The study tip they’re NOT telling you | How I went from a 2:2 to 80% at Cambridge University
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- Опубликовано: 15 май 2024
- Hey guys! This video explains the changes I made to dramatically improve my grade at university, I studied Chemical Engineering and so my way of working was mainly suited to a mathematical based subject, but many points still stand for all subjects. I hope you find this video helpful. As always, let me know if you have any questions x
Some links to interesting reads regarding work hours:
On Time Management, Terence Tao: terrytao.wordpress.com/2008/0...
The Productivity of Working Hours, John Pencaval: docs.iza.org/dp8129.pdf
How many hours a day can you effectively study?
learningrabbithole.com/how-ma...
Active vs Passive learning
noteology.wordpress.com/2016/...
4 Hours of Deep Work Each Day
forimpact.org/4-hours-deep-wo...
Time Stamps:
00:00 Intro
00:52 Working Less
05:52 How much should you be doing?
07:49 Are notes really for you? (passive vs active learning)
09:46 How can you implement active learning?
13:30 How I used past papers effectively
16:26 Outro
My notion as a template (completely FREE) with some guidance on how to use it! Just click the link below, then click ‘duplicate’ in the top right hand corner- you can then edit the page as your own! Enjoy 🫶🏼
www.notion.so/home-template-f...
Who am I?
Hello, my name is Abbey, I'm 22 and have just graduated from the University of Cambridge after 4 years of studying Chemical Engineering. Join me as I navigate grad life, move to London and start my first corporate role.
Find me on:
Instagram: abbeyrobinss
TikTok: abbeyrobins 
Хобби
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My best tip (top of my class in Uni) would be to only write notes after the topic is understood. I needed some sort of notes to review from. But those where very concise, and only the bare minimum. (Studied mathematics) If for whatever reason I wrote notes before I understood smth, they where easily 10 times as long, and usually not very helpful. I was so bored writing them, and usually did not gain much insight
Thanks for the tip! By the way, can i ask you about your high school extracurricular activities? im in my second year and don’t really do anything apart from studying.
mathematics has to be practiced consistently in order to score
try starting with one thing you’re interested in and see if you become more passionate about it. are you a social butterfly? would you enjoy a collaborative or team based activity?
How do you even understand the topic?
Thank you!!
I hope many students hear this. I am a lecturer and there are so many students who are just focused on studying for its own sake, for the sake of passing exams. They completely forget that they're doing this to learn something new and develop their skills in a particular field.
The benefit of doing all that you said is that it turns you into a well-rounded person with deepened knowledge in Chemical Engineering. University is not about being a top studier and doing more hours than anybody else. It's about developing a true understanding of the matter.
Your hear to learn a subject not to learn to study.. Makes sence
Thank you for your comment, it’s really great to hear you agree!
As a college prof, I completely agree. I was a poor student who failed many classes before succeeding (coincidentally also in chemical engineering) :) . The change? I realized I was supposed to learn something, not memorize things. I always felt great working out, getting up before everyone, and rocking the time management. I loved this video. Thanks for calling us out :)
Its no wonder i feel really crappy when i only barely pass a subject knowing fully well I hadn't understood a single thing trying to learn it. Its kind of why i decided to re-take those classes even if i didnt fail because i really had a hard time trying to understand it
@@saltNpepper952 That's great! Honestly, that is an investment into yourself! I've had people in my classes who were excellent the second time around because they actually allowed themselves to relax and understand the materials instead of rushing to put in X amount of hours. I teach both introductory and advanced stats for cognitive scientists and I've had some people who I've taught in intro classes and they struggled and hated it. Later, they came back for PhD level classes and it was night and day. Everything was easy all of a sudden. Because in undergrad they thought that a high GPA is all they want and need, while as grad students they just wanted to understand their topic of study and be better scientists.
Active recall is key. When exams come around, you should not be rewriting your notes. Start answering questions and then you can use your notes to see if you might've missed getting full marks
Tq
it never worked for me i never remember anything
Can't agree more. Active recall associated with deep thinking unconsciously
I use a similar method, learning about 4 hours a day. As I'm learning programming, most of my learning comes hand-on. But I do forget what I learned a few days later. So I started doing active recalls. Before I start learning, I would go through what I learned the day before. This helps me a lot remembering that concept. Also, I do a weekly recall (on Sunday) to go through what I learned throughout the week. And, a monthly recall as well (last Sunday of the month). It's a really beneficial method.
thank you, this is really helpful! Looking forward to start doing it!
ooh thank you, ive been getting into programming and everyone was saying not to write notes..but if I didn't write it I wouldn't remember what I even did so this method is quite useful thanks!
How do you do active recall with programming, how do you go through yesterday's work? Do you just go through your code, the materials, or do you have notes? Would appreciate tips, my course starts tomorrow!
@@crystal.matter did you the answer you were looking for elsewhere?
@@kimaya.3563 go check out Justin sung changed my life
I DID NOT EXPECT THIS VIDEO TO BE SO DETAILED. It's so analytical, and literally helps any and every type of student struggling with concentration and focus.
FIRST PERSON TO USE THE WORD "CHAOTIC" RATHER THAN "ORGANIZED" FOR A STUDY VIDEO ON THE INTERNET.
I feel so good hearing that I can be chaotic while learning and still score the grades I want. cause yall , ORGANIZED STUDYING is hella time consuming, it's so exhausting that, half of the time I avoid studying just to avoid making notes.
I'm so glad it's been helpful, thank you!
Time balance: work vs study
Schedule Fun Activities/ Social life
Stop Note Taking
Active Learning: Attain massive resources, Derive, use, build links.
Writing Portion: Hight important parts. Write questions.
Continually review notes: reflect, compare, contrast, etc.
Past Papers: negate timed constraints. Spent hours thinking. Think deeply
Do not try to be perfect sturdier
Active recall
Have a social life
Create balance. Do not over work self.
"Attain massive resources".
