Cramming for finals, I dont understand

Peter Man's Bridge · 12-08-2009, 09:15 PM

im not studying, im getting drunk. But alot of my "finals" aren't that hard

Pbmike20 · 12-08-2009, 09:48 PM

I'll be cramming for sure. **** Chm 363

texaspaintballplpaye · 12-08-2009, 09:48 PM

All my finals are cumulative.

inuyasharox4776 · 12-08-2009, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnctaj

Burn does make a point, however. If one pays attention and studies consistently throughout the course, one's overall grade will likely be higher and one's retention of course material will actually mean something later on in life. Or, at least as much as anything one learns in a class room that one can be tested on can mean anything.

**Burninator** · 12-08-2009, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texaspaintballplpaye

All my finals are cumulative.

mine always have been. In math courses it tends to make it a little easier since math always builds on itself. If you can complete the problems at the end of the course then you should be able to go back to the beginning of the course and complete the first ones.

p-ballplaya1440 · 12-08-2009, 10:19 PM

I just had my math final today. I'm terrible at math. I studied for about an hour last night. I don't know my grade for sure yet, but I'm thinking around a C or C+. I'm in the process of studying for my geology final right now. Been at it for about a half hour or so, and probably about another half hour to go. I wouldn't call an hour's worth of looking over notes cramming.

Wenuliveudie · 12-08-2009, 10:24 PM

I'm plan to invest about 50 hours studying for my Calc and Physics finals that are next Friday. Then about 15 hours for my Structures exam on the 22.

I can't imagine only studying an hour for a final.

I'm inebriated · 12-08-2009, 10:28 PM

If it's cumulative I'll usually spend around 10-15 hours studying the night before. If it's not cumulative I'll spend an hour or two. The most I've studied was ~35 hours starting 2 days before the final.

p8ntballoc11 · 12-08-2009, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenuliveudie

I'm plan to invest about 50 hours studying for my Calc and Physics finals that are next Friday. Then about 15 hours for my Structures exam on the 22.

I can't imagine only studying an hour for a final.

wow. that's a lot of studying. i'm doing like 10 hours for calc and 10 hours for chem. but i've been studying consistently since school staretd.

Wenuliveudie · 12-08-2009, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by p8ntballoc11

wow. that's a lot of studying. i'm doing like 10 hours for calc and 10 hours for chem. but i've been studying consistently since school staretd.

School is my job and an investment in my future (the best one I can possibly make). I will study as much as possible so I earn the grade I get. It leaves no room for excuses or laziness.

prelic · 12-08-2009, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenuliveudie

I'm plan to invest about 50 hours studying for my Calc and Physics finals that are next Friday. Then about 15 hours for my Structures exam on the 22.

I can't imagine only studying an hour for a final.

If you went to any class at all, it would only take like 20 hours max, and 20 hours is a serious amount of studying. 30 hours is a lot of time for sample exams...Anyone can tell you that after a certain amount of time your brain stops trying.

I definitely cram for finals, and I know plenty of people who rely on long nights before the exam to get good grades. And you know what? They do get good grades. Some people have the free time to put in an hour or two a night for the 2 weeks leading up to the exam, but I certainly know more people who pull all-nighters than people doing work for exams they aren't actually taking any time soon.

And if your exams only take a couple hours worth of studying, then either:

1)Your classes test more often than midterms and a final
2)Your just really smart and immediately absorb and remember all information that comes your way.
3)Your classes are a joke

calebh · 12-08-2009, 11:06 PM

i don't know if there are any other architecture majors around. didn't notice any in the "what's your major" thread.

we don't really cram, but we are usually up all the night or two or three before a review. most of us never really finish designing, but the deadline doesn't move. so at some point we just have to finally start on the presentation boards and models, and that's usually at the point when we realize we don't have time to keep designing, a few days before the review. especially with computers now... curse unlimited editability.

i don't really want to get into the "my major is harder than your major" argument, but i'll give my perspective. as far as work loads go, it seems most architecture majors pull more all-nighters in one year than most college students do in their college career... i don't think it's harder work, but it's almost definitely more. my final review this semester ended at 7pm saturday. in the 60 hours before, i had two nights of sleep and one nap totaling 7 hours of non-continuous sleep, and had on top of that, a total of maybe 5 hours of "downtime," which mostly involved finding and consuming food or short breaks to keep my sanity. in the four days before those 60 hours, i got plenty of sleep, but the vast majority of my time outside of class or work was spent preparing for that review. when it gets to final review, some students all but live in the architecture building for about a week. can't say i've ever heard of any non architecture student pulling a 60 hour cram session, after already studying a few days, for one class.

but then, studio and a normal class really can't be compared. really, it's not difficult if you know what you're doing, but i know few students outside architecture who work as long as we do. unless you are lacking in creative ability. then you might find it impossible.

as far as exams and classes outside of studio, thankfully i don't have much of a problem getting by. i'm pretty good at retaining information so long as i take notes in class. oh, and i actually put effort into homework if there is any. i'll study for an hour or two the night before an exam, and then maybe 15 minutes the morning of, and that's usually enough.

tl;dr. don't really cram. architecture students practically live in studio anyway.

prelic · 12-08-2009, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calebh

i don't know if there are any other architecture majors around. didn't notice any in the "what's your major" thread.

