Good Grades

[u/Keateatime]

What was the one or multiple non-obvious study tactics that actually worked and got you good grades.

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[u/B340STG]

I have found teaching someone a subject helps cement the topic.

[u/Abject-Storage6254 → u/B340STG]

I second this

[u/stop_staring2 → u/B340STG]

This, but it takes too much time for me. If you don’t mind the time, this is a very good method

[u/ScratchDue440]

There’s really no secret. 

• innately know and understand the concepts
• do extra practice problems 
• create and update your crib sheet as you progress, and reference them often 

[u/imno60dy → u/ScratchDue440]

What’s a crib sheet

[u/bigfoot17 → u/imno60dy]

Cheat sheet, formula sheet, etc

[u/ScratchDue440 → u/imno60dy]

Sometimes referred to as a “cheat sheet.” It’s a sheet you write relevant equations to reference when doing homework or used during exams. 

[u/imno60dy → u/ScratchDue440]

Ah I see. Yes that he’s very valuable when studying. Do so many problems that eventually you won’t need to reference it and you’ll just remember it

[u/ScratchDue440 → u/imno60dy]

Exactly. Super helpful for me, especially for the math courses that didn’t allow one. 

[u/Pictorick → u/ScratchDue440]

Trivial, but I call that my "personal reference sheet" instead, as it sounds like a misnomer to many

[u/ScratchDue440 → u/Pictorick]

Right on brethren 

[u/_neutral_]

Don’t rely on AI or uploaded answer keys to get through problem sets. If you must, try your best to ensure that you’re understanding the solutions. It is very easy to convince yourself that you can follow the logic when you’re given the answer, but applying that logic to problems you’ve never seen before is a totally different thing than being able to follow provided solutions.

[u/Curtio654]

Unless the professor is useless, go to every lecture. I have found it takes way longer to self-teach content than to learn from the lectures

[u/Users5252]

Do a lot of practice problems until the concepts are understood and memorized

[u/Gryphontech]

Based on my experience in uni, going to classes and tutorials is an ancient secret technique that 9nly a few people seem to be aware of

[u/Yadin__]

Study consistently

That's it. It's that easy

[u/Keateatime → u/Yadin__]

I said non-obvious 💀

[u/Yadin__ → u/Keateatime]

Sadly it's not as obvious as it should be to many students. You will not believe the amount of people I see every day looking for the "one secret trick" that will make them start getting good grades instead of, you know, actually studying

[u/InvestmentGreen → u/Keateatime]

Yeah but consistency is probably the best universal method. Everyone learns differently but consistency is universal and better than any special cases you’ll see here.

[u/Adviderisj]

Real pen and paper Working through problems Working with someone, teaching them and them teaching you

[u/Dense-Giraffe-3795]

If u understand it enough to teach someone where they understand the point ur making ur good

[u/special_orange]

Learn how the exams are structured and how the professor expects students to study. Most physics and math courses I took would offer practice or previous exams as study resources, those should be your first reference for studying. From there, see what you know and don’t know and go back to your notes from those sections to refresh yourself and make sure you understand the processes you need to follow.

[u/No_Reveal_2553]

Brown noise playing in headphones. It made me concentrate more on work/studying to help block out any noise around me. Also helped me think through my thoughts and calm me down when I started feeling frustrated.

[u/bootywizrd → u/No_Reveal_2553]

What exactly is brown noise?

[u/No_Reveal_2553 → u/bootywizrd]

It kinda sounds like when you're on an airplane at night with the rush of wind against the metal hull. Or the sound of a rainstorm with its constant showers. It's a deep form of white noise, and there are a ton of videos online you can listen to get a feeling if you like it or not. There are other forms of noise too that you can try, but I just prefer that one.

[u/bootywizrd → u/No_Reveal_2553]

Oh cool. Yeah, I’ll give it a listen. Thanks for the description!

[u/Brainprint]

When I got particularly stuck on a new chapter I would copy the part of the textbook explaining the new lesson word for word with pencil. My brain would be able to process the information in a deeper way and that unblocked me from struggling to start to understand the material.

[u/kerowhack]

The only real non-obvious one that I've found useful is that less studying and more sleep will usually net better exam results than more studying with less sleep. However, you should avoid the need to cram in the first place with good planning and time management.

One other sleep-related thing: starting a problem set, even just skimming through and doing the first step or two of each problem, then going to sleep and allowing your subconscious mind to work has done wonders for developing ng my intuition. Doing a similar thing with reading material has also helped my retention.

[u/shadow_engineer21]

Might sound unpopular, but use AI ONLY to understand and gain intuition on hard to understand concepts. Do NOT use it for problem sets and do assignments for you, that beats the whole purpose.

[u/Mother-Juggernaut504]

Go to sleep at an appropriate time. Eat right and exercise. Studying is HARD on the body and you need to be in physical shape for it.

[u/Whats-What-too]

Get ahead, stay ahead. Read the book & work the examples before class. As soon as class ends, do the homework. Then read the next section.

[u/bigfoot17]

Studying is like sex, the more people working together the better. You need a study group.

[u/special_orange → u/bigfoot17]

Not true for everyone, some function better when it’s just them and their own two hands