Thats... why I'm here.
mf took notes after she said not to take notes
you forgot to just not study over 7 hours.
How can you stop note taking but review notes?
@@user-qp6zg4pg1x exactly my question
It’s very rare I comment on RUclips videos, despite being an avid user since 2013.
It’s even rarer that I find an individual’s channel wherein they take an honest and straightforward approach to “success”. No BS, no 14 hour study-with-me, no trying to tell you they are amazing and special because they work hard.
Just useful, accessible and healthy advice, a breath of fresh air far removed from the already bloated toxic productivity RUclips.
This is such a lovely comment, thank you!
I'm a medical graduate & I think that your tips are similar to ones I give to juniors and even myself when I lose my way during studying... Spending long time on "studying" is wrong, spending much more time processing what you've studied is ABSOLUTELY GAME-CHANGING.
When I study a topic I start with a technique: "expose" yourself to the material. Don't go gulping info all at once. Start just by quickly going over it. I've always found my brain to behave like a toddler or even a dog or a cat, lol! It LOVES tricks!
I gotta be honest, I'm someone who's easy to impress and who appreciates beauty and quality in anything.. but at the same time I lose interest just as fast! What happens is, when I go over the info that first time, I stumble upon some VERY CATCHY bits of info! These are the first to settle in inside my mind.. till this day I still think that most of the info I can easily recall are from this first pass. How do I know that these were definitely from that first pass. These are the bits which I can always remember even without any context! They just got stuck in!
Also, after that first pass, my mind still falls for even more tricks! This first quick read gives a boost to your confidence that the second time you go over it, It's like.. oh yeah I know this info.. I have been "exposed" to it! This confidence by itself tricks your mind into focusing more which is absolutely the reason this first quick pass was worth it even if you gained only a handful of concepts! You see, the biggest problem that makes studying a difficult task is that in your first read is: You are not focusing! You don't know what to focus on, because you don't know what's what and where to pay more attention and when you just need to skim through! You are "vulnerable"... You are sailing through rough seas. The only thing to ease this process is having some familiarity! It works tremendously! Even if it's a mere trick! And it's perfect for someone who's a junkie for sparkly impressive nuggets and at the same time gets bored quickly (You'll get them as soon as you could, and not much time spent digging).
I said that processing what you've studied is more important than studying... When I finish a topic I always grab a pen and write a short summary of that topic, always trying to subdivide it into many concepts. Then immediately I start taking every concept and trying to flip it around in my head and imagine a representative case scenario (clinical presentation / complication or whatever according to what fits with the concept) that I could face in practice or in tests!
Then I go solving questions, butchering concepts right and left... but acing much more in the process! The questions I get wrong I can now use to remember weak spots when I get back to study the material, and again just go over it without digging so deep! Try to summarize it or imagine it in suitable but DIFFERENT case scenario. Always modify the info and process it rather than go over it passively!
This helped me a lot in medschool! Spend more time on playing with your prototypes than collecting other people's artifacts! You'll spend less time reading and more time understanding and creating!
Now to be fair, Medicine is unique in that we can always learn using just one method that all medical exams around the world adopts: Clinical case scenarios... and we have an enormous amount of Qbanks to solve, so this method works best with medschool, but I believe the core concepts could be used with modifications in any other field as long as you have enough questions to keep solving, and a really good imagination to create problems and scenarios when these questions are not suitably structured for such method!
Ha man, I am a 5th year medic and that's exactly how I approach my work, you have phrased better than I would have also. Thank you very much. I just have a quick question regarding the Qbanks you mentioned, as a medical graduate which one do you recommend? Thank you!
Thankyou for telling your studymethod!
@@pamellazakwe9852 Absolutely!
As medical graduate you're expected to be focusing on clinical knowledge... But it depends: Are you preparing for a particular test? Or do you just want to sharpen your skills at approaching any clinical scenario?
When talking about Qbanks, people most of the time mean USMLE-oriented Qbanks, so it's either UWorld, USMLE Rx or AMBOSS, in the UK there's Plabale.
UWorld is gold standard for USMLE exams and especially for basic sciences (Step 1), same goes for CK but only because UWorld is structured in a way that's supposed to resemble the one USMLE uses in their exams.. but if you are talking about which is best for clinical sciences and clinical approaches in general; then AMBOSS is definitely better, in my opinion.
AMBOSS tests your knowledge and approach both in direct and convoluted ways.. so it's not meant for a particular test but it makes you think deeper and more holistically. Also, AMBOSS has a MAGNIFICENT library!
The most important thing is to just go through and keep solving, UWorld or AMBOSS.. it doesn't matter as long as you are progressing.
It's actually more important to know HOW to study a Qbank than the Qbank itself... The goal is to know why the right answer is THE right answer; why the other answers were even suggested (proper differentials/diagnostic modalities or just fillers); when would these wrong answers be right. This gives each question the potential to cover so much and make 10 questions = 50, but also don't waste time on questions that you already know in and out, or ones where other answers are low yield (some questions are actually supposed to test only this particular aspect with the others being really low yield).
Give any Qbank time and invest in the early stages then you'll find yourself flying. THE MOST IMPORTANT tip: Don't stick to old habits which you started with at the beginning of the process, try and adapt then adopt best practices evident by improved performance... Also, there's something SO many students, unfortunately, do NOT understand: There's a way to read the questions (Start from last sentence [the one with"?" Lol], look at answers then go back one more sentence, still don't know the answer, read the stem carefully) If you apply this method you'll cover SO many questions in less time! But it requires a little bit of practice to use it for harder more complicated questions!
You asked a simple question but I wanted to help with as much as I can!
Good luck and wish you all the best!
@@NNynaa You are more than welcome!
@@Baraa.K.Mohammad the second last sentence made me crack a laugh I sure did but thank for going above and beyond. These are tips of the life time. All the best to all your future endeavours too!
