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TO CURRENT UNI STUDENT: How do Uni students study compare to A-Level students?

Me and many other people are going off to uni in 2 months. I want to ask what's the difference in terms of how you study in uni compared to when you were a sixth form. Do you take notes? Do papers like in secondary school?
Original post by Wilsoncw1997
Me and many other people are going off to uni in 2 months. I want to ask what's the difference in terms of how you study in uni compared to when you were a sixth form. Do you take notes? Do papers like in secondary school?



In sixth form they "hold your hand" a lot more.

In unis you have to do things for yourself.

In my sixth form college anyway we were given packages of our subject notes for the year which we could add things onto occasioanlly and then at uni a guy starts chatting and scribbling on a blackboard whilst you try and listen and write and read what he's writing at the same time.

I'll be better at asking specific questions but this does vary course to course uni to uni.

If you know your course/uni choice you can go ask in subject/uni specific areas for a better idea of what your uni will be like...
I think it would very much depend on what course you'll be studying.

I do Chemistry so most of the time we're given lecture notes. Some lecturers give you paper copies whereas others may ask you to either print them off or bring them on a tablet.

A lot of stuff is said in the lectures which won't be examined so it isn't necessary to write everything down. It may be helpful to annotate the lecture notes you may be given, especially if something doesn't make complete sense the first time round, this'll aid revision in the exam period.

Also, I'm not sure about any other Universities, but our university supplies us with past exam papers but we get no answers. I personally don't agree with this policy but we're encouraged to work out the answers for ourselves rather than relying on mark schemes.

Compared to sixth-form I don't find University completely dissimilar. You may have to revise your revision technique but if you keep on top of your work you'll be fine.
It depends on the lecturer (maybe the university), most I've had will give full course notes and will have an office hour where you can go to them if you're having trouble with something, on the other hand some would give notes but they required further annotation from information given only in the lectures and some weren't particularly enthusiastic about their office hours.

You'll also have a tutor who's there to give more assignments which cover the whole course, they'll advise you applying for internships and they will support your wellbeing, e.g. if you're finding life difficult you discuss it with them and they'll advise you and help coordinate what to do about it from an academic standpoint.
Reply 4
Generally, it depends on your course and lecturer.

I did biomedical science, and some lecturers would give out slides for you to annotate, some would give you slides afterwards (sans images) and others won't give you slides until the end of semester, but you always take detailed notes in the lecture.

We were then expected to do 3-4 hours work per lecture outside of lecture times, and extra reading was allocated to improve understanding and cover things that were not done in much detail.

We didn't get given any past exam papers, and could not access them at all so had to revise by making our own questions, group studying and using flash cards/lecture notes.

Personally, I found writing my (incredibly messy) lecture notes out neatly, adding the extra reading and diagrams, was the best way to stay on top of the work throughout the year, then started revising just before the easter holidays making up my own questions and going through everything (that I could) again. Our lectures didn't finish until 3 weeks before the exam, so it was really important to keep up with everything.
Reply 5
Go the library, grab some books, skim read through relevant sections of said books whether they be hardcopy or e-books. Do further online research via journal articles and other websites. Write essays on knowledge acquired from research.

No teachers telling you what to write/doing the work for you like they did at A level.. that **** is a joke, most of the stuff you do at A level isn't even your work :biggrin:
Reply 6
Churning through exam papers only partially works now - there aren't that many, and we don't get answers either. I don't mind not getting answers for certain modules, but questions that require a numerical answer frustrate me to no end. However, tutorials sort of serve as similar to exam questions, and if you attend you'll have a set of correct answers by the end.

Tutorials - if you have tutorials or seminars then these are a "new" addition, but very helpful. It's like actually doing your homework, and then discussing it and making sure you understand, and/or learn something further about it.

Notes are much the same, some people give you notes and some lecturers write everything on a chalkboard and expect you to deal with it however you like.

