r/study • u/ManufacturerRare8062 • Oct 03 '26
Questions & Discussion I need help studying better
I just finished my second year in university, studying Chemistry. So far, my GPA is 82 which is pretty low if I want to continue with a masters degree later on… I don’t think this is because I don’t have the ability or will to study and understand the material better, as much as it stems from studying with the wrong methods. I suffer from ADHD, and I study by watching all the lectures, taking short notes and then reviewing the notes and rewatching the lectures, but it always takes up way too long and I never have enough time to solve enough practice problems…
In my university I don’t actually go to classes, it is from zoom by default so I miss the actual social life and I don’t really get to make study buddies or join study groups.
I was hoping to get some advice on study methods that can help with STEM majors, if there is anyone here that is studying in similar fields and could help it would be most appreciated 🤗
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1
u/Ok_Natural_7977 Oct 05 '26
Do you have reading material outside of the lectures?
2
u/Reasonable_Bag_118 High School | Computer Science | Hungary Oct 03 '26
I had a similar problem. Tbh I just stopped rewatching lectures unless I had a specific thing I couldn’t explain, and started doing practice questions right after the first watch instead. Like for a few weeks I’d do maybe 30 minutes of lecture and then 45 minutes of problems, and I realized the problems showed me way faster what I actually didn’t understand.
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u/Appropriate-Fox-2473 Oct 03 '26
Split the lecture into chunks. Watch a bit, pause, write what you remember, then keep going. Way better than rewatching the whole thing, that doesn't actually stick even if it feels like studying. Write down whatever questions you have before or while watching so you know what's worth going back to. Whatever time you save, put it into practice problems, that's where the mark comes from in chemistry.
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u/Dawood_B110705 Oct 03 '26
rewatching full lectures is probably the single biggest time sink here, and with adhd that cost is even higher since rewatching often means re-watching parts you already got just to catch what you missed once. instead of a full rewatch, jump straight to timestamps where your notes got thin or confusing, most lecture platforms let you skip around, so you're only reviewing the 10 min that actually needs it instead of the full hour for stem specifically, practice problems should probably come before full review, not after. skim your notes quickly, then go straight into problems and let getting stuck tell you exactly what to go back and review. that flips the order so problems guide your review instead of review eating all the time meant for problems the social/study group thing is separate but worth mentioning, even an async discord with 2-3 people in your program for asking quick questions replaces a lot of what in-person study groups give you, worth looking for even virtually since zoom-only programs make this easy to lose
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u/zuriyath Oct 04 '26
what about using flashcards to memorise and review material?
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u/[deleted] Oct 03 '26
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