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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
@@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!
@@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!
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!
no no no it's brilliant to study 3 to 5 hours a day, the human machine needs balance peroids of work then rest the human body ahs existed for 2 million years for most of that we were hunter gathers, we'd hunt meat then rest then gather plants then rest the human body wasn't biult to work 16 hours a day we're not cars we can't just be turned on and used for 12 hours then turn off we're animals the best study technique is to work for a bit rest for a bit and repeat especially as coritsol rises and dips throughout the day affecting productivity
When you said that one should stop making notes, I almost cried out of joy. I haven't take notes in lectures during my MSc or PhD AND I have ADHD. I always felt that taking notes would take me away from actually understanding and comprehending what's going on, and suffice to say: it worked! I do appreciate taking super short notes on sticky notes if I am designing a new concept for my business, but these notes come from within my creative mind and not some lecture :) Thanks for validating my non-note taking approach
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.
@@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
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.
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.
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.
@@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.
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
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 :)
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!
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
@@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
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!
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.
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 !!!!
this is gold dust. undergrad at ox - a lot of this is stuff ive started to realise and it's AMAZING to have someone explain it all in plain terms, ESPECIALLY how to mix maths learning and word learning (studying PPE). thankyouthankyou
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).
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.
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!
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
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!
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!
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!
i'd recommend going for walks either when ur feeling that deplated. OR if you're studying with pomodoro you can take 5-min min walks after every session or when you feel you need it. It works for me, maybe it does for you aswell.
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.
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!
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
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
I strongly resonate with this! I've also always been a straight A students before I got into a really good college. Then I worked my ass off the first two years, sacrificing my health and any socializing, just ended up receiving horrible grades and depression. Then I basically gave up "working hard" because it is not worth it and started taking care of my body and doing fun things with friends. Weirdly I was able to focus much better and started getting good grades again! Your video just explained so much and is so helpful in alleviating my perpetual guilt that I'm "still not working hard enough" Thank you sm for sharing this 💖
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>>>
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
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! :)
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.
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 ❤
I’m currently an undergrad at oxford in my first year and being CRIPPLED by the work load, to the point that I’m honestly considering dropping out. today was a particularly tough day, as i started to think that i might actually do it, i might actually quit uni. i think this video came at the perfect time tbh. i was always concerned about working hours and hours in a day, but never about WHAT i was working on that day. thank you so much for this. i genuinely think it might have filled me with more confidence to keep going
I'm so sorry to hear that, I'm also sure you're not the only one feeling that way - the workload at oxbridge is insane and such a shock to the system! Take each day as it comes and try to give yourself time off / breaks away from working. You've got this x
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 ❤
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
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
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.
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‘m just so grateful for this video. Lately I’ve been sickened by regret for not being the “perfect studen” at uni, working harder despite burnout and suffocating competition... I sometimes feel I’m just a ranked figure. I love this edition of “deep learning”-and blending life back into academia to rejuvenate our work. It’s such a comfort for a student whose performance has plateaued out of fatigue. It’s reignited a spark for learning for my sake-thank you.
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!
I am not sure why this came up in my youtube algo, and much less know why I clicked it(!) BUT I am glad I did. It was so refreshing to hear how you attained the "reading skill" required at University level which I think has been lost in much part of the world. The ability to digest information deeply (and make it yours) is so important in life. I hope you are navigating your work life (which is vastly different from uni life) as well as you did at uni.
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.