Metacognition is one of the most valuable learning strategies any student can develop. Abbey has described in a simple and concise way her tried and tested…and successful strategies for learning and retaining and retrieving information. This video will be invaluable for any student studying at any level. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you!
@@AbbeyRobinssso you are a chemical engineer in the UK? I have a younger cousin that is planning to do the same course.
Could you please talk about what they do as a job etc. I'd love for them to get a bit more information.
Thanks
THANK U FOR THIS a TikTok recommended this and I’m so glad I saw it
That's okay, so glad it helped! Do you know which TikTok recommended it I'd love to go say thanks!
@@AbbeyRobinssaccount name is @/ iforimaginary ; i came from there aswell!
@@AbbeyRobinss the account is ‘iforimaginary’ - it’s why I’ve found your account too !
@iforimaginary
@@AbbeyRobinss @iforimaginary
note-taking is definitely effective for a lot of people especially from lectures. Even if i understand what the teacher is saying i am gonna forget it, and their will be no place to review and i will end up forgetting it
I completely agree! But I think she is talking about taking notes based on existing information you already have available in a readable manner, such as taking notes from a book
definitely, and adding on to the reply by Marina, there was a study done comparing students hand writing notes and those who do it on their laptop, and they found that while both had similar levels of information retention, the written note group had a deeper understanding of the material. If I remember correctly, the mechanisms was that hand-writing notes takes more time, so students have to quickly process/ digest information in their heads and represent it in their notes. On the other hand, typing takes a lot less time so people just transcribe what their lecturers say. I think this study aligns with what Abbey was saying in the sense that, even in notetaking, active learning and active processing of information is still important to develop a good understanding. When we are rewriting notes, its still passive because we are still transcribing it in a way without much processing, so it could be less effective than the strategies she mentioned.
A tiny bit effective, sure, but it is not necessary and is inefficient. Learning happens in the brain, not on paper, the people who "must" rely on note taking are simply not engaged in deeper processing of the information.
If you want material for reviews, ask the lecturer for the lecture slides / course notes and just use that instead.
@@oeuaigh there are a lot of courses which do not offer any written material. So a mathematics proof is done on board in lecture and students take notes. But they are usually so quick that the notes can be unreadable. Especially if it makes a huge difference if it is a or á for example.
@@oeuaigh the lectures slides don’t contain everything the teacher says I only take notes when what the teacher says is not on the slides and is relevant and important. Understanding it not enough because there’s a forgetting curve and we will forget it
I currently do this in medical school, learned the lesson about overstudying from the first semester. I am in a routine of waking up everyday to study/watch lectures in the morning. When I start to feel unproductive or fully saturated with information I stop, do anki review then enjoy the rest of my evening ~5 pm but depends on when I wake up. Some days I can study until late into the night, other days I barely study two hours. I assess how I feel and base how long I work on my capabilities for the day. You will learn the cues that your mind is drained. On those days I try to do something active :)
@bayleer7116 Good point about studying till you "feel unproductive". Many still don't quite understand that level though
.
I'd suggest everyone try it, literally only study until the point you feel you're being unproductive - whether its in 30 mins or 5 hrs. And be disciplined about it too, if you feel unproductive after 30 mins - finish, go take a hike, because fact is you might continue for another half hour in the same state, which is pointless.
It does condition your brain to know what is productive and what isn't. And with each session try this you get better at being productive because you've conditioned your brain to only be working in a productive state.
I do 4 hours and that’s it!! I work from 6am-10am and then I stop!!! Even if I feel like I can do more I do not do it! I know personally that if I push it I will be unable to attain the same focus and interest the next day. It also helps me feel free for the rest of the day.
Sometimes (like yesterday) I’m not into it, I’m stressed or upset or overwhelmed etc. so I only worked two hours and I refuse to feel bad about it !!!! Refuse !!!!
Best advice! To add to it, if you're tired then sleep!!!!
Second year mathmo here, also got 2:2 in first year.
You're right about note taking. I wasted so much time last year taking and maintaining a good set of notes - having realised that, I stopped doing so entirely this year. Most of our lecturers share their lecture notes with us. For those that don't, we could always find online notes shared by students and/or lecturers from the past couple of years (kudos to them for doing the hard work). I even stopped going to lectures entirely because most lecturers don't do much beyond regurgitating the lecture notes on the board, which I could instead just read them in 1/4 of the time. Saves me >10 hours a week.
Re: throwing yourself at questions with no time limit, I agree that it has its merits. However, I believe that this is also something that is way too romanticised. There are definitely far better things to do than wasting hours trying to figure things out on your own (often to no avail), especially if it's your first time tackling questions of a certain type. I personally found it more useful to look up hints and/or solutions the first few times I do a certain type of problem in order to familiarise myself with the kinds of techniques I am expected to employ. Then, and only then, do I stop looking things up and proceed to throw myself at questions. You don't have to reinvent the wheel - and indeed you shouldn't if time is of the essence; simply learning about how the wheel was invented and getting used to reproducing the process suffices for exam purposes.
I was all too guilty for buying into the faculty narrative last year. Cambridge is especially nasty in this regard because they barely teach any worked examples or problem-solving techniques - they like leaving them as exercises for the student to figure out on their own because we're supposedly "bright enough to do so given that we're at Cambridge". It took renowned mathematicians their life's work for the results we learn in lectures to come into fruition; why should we be expected to reproduce something of a similar calibre in the limited hours we have to do an example sheet? The faculty wouldn't stop stressing about how it's imperative that we try to figure everything out on our own, and they love making us feel guilty for not doing so. Yet none of the high-flying mathmo peers I know of has figured out substantial amounts of stuff on their own - their levels of skill are mostly built upon having seen plenty of similar solutions before. Having realised this, my life became so much easier in second year. At the very least, I'm not pointlessly wasting as much time as I did in first year.
Excellent summary! Doing natural sciences in second year but this resonates.