It depends on you, and probably what your college/sixth form was like. I've not really changed my approach much or anything, but if you're someone who write pages and pages of revision notes to try and engrave something into your brain that you can parrot out then you might need to change somewhat, to a more connected/understanding focused way. I went to a state college so they kind of expected more "independent" studying and working, compared to what I saw with the sixth form.
(edited 9 years ago)
Here's a picture guide to how most uni students study:
ImageUploadedByStudent Room1406652518.987958.jpg


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Original post by Nymthae
Churning through exam papers only partially works now - there aren't that many, and we don't get answers either. I don't mind not getting answers for certain modules, but questions that require a numerical answer frustrate me to no end. However, tutorials sort of serve as similar to exam questions, and if you attend you'll have a set of correct answers by the end.

Tutorials - if you have tutorials or seminars then these are a "new" addition, but very helpful. It's like actually doing your homework, and then discussing it and making sure you understand, and/or learn something further about it.

Notes are much the same, some people give you notes and some lecturers write everything on a chalkboard and expect you to deal with it however you like.

It depends on you, and probably what your college/sixth form was like. I've not really changed my approach much or anything, but if you're someone who write pages and pages of revision notes to try and engrave something into your brain that you can parrot out then you might need to change somewhat, to a more connected/understanding focused way. I went to a state college so they kind of expected more "independent" studying and working, compared to what I saw with the sixth form.


I never take notes, so how does this count then?
Reply 9
Original post by Wilsoncw1997
I never take notes, so how does this count then?


Then what do you do? Do you get given a set of notes all the time?

What course are you looking to do? Basically, start taking notes, but depending on your course that could be very minimal because they'll give you a whole photocopied booklet. I've experienced three degrees of note provision:

1. No notes given ever, everything is said and/or written on the board/overhead, no way to get the notes other than go to the lectures (or get them from someone)
2. Mostly completed notes, some blanks to fill in to keep you awake, they sometimes say other stuff which is kind of helpful
3. Complete notes, they barely ever deviate, sometimes not even worth going to the lecture (depends how well written the notes are), usually posted online beforehand

Note taking isn't really hard though for the most part, if they expect you to take full notes then you'll probably be given a reason time to do so. If it doesn't make sense at the time, just deal with it later, because it's all written down so you can grab a textbook if necessary. Occasionally you'll get a patronising old git criticising everyone for not keeping up because he's flying through it or expects far better than you seem to be..

If you do get full printed notes a lot, it's worth highlighting bits and generally trying to scribble the stuff they say, if only to keep you focused on it. I skim read, so I don't really take the lecture material in if it's just there in a wad of paper. You don't have to take notes for the sake of it though, just to aid your understanding. Some lecturers actually explain things in a clear(ish) way in person, but if they send you the notes they're just riddled with errors or make little sense. I've had to do some modules by distance learning and some of them clearly just haven't proof-read anything.
Original post by Nymthae
Then what do you do? Do you get given a set of notes all the time?

What course are you looking to do? Basically, start taking notes, but depending on your course that could be very minimal because they'll give you a whole photocopied booklet. I've experienced three degrees of note provision:

1. No notes given ever, everything is said and/or written on the board/overhead, no way to get the notes other than go to the lectures (or get them from someone)
2. Mostly completed notes, some blanks to fill in to keep you awake, they sometimes say other stuff which is kind of helpful
3. Complete notes, they barely ever deviate, sometimes not even worth going to the lecture (depends how well written the notes are), usually posted online beforehand

Note taking isn't really hard though for the most part, if they expect you to take full notes then you'll probably be given a reason time to do so. If it doesn't make sense at the time, just deal with it later, because it's all written down so you can grab a textbook if necessary. Occasionally you'll get a patronising old git criticising everyone for not keeping up because he's flying through it or expects far better than you seem to be..

If you do get full printed notes a lot, it's worth highlighting bits and generally trying to scribble the stuff they say, if only to keep you focused on it. I skim read, so I don't really take the lecture material in if it's just there in a wad of paper. You don't have to take notes for the sake of it though, just to aid your understanding. Some lecturers actually explain things in a clear(ish) way in person, but if they send you the notes they're just riddled with errors or make little sense. I've had to do some modules by distance learning and some of them clearly just haven't proof-read anything.


Thank you ill use your tips and get some additional advice on how I should start taking notes if i need to.

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