I cant beleive im still watching these type of videos after 12 years of school + 7 years of med school + 1 year of residency 😢 choosing med school is definitely choosing to be a forever student 👩🎓
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 :)
Your video kinda proves my experience too. When I was in uni, I was basically the 'lazy' guy that was doing no work. I would do work but not more than about 4 hours. Then there was this friend that I had and she was dong like 9 to 19 hours and I thought to myself "if I worked that hard I would be a genius" so I started forcing myself to do more work and I was flopping so hard at uni from that point. In third year, I went back to "old habits" of being lazy and my grades went back up. I normally used to study for around 90 minutes and used to have lil breaks here and there when I was feeling tired but I stopped those and forced myself and that didn't go well either. My study notes end up being work sheets that I answer. Making actual notes, in my opinion is the biggest waste of time ever. There are actually an effective way of making notes in my opinion and that is to record yourself explaining the concept to someone (can be a wall tbh); but don't spend time actually writing notes, also don't spend too much time recording yourself, I tend to do it for interesting observations I make.
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!
The mistake people make with notes is not figuring out in advance why they're making them. A lot of people take notes thinking it will help them remember the information. But for me, that's not what notes are for, they're a reference. I used colour-coded notes a lot to prepare for essays and assignments, not to prepare for exams. You can write an overview of academic papers or books you've read, and then when you're writing an essay, it means you can quickly remember where you read each argument, and that's incredibly useful when it comes to properly referencing your arguments with academic sources.
okay this is the best study tip video i’ve ever watched, because you’ve hit the nail on the head of everything i’ve done wrong in my bachelors. i wish this video existed back then, but i did my own learning as well from my own experience! i graduated with a poor grade in mathematics, and i did exactly what you mentioned - spent 6 hours a day to understand the lectures, read lecture notes, make my own notes?? do the tutorials. and while i could answer the tutorial questions, i didn’t understand the concept and when it came to questions that deviated from the tutorial questions during exams, i would never be able to answer them. i’m now working as a research assistant in mathematics and my approach is completely different from my days as a bachelor student - i don’t have organized notes, just a jotter book full of scribblings of equations and graphs and question marks, which are just my thoughts, and i have focused discussions with my postdoc for 3-4 hours each day. when i work from home, i nap in the afternoons LOL and only think about math in the morning (when my brain is the freshest) and write at night.
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!
Highlighting important notes and making flashcards on it with 6-10 questions in every card. After two weeks, go through the cards. Say out loud and write. The key is retrieving information. Past papers: Don't time yourself. Instead of doing all those past papers before exam focus on spending hours for few ones. Thinking deeply, out of box and retrieving information.
Congratulations: your explanation is awsome. I completed my engineering degree decades ago, but still interested in learning improvement, because I plan to go back to the uni, and I identify myself much with your approach: I went from a frustrating 100% failure due to an overwork-style of study to being brilliant appliying a similar system as yours. I developed a 3 wave system: 1st reading and understanding the whole material, highlighting the relevant points; 2nd wave summarizing the whole material in a few pages; 3rd wave schematizing; ...this last outline of 1-3 pages is the one I memorized with low effort because all the stuff was already grasped. Also, I spent hours, even days, working on mathematical arguments or difficult concepts to understand them. I hated taking notes in class....it was obvious that it impeded my attention.....so I didn't. My transformation was astonishing and the time required to prepare the exams plumeted to a ridiculous even embarrassing amount of time. 2 questions: - Nevertheless there are students who display in youtube their 10-hours-continued-studying sessions, as Ali Abdaal and others....what is your opinion? - Just one doubt: 11:48 How do you go through the notes if you didn`t take notes? Maybe you should explain it better
Hi, thanks for your comment! With regards to your questions 1. studying is different for everyone and so 10-hour sessions may work for them, they may do this to then have time off later in the week rather than working 7-8 hours every day! 2. Sorry yes this can be confusing, my university provided notes at the start of a lecture topic, which we could then annotate/read through after the lecture without having to make our own notes. Hope this helps!
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.
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
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.
The most important thing is to have balance. The smartest people at uni don't necessarily end up having the most successful careers. Don't neglect the social aspect of uni life because when you enter the workforce, no one cares how smart you are if you can't get along with them. I studied so hard at uni and sort of realized after that employers don't really care all that much and most of the stuff you learn you don't even use. I wish I had spent more time socialising and making friends.