Wow, I have my finals from may and your timing is insane. Your tips were so so helpful!!! Thank you for this ☄️
this is by far the best video i have seen on studying a STEM subject as university. I could always never explain how I would revise when it came to end of year exams and the last month would hit but what you just mentioned was something my brain would only start to do sub-consiously itself. for example, I remember when it came close to end of year exams, I would prioritise exactly what I needed to learn and would make sure to focus on retrieving information from my brain and making sense of the questions rather than just answering from memory. I find this to be helpful, even for medical school. Many thanks for sharing the video :)
I did art at university and would always feel terrible that I generally only did 3-5 hours of work a day averaging 4. It felt and sounded unproductive, even a flatmate of mine complained to my friend how little work I did yet doing well. I did graduate with a first. Deep focus work being something you can only really do for 4 ish hours makes A LOT of sense to me. Art is so full on, every second has to be full focus and figuring out how best to do the piece of art is like a puzzle with no exact end. I agree with this video!
Congratulations
You did art ffs
thanking the RUclips algorithm for giving me this godsend 🙏
when I used to do maths deriving everything and proving each equation in as many ways as I could (on my own!) was THE most helpful thing I ever did - some of the best grades I have ever gotten.
now I have to work out how to apply that learning technique to my humanities!
great video xx
Your channel is so underrated! This is probably some of the best studying advice I've ever had, thank you so much!
When I went back to do my MSc in immunology this past September after 5 years of working, I noticed how much more cognitive effort I had to invest within the same time period of work. Could not agree more that focused learning is completely different to a job, as work is something you tend to become familiar wih fairly quickly and therefore less of the same type of effort. Only thing I'd maybe add is not to underestimate how important snacks are to have whilst learning to keep that focus maintained. Great vid!
THANK YOU ABBEY! I actually can't express how useful this video is. I literally missed a Lorde concert last week to stay home and study but I was so overworked I couldn't even focus. Will definitely be changing my study.
Another tip for successful learning is team work: find classmates who are just as dedicated as you are and study together (including challenging each other on respective premises for example).
I had similar thought processes as you had, it's similar to trying to be a perfectionist especially with notes. This is one of the most useful study tips I've heard as I've always knew that I was studying passively but I was kind of scared to let go of my passive ways, but this video is really encouraging and insightful.
Honestly, great advice. I've been trying to change my study method for a while but it's been difficult. I've been trying to implement precisely the techniques you presented but my brain keeps resisting this change. I really needed someone to reaffirm my new approach and your video did exactly that. Thank you!
this video was brilliant! I'm currently doing a PhD and have spent the last several days in deep learning, and then wondering why I can't get my brain working this morning. I forgot all about mental fatigue and the importance of taking a break (enjoyable break) and "chewing" the information over. Bless your cotton socks for posting this.
“I was so automate to get through it, there was no time to actually understand it!” Wow thank you for your message!❤
This video is so helpful for me. The depth she goes in when explaining helps so much and the knowledge behind it. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
this is one of the best study guide videos I've ever watched! Thank you
100% agree with this video. I got a 2:2 in my undergrad and a distinction in my MSc from basically changing to this approach. You’re so right that no-one tells you this stuff!
The past paper advice is literally the best piece of advice I've heard in my 17 years of living. I'm constantly telling myself 'I'm going to finish all of the papers for a levels' since everyone else online is saying they've done 50-70 past papers leading up to the exam. But this advice is so real. Thank you.
can’t believe i didn’t see this sooner, it’s a shame that i’m only seeing this the week of exams but i’ll definitely be applying these tips for next year of college. thanks so much in advance ❤
pls don't ever ever ever delete this, i beg you because it is just so useful for me since this giving me more motivation
this seems super fun than just jotting down notes! and the main reason for not scoring well in my high-school was just passively learning. i remember enjoying learning a lot when i was in my middle school, because i just threw myself out there and did active learning. thanks for reminding me fo that! and again a great informative video ~
With how studying can look and be difficult to do and with all the stress it gives me just from thinking about it. I just want to say i'm really happy for you and everyone else that has graduated, whether it's undergraduate studies or masters or a PhD. You guys well done 👏
And thanks Abbey, i'll try to start this and hopefully it works out. You've decreased my stressful thoughts on studying
Thank you so much! This should be spread among people who often set themselves up to fail. This transfers other lifestyles; different jobs require different intensity and frequency using critical thinking or physical strength, or mental resilience. Being burned out is so common and diligent people will almost always fall victim of themselves, especially when there is noone to remind or influence to stop. I am an overthinker who is never quite happy with my results in almost every aspect of my life. I was conditioned the oldfashioned way, always excersice self criticism and keep your head down and work super hard to achieve anything in life. Its so wrong and irrealistic. Your video is a breath of fresh air so young people don't set themselves up to fail then feel frustrated about failing (yet again). Wish you a lovely day! Keep these coming if you have more thoughts on it. These tips are transferrable and can be implemented quickly. ❤
Congrats on your graduation!
Thanks for the reminder to understand the subject rather than try to remember information just to pass an exam👍🏼
This vid caught my eye to listen to as my son starts IGCSEs
Thanks for sharing, as a no-note person, I always like to throw myself into past paper directly and I find it really helpful.
After going through a lot of videos , I finally found the one that I could relate completely , I let myself get fooled by thinking ' oh, I can write pretty notes which will make me study easier' but it definitely is a waste of time as I put so much into presentation and not into learning and it is so hard to let go of this habit . So yeah notemaking is sometimes effective , so it should be done only once , and thats it , its okay if its messy , but don't rewrite it to make it look better , this is my takeaway. Thankyou for this video Abbey
Abby, absolotely loved the video, I really appreciate the honesty throughout.
