/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.8414824]

>First Bio exam tomorrow at 3pm
>only studied first two lectures so far
a-am I fucked

[Anonymous No.8414831]

>>8414824
Nope. Biology is easy enough that you could probably bullshit it and still get an A+. Should've went with a pure mathematics degree.

[Anonymous No.8414832]

>>8414824
yeah, you are. Coffee and power through as many lectures as you can and hope that most marks are awarded to the questions of the lectures you studied. Get at least 5 hours of sleep.

[Anonymous No.8414839]

>>8414832
there were only 8 so far, and I did two so I have 6 left

if each takes me an hour I should be done by 1am which is fine

b-but my schools biology department is making me question myself

>dont re-read your notes, make diagrams and visual things
they keep saying that. Idk if they bullshitting or not, this is my first year of college

last year in AP bio I did fine reading notes

Now Im even re-writing them to absorb it so hopefully it will suffice

Or should I really draw bullshit tables and diagrams?

[Anonymous No.8414846]

>>8414839
It depends on how you prefer to study. Some topics need deep understanding to use and solve exercises so making diagrams can be useful for you to gradually go through the material and thoroughly understand it. If your notes are enough, then you should be fine. It's not like it's a rule that you have to follow. If you can properly use wikipedia + notes and comprehend every term you read (and visualise the topic in question in your mind) then you shouldn't have to do it.

I'm not a burger so I don't know what pre-college courses contain, can't help you there.

[Anonymous No.8414847]

>>8414839
Well, if you weren't a dumbass and actually studied when you were supposed to, then it would be beneficial to follow their advice (I'm not hitting you too hard; I procrastinate as well). But now you're in cramming mode. It's up to you to determine if you have the time to do all of that other stuff, but I have a feeling you don't. Whatever you do, spend your time wisely.

[Anonymous No.8414850]

>>8414832
>Get at least 5 hours of sleep.

stupid advice

If you absolutely must sleep, take a 90 minute nap at the most. Otherwise, just keep downing the coffee

not knowing the material > being well rested

[Anonymous No.8414864]

>>8414850
>90 minutes
DO NOT do that. Either do a minimum 5 hours or don't sleep at all and marathon it with coffee all the way to the test. Very little sleep just ends up distracting you from your objective with sleepiness.

[Anonymous No.8414876]

>>8414864
guys i dont think its that serious

at least I hope not

its just a gen bio exam I can probably memorize most of this stuff its rather simple and surface level (not all of it but a lot)

[Anonymous No.8414885]

>>8414876
what are you studying? What does gen bio involve?

[Anonymous No.8414898]

>>8414885
topics for the first exam:
>Scientific process
>Biological molecules
>Origin of life
>Cell structure
>Membranes & Transport
>Metabolism
>Respiration
>Photosynthesis

[Anonymous No.8415705]

>>8414898
and you only studied the first few lectures?

you're fucked dude lol

[Anonymous No.8415735]

>>8414898
You're fucked.
Each of those topics get pretty in depth

Hell, I have an entire fucking textbook devoted to JUST cellular respiration and fatty acid / protein metabolism (elective graduate Biochemistry course)

You're too fucked now, your best bet is to do the following
>biological molecules
Study the structure and note the functional groups in proteins, fats, nucleic acids, and carbs and how they react in aqueous environments

>origin of life
Study what makes an organism "living"

Cell structure
>only review the pertinents: that is nucleus, ribosomes, golgi, lysosomes, ER, peroxisomes, vacuoles, chloroplasts.

Membranes and transport
>review diffusion/passive diffusion, active transport mechanisms, channels, gates

Metabolism
>I'm assuming this deals with macro molecular metabolism. Study entropy, ender/exergonic and energy yields

>respiration
You only have time to review the inputs and outputs of glycolysis, pyruvate processing, CAC, and OP ETC

>photosynthesis
You only have time to study inputs and outputs of PS2 PS1 Calvin Cycle

Just study where the carbons come from and where they go (as CO2, CHO, or acetyl COA and shit like that)

Good luck

[Anonymous No.8415762]

>>8414824
I took a 1000 level bio class. I only showed up to lab, and tests.

The tests were multpile choice and some short answer.

I remember on the final, there was a question about how deer were causing bank erosion at yellowstone. I made up an answer, and supposedly, it was right according to someone who actually went. Got an a in that class.

Why are non stem classes such a joke?

[Anonymous No.8415770]

>>8415762
>biology
>not a stem degree

Here's your (you)

[Anonymous No.8415773]

>>8415762

[Anonymous No.8415796]

>>8415762

[Anonymous No.8415832]

>>8414824
Fuck man if it's first year bio and you took AP bio you should know everything.

[Anonymous No.8416541]

>>8414824
How did it go, OP?

[Anonymous No.8416558]

>>8414824
>not caring enough about learning to bother being able to pass first semester freshman year classes
>college being the right choice

you can only pick one

[Anonymous No.8416574]

>>8416558
Seriously. If this is how you approach college, save yourself the money and drop out.

You should be acing your easy classes (like first year biology), not cramming for them and getting maybe, maybe a b if you're lucky.

8 lectures is a lot of material no matter what class is it is. A good rule of thumb is 2-3 studying for every hour of STEM lecture and 1 hour studying for every hour of liberal arts lecture.

A ridiculous amount of material can be covered in one lecture, so you should read the chapter beforehand, too. I usually do that and count it towards one hour of studying. That way you've had time to think about the material and ask relevant questions in lecture.

By the time exams roll around, with this technique, it's just a matter of briefly going through your notes, assigned homework, review, etc to make sure you know how to solve the problems

[Anonymous No.8416604]

>>8414824
How do you even have exams in fucking October?

[Anonymous No.8416623]

>>8416604
Midterms. My university held them in October before the discontinue date so you could tell if you were having serious issues with the course. You still had to pay the course fee if you dropped out after the did not enter deadline, but it wouldn't reflect on you GPA.

[Anonymous No.8416805]

>>8416574
this

my study habits were pretty shitty in my first two years so I only got Bs in my bio classes

my study habits got better when it was time for upper divs and despite being harder, I'm getting As in my bio classes right now, with the exception of bacterial pathogenesis because that shit was crazy