Thanks so much for making this video. I applied to Cambridge for Engineering as a challenge and they have offered me a place (which I was NOT expecting), and I panicked as soon as I realised what I was in for. After watching this, I feel a lot less worried and like I might be able to manage studying for the course. Thanks!
Super helpful tips. Currently in the midst of a career change. I haven't studied since university 10 years ago! I found my old study methods of excessive notes and long hours useless as I just wasn't absorbing the information. I've found once I grasp a concept, relaying the information to someone else and teaching them what you've learnt really cements it in your brain.
Hello my fellow learners. I want to share some tips on learning. Disclaimer, this may not work on everyone since everyone’s learning styles are different but it never hurts to experience with new things. Firstly ,try doing practice questions, especially the one from last year tests, it helps you to engage in active learning and know what you should expect in your upcoming tests. Secondly, in regards to note-taking, don’t try to make your note pretty, use more time focus on the content of the note rather than decorating it, also if you can express something using images instead of words, do it. For example, as a medical student, I study anatomy by drawing pictures instead of writing notes about the locations of muscles( make quick , simple and easy-to-understand drawings, don’t be caught up in making them look good). Thirdly, switch between intensive and non-intensive work. Do hard homework or watch lecture then do simple homework ( or even doing chores). This helps you do more without being burned out so fast. Well, that’s it . Happy studying ❤
I graduated at the top of my class from a leading university, and I do think there is something to what you said about the amount of time for study. I had a personal schedule where I chose to study exactly 8 hours a day. If I consider the small breaks I took to make tea, have a snack or eat something, use the restroom, etc., I would say I was roughly studying just over 7 hours each day - somewhat equivalent to the 7.2 hours you mentioned. As soon as the eight hours was up, I closed up shop and went for a very long walk, and then took the time to come back, enjoy my evening, and get a thorough nights rest. I had enough time to completely engage with all my study work, not rush, and enjoy the process. It worked perfectly for me, and I could not think of a better routine. Thanks for sharing this!
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.
No but that’s so real honestly! I used to be the student you described before; always writing notes and “studying” so much. But now that I keep myself really busy through extracurricular activities and clubs, I had to completely adjust my way of studying . While my study sessions are now shorter, they have become much more purposeful and immersive. When I have 3 hours, I HAVE to make it count because I won’t have any more time for the rest of the day , and while this can be a bit overwhelming at times, I started gettings the best grades I ever got because of it! When preparing for a test , I personally start by writing down every concept I don’t know, and try to understand it. Once that’s accomplished, I make a very concise review paper where I try to explain every concept and keeping it at the “ bare minimum” . Completely diving into the topic has made me remember why I love my major ,so I am much more passionate about the assignments I have to complete! Work smarter, not harder everyone 😎
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!
Such a good video, I passed my CA exams 10 years ago and did a lot of this. The day before the exam, I'd skim through the notes, sleep in, do a pamper routine and eat the best breakfast the morning of so that I was calm and ready.
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
Engaging with your material and putting in the effort to actually and authentically be curious about it is how you learn. Not for the sake of learning or studying but focus on the actual subject, even if you don't find yourself interested much in particular parts of the topic find a way to connect it with the interesting parts and try to make out the big picture. It's good to start from here and come back to why you want to do this now and then because even if you have all these study and so methods it's easy to lose why you're there in the first place.
This video is like the Holy Grail right now. I scored a 2:2 at my exams for the first semester, I was not consistent with my work throughout the semester and ended up burning my head during the break before the exam, I was a zombie everyday doing 16 hours in average per day to catch up the work I left hanging out and I absolutely hated myself for it. The exams are approaching now in a few weeks and your video set me in a good mindset, I can still achieve a good mark for the second semester, thank you!