Gold mine vid - I work full time while studying my degree and I needed a way to study smarter not harder. Thank u so much
I’m studying law and the one thing many do not speak of is when you don’t pass a course, and have to keep up with the current course *while* you prepare yourself to do the failed course exam one more time (double the workload). Sometimes people might fail 2-3 exams, and have to keep up while preparing for the re-exams. Most study suggestions rely on everything working with zero bumps on the road. I failed myself and trying to work harder to not fail everything was the most tough thing I’ve ever done at university. My suggestion to get a hold of a situation like that is to make a new schedule so you can see clearly how to divide your time for the added tasks, contact the student counselor + the student health at your campus due to them being able to guide you so you don’t ruin your mental health. Physical activity is key to not feel too overwhelmed and to get an extra energy boost and a better focus.
*These tips in this video are great!* ❤ / Scandinavian
@@hwachalla3588 Many universities will allow a few tries at one exam, BUT it’s not really smart to skip the ordinarie exam because it’s still the same outcome as failing (you’re just piling up the wrokload)!
my second year doing Business and Law passed, even i did not feel it. When i had my assignment opened, i started straight away with small steps, step by step. This increased the chance to gain feedback and improve myself. My exam was done in 3 days, and after i had a lot of time to relax and just do some small changes. in the end, scored 76. important tip from me is to treat your studies and exams as a working employment hour, your engagement will be more and no leave everything at the end.
If you're needing to cram/study a lot, I would recommend law concentrates/nutshells (they are summaries, named differently in each country) and watching David sung videos on cramming
@@JulienJeagal is just to take your studies responsibility as your own real workplace.
When I was studying for a professional exam, I quickly discovered that 5.5 hours of uninterrupted study was the limit for me. Any studying after 5.5 hours was causing unnecessary stress and brain death. I could tell my brain was just DONE for the day. Learning isn't the same as doing something hour after hour that we already know. We can't force our brains to "keep going" when we are learning. Once we reach our limit, it's time to switch to something that's fun and refreshing for our brains. Be kind to your brain!
Truer words never has been spoken. I just finished my bachelor of engineering and I would have hoped someone would have told me that earlier. I learned it in the end and finished my thesis with an A, but the amount of work I did in the first 2 years was just insane. Didn't help my grades either.
Long and short, great video and referrals to further information. Much appreciated.
Abbey... this is the best studying video I'vee ever stumbled across! All these other videos are generalizing so so much that you know what you should be doing but not how to do it. Also no one talks about the productivity fever... Taking a lot of notes was my way of reassuring myself that i put in the effort but then i would be so frustrated to score poorly on a test i put so so much work in
Yes literally, some study tips are so counter productive and I really got caught in them at the start of uni, I'm so glad this has helped. Good luck with your studies!
This is so validating! I though I was crazy for knocking out all my homework in the morning, attending lecture, and then not getting anything done past 3pm. That and not "studying" much. I'm an A's and B's student so the method has been working ok for me especially given how many other things I can prioritize.
Fantastic.... Abbey
Used this no notes taking approach in my first year but had serious doubts about it....this just confirms everything..I ain't alone in this since it worked for your case.
U have just solved my mystery
Am a medical student in Uganda-Africa and this is like a mind blowing approach..
I thank you
This video was great, I needed this so much! I’m a finalist at Oxford and haven’t had proper closed book exams to revise for since sixth form so this was so useful to remind myself of effective revision :)
Thank you, good luck!!
this video randomly popped up and it was exactly what I needed. I am a pre-final year mechanical engineering grad. Passive learning has been my worst enemy. Entering in my final year in a few months, i want to make amends with my results by improving them. I am going to try it all out. Thankyou Abbey!
Yay I'm so glad, I hope it all goes well!! x
Finally!!!! Someone talked about this. Finally. Thanks glad that you made this video ❤️
This was great advice. I did something similar with friends at uni, although we asked each other the mini questions after reading through notes together. Undefeated method :) I'll be passing this video onto a pupil of mine who has exams coming up in the summer!
Agreed, love this young lady! I wish I had this when I was at uni, I learned what you shared 10 years too late! 😢Better late than never hey 💪 I thought I'd still watch and apply to my work! And I'm glad I clicked to watch! Wonderful rare golden nuggets!!
It's lovely to get someone real discussing the real heard truth, really thought about stuff and not regurgitating work hard and hustle c**p. I am so glad RUclips recommended your channel Abbey, someone different to follow and push myself. A rare gem! Got to subscribe to your channel ❤
Thank you so much for your comment this is so so lovely! I hope to keep creating content you love
studying computer science here. Just got out of a horrible 4h computer engineering exam and you popped up on my youtube. hands down the best study video i have ever watched! I love how you said to take your time to get to the answers, to talk things through with yourself and all of that. I mostly see med students here talking about studying and they keep emphasising active recall and memorising, but i realised with math related content it just does not serve you. i love the embrace of math being just chaotic and therefor the study process is allowed to be chaotic too. I feel you just given me permission to drop so many things i felt did not serve me but somehow it seemed to work for everyone else but me. thanks for putting this out there! I am in the middle of exam time and you have given me a fresh outlook
Thank you so much! I completely agree with memorising etc. not always being ideal for mathematically based subjects and sometimes that can be hard to acknowledge. I hope your exams are going well, good luck!
@@AbbeyRobinss just wanted to come back here to tell you that my last exam went really well and i implemented a lot of what you recommend. I had a whiteboard and would discuss ideas with myself and find connections and just allow myself to be messy before consolidating my information. It felt amazing and interactive and i feel the stuff just really stuck to my brain. I have two more exams to go and wow, your approach has given me life! so thank YOU!
Last semester, i sat almost every single day studying, but only 3-5 hours. I couldn’t do more, i felt ashamed sitting so little.
But i got almost straight A’s.
Point is, i did it often and looking back, effectively.
Thanks for great video, made me reflect on my own studying techniques!