we don't really cram, but we are usually up all the night or two or three before a review. most of us never really finish designing, but the deadline doesn't move. so at some point we just have to finally start on the presentation boards and models, and that's usually at the point when we realize we don't have time to keep designing, a few days before the review. especially with computers now... curse unlimited editability.

i don't really want to get into the "my major is harder than your major" argument, but i'll give my perspective. as far as work loads go, it seems most architecture majors pull more all-nighters in one year than most college students do in their college career... i don't think it's harder work, but it's almost definitely more. my final review this semester ended at 7pm saturday. in the 60 hours before, i had two nights of sleep and one nap totaling 7 hours of non-continuous sleep, and had on top of that, a total of maybe 5 hours of "downtime," which mostly involved finding and consuming food or short breaks to keep my sanity. in the four days before those 60 hours, i got plenty of sleep, but the vast majority of my time outside of class or work was spent preparing for that review. when it gets to final review, some students all but live in the architecture building for about a week. can't say i've ever heard of any non architecture student pulling a 60 hour cram session, after already studying a few days, for one class.

but then, studio and a normal class really can't be compared. really, it's not difficult if you know what you're doing, but i know few students outside architecture who work as long as we do. unless you are lacking in creative ability. then you might find it impossible.

as far as exams and classes outside of studio, thankfully i don't have much of a problem getting by. i'm pretty good at retaining information so long as i take notes in class. i'll study for an hour or two the night before an exam, and then maybe 15 minutes the morning of, and that's usually enough.

tl;dr. don't really cram. architecture students practically live in studio anyway.

The 2 hardest majors I've seen people endure are probably either mech/aerospace engineering and architecture. I feel like the architecture kids always get absolutely **** on with work.

texaspaintballplpaye · 12-09-2009, 12:17 AM

My brother is Aerospace at University of Texas. I feel bad for him. He is a senior this year, but Jr. year raped him.

Crede777 · 12-09-2009, 12:22 AM

My roommate's a Computer Science major and I think he's in the same boat as calebh with architecture. He has an extremely heavy workload when it comes to coding, editing, refining, etc. Then again, my school is insanely competitive with their CS department and they regularly enter into CS events or tournaments against schools like Carnegie Mellon.

FrontBallin · 12-09-2009, 12:26 AM

I cram and pull all nighters because I go to one of the more academically rigorous institutions in the country (Georgia Tech)....here, if you don't pull all nighters or study you're ****ing *** off before finals, you're screwed.

Oh, and yes. I am an engineering major, Industrial and Systems Engineering.

People don't look forward to graduating from 'Tech, they look forward to "getting out".

calebh · 12-09-2009, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crede777

My roommate's a Computer Science major and I think he's in the same boat as calebh with architecture. He has an extremely heavy workload when it comes to coding, editing, refining, etc. Then again, my school is insanely competitive with their CS department and they regularly enter into CS events or tournaments against schools like Carnegie Mellon.

yeah, i did some computer science in high school. i can imagine majoring in it would be rough, especially when you get down to final projects. i think it might be a lot like architecture, where you never find a final solution you are completely happy with, you just get as good a one as you can before the deadline. programming isn't at all the same kind of design i do in architecture, but it's still similar in that the goal is to create functional yet elegant solutions to problems.

i actually considered CS as a major, until i realized tulane got rid of their CS program after katrina. still managed some credit from my AP score, though. probably one of like three people with any CS credit at tulane. lol

IridetheShortBus. · 12-09-2009, 09:20 AM

Well I know for my Calc test, there are 30 questions on the final, on which our professor has pulled 500 problems out for us to study out of, saying that the 30 can come from any of the 500. That's a lot of stuff to study for, usually I'll study about 300 before my exam and cram the night before "attempting" to study the remaining 200.

I think the teachers want you to fail doing this ****.

I'm inebriated · 12-09-2009, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenuliveudie

School is my job and an investment in my future (the best one I can possibly make). I will study as much as possible so I earn the grade I get. It leaves no room for excuses or laziness.

I'm glad have family to hook me up with a job after college so I can be lazy and not try.

calebh · 12-09-2009, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IridetheShortBus.

I think the teachers want you to fail doing this ****.

just speaking from my single college calc experience, they do. i love classes like that, though. they expect everyone to get like a 60, then they curve it ridiculously. i couldn't have gotten more than a 50% on my calc final, and came away with an A in the class.

as far as cramming for that final, i didn't. but i did all of the homework over the semester, and really put effort into that, going to class, paying attention, and taking notes. the more effort i put into the basic stuff (going to class and paying attention, taking notes, doing homework), the less time i have to spent preparing for tests. i went over my notes, and did a couple of problems from each section we went over in class. took maybe like 4 hours, all told. but then, i'm really good at math... did better than my friends who did cram (who also went to every class and took notes and did the homework)

also,

are all those 500 problems completely different, or do they group up into several types of problems? if they group up, you might be better served by simply understanding how to do each type of problem rather than actually learning all the problems. if he's picking 30 questions, there's probably 15-30 types of problems there... if those 500 problems are all solved completely differently using different principles, well good luck...

part of studying well is studying intelligently

DayoftheGreek · 12-09-2009, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wenuliveudie

School is my job and an investment in my future (the best one I can possibly make). I will study as much as possible so I earn the grade I get. It leaves no room for excuses or laziness.

I like to invest in sanity and social skills. It leaves no room for a 4.0. And also is quite possibly more important than GPA, considering engineering has so many god damn awkward study kids who faint when addressed individually.