My friends who make time properly for leisure and to see friends compared to those who try to study 10 hours a day seemed happier. Sometimes I got frustrated with my friends who couldn't take an hour to take a walk with me even though I was willing to travel to their part of town they even said they'd like to hang out with me but they are studying a lot but a lot of that was procrastination. There weren't even exams soon they were constantly studying.. maybe I lack understanding or sympathy..
social media has set up unrealistic goals for people that are purely false. (studying mechanical engineering ) our classmates would compare how many hours they studied and when I looked at others studying time I would destroy myself to get as much done as them which was purely exhausting. The tips you gave me were constructive and I would recommend this video to every student who is trying to get better with their grades or study habits. thank you very much.
Commenting for myself : I just have 10 days for my exam 1, and almost 2 months for big exam which does require deep thinking, i used to spent my time like u said during before and during pandemic but in the last 2 years especially the last 6 months ive rushed so much through so many topics its ridiculously, it was mainly just trying to do more i went on a wrong path which resulted into mediocre grades. I will not repeat this and be more mindful for the next month no matter what. I will not go blindly to complete the chapter or number of questions, and bring thinking back. This is a big red reminder. thank u for this video btw
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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.
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
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 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?
@@륜폐이 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!
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?😢
tell more about it plz😢
no no no it's brilliant to study 3 to 5 hours a day, the human machine needs balance peroids of work then rest the human body ahs existed for 2 million years for most of that we were hunter gathers, we'd hunt meat then rest then gather plants then rest the human body wasn't biult to work 16 hours a day we're not cars we can't just be turned on and used for 12 hours then turn off we're animals the best study technique is to work for a bit rest for a bit and repeat especially as coritsol rises and dips throughout the day affecting productivity
When you said that one should stop making notes, I almost cried out of joy. I haven't take notes in lectures during my MSc or PhD AND I have ADHD. I always felt that taking notes would take me away from actually understanding and comprehending what's going on, and suffice to say: it worked! I do appreciate taking super short notes on sticky notes if I am designing a new concept for my business, but these notes come from within my creative mind and not some lecture :) Thanks for validating my non-note taking approach
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
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.
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.
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😭
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
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 :)
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
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
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!
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
@@manfromwuhan714 sounds like you need to take arts to expand your intellectual horizons.
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.
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!!!!
Thank you! This is so validating!
What were u studying for? What exam?
@@Daveeff Law LLB
this is gold dust. undergrad at ox - a lot of this is stuff ive started to realise and it's AMAZING to have someone explain it all in plain terms, ESPECIALLY how to mix maths learning and word learning (studying PPE). thankyouthankyou
ahh thanks so much!!
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).
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.
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!
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.
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!
“I was so automate to get through it, there was no time to actually understand it!” Wow thank you for your message!❤
*adamant* not *automate*
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!
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!
i'd recommend going for walks either when ur feeling that deplated. OR if you're studying with pomodoro you can take 5-min min walks after every session or when you feel you need it. It works for me, maybe it does for you aswell.
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.
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!
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
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.
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 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.
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.
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
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.
I strongly resonate with this! I've also always been a straight A students before I got into a really good college. Then I worked my ass off the first two years, sacrificing my health and any socializing, just ended up receiving horrible grades and depression. Then I basically gave up "working hard" because it is not worth it and started taking care of my body and doing fun things with friends. Weirdly I was able to focus much better and started getting good grades again! Your video just explained so much and is so helpful in alleviating my perpetual guilt that I'm "still not working hard enough" Thank you sm for sharing this 💖
This seems to be such a universal experience, I am so glad it has helped! x
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!
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!!!
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
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!
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.
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 ❤
I’m currently an undergrad at oxford in my first year and being CRIPPLED by the work load, to the point that I’m honestly considering dropping out. today was a particularly tough day, as i started to think that i might actually do it, i might actually quit uni. i think this video came at the perfect time tbh. i was always concerned about working hours and hours in a day, but never about WHAT i was working on that day. thank you so much for this. i genuinely think it might have filled me with more confidence to keep going
I'm so sorry to hear that, I'm also sure you're not the only one feeling that way - the workload at oxbridge is insane and such a shock to the system! Take each day as it comes and try to give yourself time off / breaks away from working. You've got this x
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
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
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
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
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.