Please, how did you study? What technique and how were you able to recall?😢
This is a really a helpful video,as I used to be that kind of person making myself a schedule filled with a large amount hours to study.Not productive at all,of course.And I myself haven't find a very appropriate way to study. Your experience and opinions inspired me😊.Thank you so much for sharing this!❤❤❤
Honestly this has got to be the most useful study video I've ever watched. This has been so mind opening, you can't imagine how thankful I am. Currently in my 2nd year, trying to convert my 2:1 in year one to a first. I've been doing meaningless 12 hour days that had less than probably 2 hours of actual work. Thanks again.
I’m so glad this has helped! Good luck!
What does a 2:1, 2:2 mean exactly? Like in percentage? Not familiar with the grading system
@@Mina-gk8jmit's a grading system in which
5.0-4.5 is regarded as a first class (1),
4.4-3.5 is 2nd class upper, (2.1)
3.4-2.5 is 2nd class lower, (2.2)
2.4-1.5 is a 3rd class, (3) and finally,
1.4-0 is a fail.
This grading system is majorly used in African schools.
Me too😭
Great video Abbey, I’m coming across this after failing two Chartered Accounting courses (post grad). I realised whatever techniques I was using to study was not sufficient for the task at hand. Many times I would think more hours looking at content would yield better results but it wasn’t the case.
Resources that go deeper into this topic:
- Cal Newport’s books:
• How To Be A Straight A Student, and
• Deep Work
OMG youtube recommended this even when I wasn't looking for but needed it. I wasted my time making notes and study so hard even if my health problems came in between and in spite of working hard my results weren't showing enough😭. I guess its time for me to change my techniques, TYSM!
That was seriously so happy. I suffered from the overworking and not producing results. I see now why. Thank you
Watching this vid made everything click in my brain. I've always found it hard to get through my schoolwork because I set too many tasks for myself to do. Especially with taking notes and making them organized for when I "look back at them" (spoiler: I never actually do). I'm so glad this vid popped up in my recommended because I've really been unsure of how to go about everything. Thanks sm for sharing! :)
literally, i filled up my entire biology book and when it was time to review for exams I could barely get through half of it
I’m so glad this helped! Good luck with your studies!
Yes! Yes! I watched so many of my students highlighting practically every paragraph in articles they had to read in different colours. I was totally bemused. They made extensive notes copying from books. Effectively they were just giving themselves more to read without engaging. For exams the lower 2.2 student memorised and reproduced but often failed to turn this into good answers to questions. Students that had engagement strategies knew how to reorient the material and answer novel and unexpected questions - these strategies can be very simple.
Well done. This is about moving knowledge and understanding from STM to LTM through reinforcement over time. Tony Buzan wrote alot about this in the 1980/90s - Great Tips!
One of my learning tips: Take a teacher role and explain concepts using graphics, create relationships with another information already understood, solve easy and hard problems; while talking aloud to yourself.
I have been doing this my whole life without knowing. Always thought I don't study enough like everyone else but still am passing fine. The deep focus thing is so real, can only stay in it max 3h.
I went through a similar change in my study methods during uni since I wasn't scoring with my high school study methods. It was hard to let go of my old study habits and to build confidence in new ones. It takes a lot of trial and errors to know what works best for you and you also learn so much about yourself through the entire process. What works for others might not work for you, it's important not to blindly follow methods/techniques that you see your peers applying! I agree with every point she has made! You can tell she speaks from experience and has grown from it!
My tip: Study regularly/start early if you're trying to make reforms in your study methods! It'll help you build confidence in your new approach! Test/Recollect study material frequently to see if the method actually works for you!
I did terribly in school doing all the mistakes you mentioned, but now you make me want to go back to school to test out this new strategy.
This video was the best "studying tips video" I've seen in these past two yesrs!! Thank you❤️
Thank you so much!!
I followed a very similar path! Did three years of Maths then a fourth year in Systems Biology at Cambridge (graduated in 2021).
1st year: 3
2nd year: 2:2
3rd year: 2:1
4th year: 1
For me, the lifesaver was Anki. It took me ages to figure things out, but by fourth year I was making flashcards every day during/after each lecture and studying them daily throughout the year so that by the time it came to exam season I already knew all the stuff and just had to practise the exam questions. (Trying to write a flashcard is a very good way of working out whether you actually understood what you just learned so it helps in the short term too!) Sounds intense but required fewer hours than what a lot of others might do
Wow I’ll try that from now on ！I always forget what I have learned before 😭
Hii, what does that numbers mean at each year?? Sorry if its a dumb question, we dont use that system
@@danm123 bard.google.com said: In the UK, the grading system for university degrees is as follows:
First-class honours (1st): 70% or above
Upper second-class honours (2:1): 60-70%
Lower second-class honours (2:2): 50-60%
Third-class honours (3rd): 40-50%
I didn't know either. 😉
@@danm123 that is what degree classification they were sitting on each year. in UK uni's you graduate with either a 1st, 2:1, 2:2, 3rd class honours. If you score below a 3rd, you don't graduate. 1st is incredibly good, 2:1 is very good and most common to graduate with. 2:2 and 3rd is harder to get a job with
@laramorrison5973 oh thanks!
Tysm for this, really! I currently study for my A-Levels (/Abitur) and have to go through all the material of two years in three weeks. I am terrible at sitting down and taking notes for hours but bcs that seems like what everyone does I automatically thought that might be the most effective method. Yesterday I wrote a study plan and I planned on working 8 hours a day. Even while writing that I felt already exhausted and not even in the slightest motivated.
So yeah, I’m definitely gonna try your method bcs it sounds so much better and actually also way more fun than blatantly writing notes down.
Thank you again!
Good luck!!
@@AbbeyRobinss Ty^^
This is the best and most realistic study video I've ever seen and I never talk genuinely in superlatives ❤
Honestly a great tip! I think a lot of people need to hear this so it is great that you pointed this out! Thank you very much!
Thanks so much!
