I just had a bad study habit.
It was a very stupid and costly mistake.
At this point, taking an extra year off might not be the best way to go, I'm able to cope with new materials, if i don't understand anything, I usually take note of it and ask, or watch a video or two on it. My school doesn't allow retaking of passed exams, even if you have poor grades.

 

[Barracuda]

OP, this might be your best option, if it is even an option.

Upper level STEM classes are demanding as is. Furthermore the material builds on itself; if you slacked off in the beginning you likely don’t have the foundation to contend with later material. To rebuild your foundation and contend with new material in a month’s time is a tall order.

On another note, a lot of your behaviors sound like symptoms of ADD/ADHD and possibly depression. I’m neither a psychiatrist or therapist but you might consider seeing one on campus.

All the best.

Edit: 9 courses? Are you crazy? Even if they aren’t all STEM that is crazy.

There are nine course, and are all STEM. But concepts are spread out over 4 years i.e Electro magnetism 1, 2, 3, 4.
I had ADHD, I was never quiet, up until late last year.
I locked myself up in a room, and gave my friend the keys, I slept, I woke up, I did this as often as possible, and my mind wandered till I had clarity, "a structured environment helps curb the incessant noise", distraction was and is a real problem, that's why I avoid it as much as possible.
NB: I'm not telling anyone what to do, neither do I recommend it to anyone.

 

[Barracuda]

I can't imagine any US university allowing a student to take 9 full-length courses in one semester. Unless perhaps the student signs a waiver saying that he takes full responsibility for the outcome.

That's how it is from the first year to the last.

 

[Barracuda]

I dug out from my files a copy of my college's catalog, from the year before I retired (2015-16). In the chapter "Academic Policies and Procedures", section "Academic Course Loads", is the statement "No student will be given more than 21 credit hours per semester. This total includes correspondence, extension and audit courses." At 3 credit hours per normal lecture-only course, that corresponds to 7 courses.

We probably did tend to be more paternalistic than large universities.

I'm taking five 3 units, and four 2 units. That is a total of 23 units i.e the peak total credit load of a semester.

 

[Barracuda]

I've done three tests, I wrote what I knew in the first two, I wasn't fully prepared for the third. I was terrified and depressed, that's why I haven't been uploading.
It won't happen again, persistence and consistency are another word for faith i.e if there is no faith, you wouldn't persist.

The test was split into two due to the mass failure, the other is after easter. I will complete it fully this time, with no gaps or room for excuse.

 

[Barracuda]

Thank you all for your support. I'll be discontinuing my messages to the thread as all that needs to be said has already been said, and I've been given more than enough wisdom to be successful. Exams are in a month's time, I pray not to let you and most importantly my self and my parents down. I'll message after I'm done with my exams. Thank you.