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‘m just so grateful for this video. Lately I’ve been sickened by regret for not being the “perfect studen” at uni, working harder despite burnout and suffocating competition... I sometimes feel I’m just a ranked figure. I love this edition of “deep learning”-and blending life back into academia to rejuvenate our work. It’s such a comfort for a student whose performance has plateaued out of fatigue. It’s reignited a spark for learning for my sake-thank you.
I completely get how you feel, I’m glad this video has helped!
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!
I am not sure why this came up in my youtube algo, and much less know why I clicked it(!) BUT I am glad I did. It was so refreshing to hear how you attained the "reading skill" required at University level which I think has been lost in much part of the world. The ability to digest information deeply (and make it yours) is so important in life. I hope you are navigating your work life (which is vastly different from uni life) as well as you did at uni.
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.
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.
I cant beleive im still watching these type of videos after 12 years of school + 7 years of med school + 1 year of residency 😢 choosing med school is definitely choosing to be a forever student 👩🎓
20 years of studying and u open yt just to type "how to study"😂 i can relate i studied my whole life
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!!
Your video kinda proves my experience too. When I was in uni, I was basically the 'lazy' guy that was doing no work. I would do work but not more than about 4 hours. Then there was this friend that I had and she was dong like 9 to 19 hours and I thought to myself "if I worked that hard I would be a genius" so I started forcing myself to do more work and I was flopping so hard at uni from that point. In third year, I went back to "old habits" of being lazy and my grades went back up. I normally used to study for around 90 minutes and used to have lil breaks here and there when I was feeling tired but I stopped those and forced myself and that didn't go well either. My study notes end up being work sheets that I answer. Making actual notes, in my opinion is the biggest waste of time ever. There are actually an effective way of making notes in my opinion and that is to record yourself explaining the concept to someone (can be a wall tbh); but don't spend time actually writing notes, also don't spend too much time recording yourself, I tend to do it for interesting observations I make.
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!
The mistake people make with notes is not figuring out in advance why they're making them. A lot of people take notes thinking it will help them remember the information. But for me, that's not what notes are for, they're a reference. I used colour-coded notes a lot to prepare for essays and assignments, not to prepare for exams. You can write an overview of academic papers or books you've read, and then when you're writing an essay, it means you can quickly remember where you read each argument, and that's incredibly useful when it comes to properly referencing your arguments with academic sources.
okay this is the best study tip video i’ve ever watched, because you’ve hit the nail on the head of everything i’ve done wrong in my bachelors. i wish this video existed back then, but i did my own learning as well from my own experience! i graduated with a poor grade in mathematics, and i did exactly what you mentioned - spent 6 hours a day to understand the lectures, read lecture notes, make my own notes?? do the tutorials. and while i could answer the tutorial questions, i didn’t understand the concept and when it came to questions that deviated from the tutorial questions during exams, i would never be able to answer them.
i’m now working as a research assistant in mathematics and my approach is completely different from my days as a bachelor student - i don’t have organized notes, just a jotter book full of scribblings of equations and graphs and question marks, which are just my thoughts, and i have focused discussions with my postdoc for 3-4 hours each day. when i work from home, i nap in the afternoons LOL and only think about math in the morning (when my brain is the freshest) and write at night.
Your channel is so underrated! This is probably some of the best studying advice I've ever had, thank you so much!
I implemented this active learning long ago without seeing any RUclips video and not knowing about the technique name, and it really worked
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!
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
Highlighting important notes and making flashcards on it with 6-10 questions in every card. After two weeks, go through the cards. Say out loud and write. The key is retrieving information.