This has made me feel so validated! I've always done well academically while working in a very chaotic, often last-minute way, and spending less time on revision than almost everyone I know. I definitely have a lot to improve on but after spending years beating myself up over what I perceived as my lack of work ethic, this video has made me realise that when I actually get down to studying, I am pretty good at engaging with the material. I'll be keeping your message in mind to try and banish my imposter syndrome, maybe it will give me the confidence boost I need to revise effectively for my uni first year exams!
I'm so glad this has helped, you've got this!
I do chemical engineering at another UK university and let me tell you that improving your grade isnt easy at all so hats off to her. I started as a class of 50 in first year, by third year there is 11 people left, 2 of which are predicted a first (Im looking at a first best case and a 2:1 worst case). It has to be one of the hardest courses in STEM imo.
Good luck with it - I wish you best.
@@perrysrawsoul Thank you, I got 10% above a first in my final process design project so I need a 2:1 in most of my exams to get a first overall.
Doesn’t like a great institution. Low grade ask to start with? Filling up with clearance candidates who had already not worked very hard? Bad teaching causing drop outs?
@@nicolad8822 If they're reaching end of year 4, then the first 2 years were wasted due to covid, probably a masters or honours course and hopefully those not in their programme have switched to courses better suited to them. ALL my hats off to OP (and all their cohort) for getting this far and doing so bloody well under the toughest years in Uni ever.
@@nicolad8822 We are ranked in the top 10. A lot of people who get onto the course were just there because their parents forced them to do it. Some dropped out because they didn't work hard enough. Some dropped out because it was too difficult. It doesnt comment at all on the teaching standards at my university (Which btw we have gold teaching standard). Also my first year and second year was online uni which was very difficult for some people so they failed. And some students opted out of the placement year to get it over with so it dropped our class size dramatically. Also we dont do clearing and have a high grade requirement. Asssuming makes an ass out of u and me.
Thank you so much for this amazing content! We need more content like this from you.
This was so helpful, thank you!!
As an engineer, this advice will come in handy when you start finding and studying for certifications that interest you in your field. In the states there are multiple engineering certifications that you qualify for depending on the field. Then you can level up those certifications with special trainings such as design of experiments. You will not have lots of study time so this advice is gold. Literally, gold, because your leveling up will translate to more money.
Wow! I wish I had come across a video like this earlier! I spent five and a half years studying like crazy and as a result, missed out on my social life greatly! Although I managed to get top grades, If you ask me today what I had learned over the past five years I would only be able to retrieve minimal information. You are absolutely correct in what you are saying, active learning is the true way to retain information! Thank you for sharing this valuable information.
Learning is so individual. I learned best by reading the material myself up until the exam in an intense way. I work best up against a deadline. I studied at Copenhagen Uni in my bachelor degree and then transferred to a technical university for my masters. The technical university was structured totally different with obligatory participation, obligatory homework, etc. It basically forced you into living a strictly rutined life with homework prep every day. I struggled to get through those two years. It was not fun at al, and I have an experience of forgetting everything, because they tried to cram so much into our brain continuously. It was terrible. Real torture. I learn best when I can engulf myself in a subject and really understand it to the core - and then move on.
I definitely love your vibe girl. Keep on moving forward.
Ahh thank you that's so kind!
I agree about note-taking. I don't really do mine well and never go back to them so I changed strategy. Great video, straight to the point no waffle. 🤞🏾☺️
My active studying technique was to focus hard on a concept or a small chunk of a topic, and then pretend to teach it to an imaginary student. If my imaginary lecture sounded silly, or incoherent, or had gaps, I’d go back to the material and learn what I needed.
This video Randomly poped in my suggestions but I ended up watching the whole thing, 17 minutes felt like 7 mins. Wow thanku for this, so relatable and well presented>>>
Thanks so much, I'm glad it was helpful!
I wish i came across these tips while i was in uni! Brilliant explanation and methods…studying like this would have been much more enjoyable and productive :)
You are exactly correct, I just discovered this technique recently and your video confirms it. Whenever I don't study according to time limit I gain a lot more but if I'm always checking the time while studying,I develop fear for wasting time on meaningless things that I actually don't gain anything and I end up feeling depressed, but recently studying has been a lot more easier using this technique 😊
I have never ever ever commented on a RUclips video. I'm a student studying at a top university and was just wondering what I was doing wrong. I transferred to the uni from another relatively lesser ranked but still top ranked University. So it was really confusing what went wrong as I had great grades in my previous university. but this video really gave me a whole new perspective for my stupid brain. Even though I am always skeptical about such videos about study tips ( I'm about this one too) but this one actually made me think a lot different from anything I have ever seen on RUclips. I'll have to sit and reflect on this. ( I actually stopped doing the work I was doing- funny thing is that I have been doing 15 hour workdays for the past 1.5 years) And thanks for that. I really appreciate it and I hope you see this.
Thank you for your comment, I'm really glad its helped and can completely relate to your position of everything going well and then falling behind even though you are working so many hours! Definitely take a step back and make sure you are consolidating information and not overworking. Good luck!
I had the same experience at Cambridge. My grades drastically improved when I started to work less and more strategically (work smarter, not harder)
Thank you, Abbey, for clarifying this technique. It is now that I'm doing my second year that I've grasp this technique is effective so far. THANK YOUUUUU!!!!!😊
Glad it was helpful!
This is gold. Please don’t stop making these!
Thank you!
The helpful advice (not said plainly), is: we study according to our energy levels vs. our clocks. The hard part is knowing when your energy is available, when to push yourself and when to rest.
great video! when i was writing my phd thesis i quickly learned you're brain can handle about 8 hours of intense thinking and cognitive work load. but even this is too much, if you want a comfortable pace that doesnt burn you out, stick with 4-6 hours and just be consistent and focused. if you manage your time and plan out your semester you wont need to 10-12 hour study session unless you signed up for a ton of classes
Totally agree! Now I`m doing my PhD so I realize that 4-6 hours is my top) But productive 4 hours are always better than 12 hours in procrastination)
Thankyou! As a law student, I struggled for a long time studying for big exams where i need to remember 20 or more chapters. I want to summarize everything and i always feel like i´m wasting my time. But.. when i use someone elses summary, i don´t remember the topics. Soo... i went back to summarizing. I do a study in the evening because i work during the day.. you can imagine how my days are sometimes. I don´t know why/how your video is poppin upp in YT, but you just answered my feelings about those notes and i´m going to try your tips! I have my next exam in 3 days, so i´m trying to use this technic and let you know. THANKYOU for sharing. :))
This is it!!! Thank you!!! There are focused and diffuse modes of thinking!