Past papers: Don't time yourself. Instead of doing all those past papers before exam focus on spending hours for few ones. Thinking deeply, out of box and retrieving information.
Congratulations: your explanation is awsome.
I completed my engineering degree decades ago, but still interested in learning improvement, because I plan to go back to the uni, and I identify myself much with your approach:
I went from a frustrating 100% failure due to an overwork-style of study to being brilliant appliying a similar system as yours.
I developed a 3 wave system: 1st reading and understanding the whole material, highlighting the relevant points; 2nd wave summarizing the whole material in a few pages; 3rd wave schematizing; ...this last outline of 1-3 pages is the one I memorized with low effort because all the stuff was already grasped.
Also, I spent hours, even days, working on mathematical arguments or difficult concepts to understand them.
I hated taking notes in class....it was obvious that it impeded my attention.....so I didn't.
My transformation was astonishing and the time required to prepare the exams plumeted to a ridiculous even embarrassing amount of time.
2 questions:
- Nevertheless there are students who display in youtube their 10-hours-continued-studying sessions, as Ali Abdaal and others....what is your opinion?
- Just one doubt:
11:48 How do you go through the notes if you didn`t take notes?
Maybe you should explain it better
Hi, thanks for your comment! With regards to your questions 1. studying is different for everyone and so 10-hour sessions may work for them, they may do this to then have time off later in the week rather than working 7-8 hours every day! 2. Sorry yes this can be confusing, my university provided notes at the start of a lecture topic, which we could then annotate/read through after the lecture without having to make our own notes. Hope this helps!
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.
One of the few videos out there on RUclips which talk about study methods that really work!
Thank you!
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 ~
this is genuinely the most helpful studying video ever
Thank you so much!
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
Wow, I have my finals from may and your timing is insane. Your tips were so so helpful!!! Thank you for this ☄️
You are THE ONLY ONE in youtube who actually give HELPFUL tips!!!!! THANKS
Thanks so much!!
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.
This is gold. Please don’t stop making these!
Thank you!
The most important thing is to have balance. The smartest people at uni don't necessarily end up having the most successful careers. Don't neglect the social aspect of uni life because when you enter the workforce, no one cares how smart you are if you can't get along with them. I studied so hard at uni and sort of realized after that employers don't really care all that much and most of the stuff you learn you don't even use. I wish I had spent more time socialising and making friends.
Thanks so much for making this video. I applied to Cambridge for Engineering as a challenge and they have offered me a place (which I was NOT expecting), and I panicked as soon as I realised what I was in for. After watching this, I feel a lot less worried and like I might be able to manage studying for the course. Thanks!
That’s amazing well done, good luck and have a great time!
@@AbbeyRobinssThanks!
I had the same experience at Cambridge. My grades drastically improved when I started to work less and more strategically (work smarter, not harder)
Super helpful tips. Currently in the midst of a career change. I haven't studied since university 10 years ago! I found my old study methods of excessive notes and long hours useless as I just wasn't absorbing the information. I've found once I grasp a concept, relaying the information to someone else and teaching them what you've learnt really cements it in your brain.
Hello my fellow learners. I want to share some tips on learning. Disclaimer, this may not work on everyone since everyone’s learning styles are different but it never hurts to experience with new things. Firstly ,try doing practice questions, especially the one from last year tests, it helps you to engage in active learning and know what you should expect in your upcoming tests.
Secondly, in regards to note-taking, don’t try to make your note pretty, use more time focus on the content of the note rather than decorating it, also if you can express something using images instead of words, do it. For example, as a medical student, I study anatomy by drawing pictures instead of writing notes about the locations of muscles( make quick , simple and easy-to-understand drawings, don’t be caught up in making them look good).
Thirdly, switch between intensive and non-intensive work. Do hard homework or watch lecture then do simple homework ( or even doing chores). This helps you do more without being burned out so fast.