I remember lamenting to a friend when I was in college that I only seemed to be able to work for 4 hours in a day. Interesting that my experience lines up with research, I had always been disappointed that I couldn't seem to work for as long as I 'should', compared to everyone else.
Brilliant content thank you!
Thank you! Glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much for sharing this... I really struggle taking breaks and I always feel guilty for not working. I've been told, an uncountable ammount of times, how important breaks are. But it did not 'click' until I watched this. Thank you!
I used to feel the same, I'm glad this has helped!
You are THE ONLY ONE in youtube who actually give HELPFUL tips!!!!! THANKS
Thanks so much!!
These tips sounds v ery helpful! I will give them a try. Im finishing up second year courses and starting third year chemical engineering ones and scrapping by. I think I can try shake things up. Any tips on higher chemical engineering subjects? Fluids/Reactor Design?
This was so so helpful!! Thank you so much for sharing this
Hey, for someone who was a consistent straight A student in geography 5 years ago I think I can answer this. Geography is quite a content heavy subject, it's almost imperative that you get a good textbook for it and study it consistently. You may ask how? Well since there is a lot to learn in one year, you have to ensure that you take it one topic at a time and start from the beginning
What used to work excellent for me is that I would make sure that for each topic I understand it fully (didn't have multiple resources, just my very good textbook and notebook for my notes,) I wrote notes daily mainly because it helped when I want to go back and review it (something I did every night without fail) and you don't want to do this ( - the previously studied topics review in a textbook because the information might not be arranged exactly how your brain organised it when you learnt it the first time) and that's essentially why you should write notes after studying the topic instead of before studying it. Think of it as being infront of your classmates and you want to make them understand the topic you studied the day before but only have 30 min to do it. In that way, organising and structuring your info in mind maps, little mnemonics, key words will even come naturally because you really be throwing yourself in the moment trying all ways to empty what you know about the topic in a way that will make sense to your " imaginary classmates" within this 30 min. Sort of like blurring info out. Doing it this way means you won't need to make flashcards to be honest with you because you would already have these condensed notes for each of your topics. And you certainly wouldn't worry about how cute your notes or supposed to look as, " your main priority per say is again merely helping your classmates understand the topic at hand and you only have 30 min to do this. Trust me, if you can be that engaged, 30 minutes will be enough for you to sort of consolidate what you just learned in the last one hour or two before moving to the next topi. . If you can do this consistently for each topic and making it a point that you prioritise previous topics every single day before you start a new one, you will get not just good grades but also a good grasp of the subject and more often than not you will enjoy even learning about Geography. My fellow classmates used to struggle so much with Geography because they just expected to enjoy subject without any effort really not to mention appropriate engagement. But really what makes one enjoy doing something is seeing how they are getting good at it on a daily basis and to actually achieve this you will need to provide committed effort everyday in it. That's in a nutshell how I cracked Geo at school. Oh and also with regards to practising past papers, make sure you don't leave them until the day before the exam because that just setting your self for failure or at least mediocre grades.. really what you want to do is train your brain consistently throughout the term helping it get used to how questions are asked and even more NB, how they have to be answered so I what I will do is print out all my past papers, label them 🏷️ topics by topic so that when I get to do that topic during the term, I also do the questions at the same time so it's like I am killing two bed with one stone, on one hand I am instilling the information in my brain by reading and active recalling it from a very good textbook, solidifying it by making very condensed notes about it and on the other hand applying what I have learnt to answer related question papers and checking the memorandum afterwards to see if I am getting it and equally NB seeing if there is any other extra details I need to provide to get full marks and am I structuring it in the best possible way to show the marker that I really know my work! Doing all this every night will put you in a a very good mental state and will boost your confidence of the subject that when your end of term exam come, all you need to do is to just review your notebook with condensed notes and past papers only and that would be more than enough to crack the exam! Then by the time you write your end of year Geog exam, you have accumulated/ honed the required skills to approach any exam question without getting stuck. Obviously you won't get all the questions right at the exam but approaching your work this way will ensure you get most of them correct, with short, sweet straightforward, direct answers. You won't even feel the need to rumble which is what many students resorts to if they are unsure of what is being asked. And teachers can tell easily if students really know their work by how they structure their answers. practising writing condensed notes for your "classmates you are teaching" and past papers is how you hone that skill and train your brain to just rock any questions really. So yeah this is how I used to do it and throughout my 3 years of doing geography I was always top of the class and getting 90s no matter how hard the paper was. Just because I engaged appropriately with the subject matter throughout the term. This was even before I got bombarded with all the useless, ineffective study tips we get from other study youTube videos. Five years later I am a medical student who is few months away from graduating and drawing form my 17 years of schooling, I with no hesitation, vouch for everything Abby first shared, and ultimately tried to transcribe here how it could be applied in a context of geog as to be the most effective study method I have ever used and which sure gave me the grades I wanted and worked hard for! Even this day, almost 5 years later, I stil remember some of the things I learnt that's how effective yet enjoyable my geography learning was. Hope this makes sense and really helps you! All the best X
@@pamellazakwe9852 Thanks so much! This helped a lot. And good luck with graduation or any exams you might have!
Not new techniques but your explanations are so easy to understand.
Thank you for this video, I was already implementing some of it, but i get so frustrated with myself not reaching certain study times, and this has been a vere good explained reminder that time put in is not equal to quality and understanding