Well, that’s it . Happy studying ❤
I graduated at the top of my class from a leading university, and I do think there is something to what you said about the amount of time for study. I had a personal schedule where I chose to study exactly 8 hours a day. If I consider the small breaks I took to make tea, have a snack or eat something, use the restroom, etc., I would say I was roughly studying just over 7 hours each day - somewhat equivalent to the 7.2 hours you mentioned.
As soon as the eight hours was up, I closed up shop and went for a very long walk, and then took the time to come back, enjoy my evening, and get a thorough nights rest. I had enough time to completely engage with all my study work, not rush, and enjoy the process. It worked perfectly for me, and I could not think of a better routine. Thanks for sharing this!
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.
No but that’s so real honestly! I used to be the student you described before; always writing notes and “studying” so much. But now that I keep myself really busy through extracurricular activities and clubs, I had to completely adjust my way of studying . While my study sessions are now shorter, they have become much more purposeful and immersive. When I have 3 hours, I HAVE to make it count because I won’t have any more time for the rest of the day , and while this can be a bit overwhelming at times, I started gettings the best grades I ever got because of it! When preparing for a test , I personally start by writing down every concept I don’t know, and try to understand it. Once that’s accomplished, I make a very concise review paper where I try to explain every concept and keeping it at the “ bare minimum” . Completely diving into the topic has made me remember why I love my major ,so I am much more passionate about the assignments I have to complete!
Work smarter, not harder everyone 😎
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^^
Such a good video, I passed my CA exams 10 years ago and did a lot of this. The day before the exam, I'd skim through the notes, sleep in, do a pamper routine and eat the best breakfast the morning of so that I was calm and ready.
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)
That was seriously so happy. I suffered from the overworking and not producing results. I see now why. Thank you
Finally!!!! Someone talked about this. Finally. Thanks glad that you made this video ❤️
Engaging with your material and putting in the effort to actually and authentically be curious about it is how you learn. Not for the sake of learning or studying but focus on the actual subject, even if you don't find yourself interested much in particular parts of the topic find a way to connect it with the interesting parts and try to make out the big picture. It's good to start from here and come back to why you want to do this now and then because even if you have all these study and so methods it's easy to lose why you're there in the first place.
This video is like the Holy Grail right now. I scored a 2:2 at my exams for the first semester, I was not consistent with my work throughout the semester and ended up burning my head during the break before the exam, I was a zombie everyday doing 16 hours in average per day to catch up the work I left hanging out and I absolutely hated myself for it.
The exams are approaching now in a few weeks and your video set me in a good mindset, I can still achieve a good mark for the second semester, thank you!
this is one of the best study guide videos I've ever watched! Thank you
My friends who make time properly for leisure and to see friends compared to those who try to study 10 hours a day seemed happier. Sometimes I got frustrated with my friends who couldn't take an hour to take a walk with me even though I was willing to travel to their part of town they even said they'd like to hang out with me but they are studying a lot but a lot of that was procrastination. There weren't even exams soon they were constantly studying.. maybe I lack understanding or sympathy..
social media has set up unrealistic goals for people that are purely false. (studying mechanical engineering ) our classmates would compare how many hours they studied and when I looked at others studying time I would destroy myself to get as much done as them which was purely exhausting. The tips you gave me were constructive and I would recommend this video to every student who is trying to get better with their grades or study habits. thank you very much.
Commenting for myself :
I just have 10 days for my exam 1, and almost 2 months for big exam which does require deep thinking, i used to spent my time like u said during before and during pandemic but in the last 2 years especially the last 6 months ive rushed so much through so many topics its ridiculously, it was mainly just trying to do more i went on a wrong path which resulted into mediocre grades. I will not repeat this and be more mindful for the next month no matter what. I will not go blindly to complete the chapter or number of questions, and bring thinking back. This is a big red reminder.
thank u for this video btw
Good luck, you've got this!