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How to study effectively at university?

I'm currently in my first year of uni doing a Biomedical Science degree, and I'm finding it hard to revise everything from every module while also completing assignments and coursework on time. Initially I thought I can't do it because there is so much content to learn but now I realised that the amount of work I have isn't much greater than I had at A Level, its just paced a lot faster, which is why I can't keep up.
Usually I would take all my lecture notes (annotated printed PowerPoint slides), and write them up on paper and add any additional info from textbooks. It worked fine in college but now at uni I just don't seem to have the time because everything is happening so fast. I will get maybe 3-4 lectures out of 22 written up for each module by the end of the semester, which means that most of the content I haven't revised.

Now that semester 2 is coming up, I want to change my studying method so I can get all lectures revised. Does anyone have any tips or techniques that they personally use that work for the university pace? I'm sort of out of ideas and I don't want to be going into exams with only half of the knowledge I need.
I know this unrelated to your question but could I ask how which university you are studying biomedical science at and how are you finding it (is it interesting? what's your favourite module? did you get your first pick of modules?)
Original post by Sheisun1998
I'm currently in my first year of uni doing a Biomedical Science degree, and I'm finding it hard to revise everything from every module while also completing assignments and coursework on time. Initially I thought I can't do it because there is so much content to learn but now I realised that the amount of work I have isn't much greater than I had at A Level, its just paced a lot faster, which is why I can't keep up.
Usually I would take all my lecture notes (annotated printed PowerPoint slides), and write them up on paper and add any additional info from textbooks. It worked fine in college but now at uni I just don't seem to have the time because everything is happening so fast. I will get maybe 3-4 lectures out of 22 written up for each module by the end of the semester, which means that most of the content I haven't revised.

Now that semester 2 is coming up, I want to change my studying method so I can get all lectures revised. Does anyone have any tips or techniques that they personally use that work for the university pace? I'm sort of out of ideas and I don't want to be going into exams with only half of the knowledge I need.


Im only in high school (year 11 doing gcses this year) so im not in a good position to help but maybe make your notes less detailed or reading things you haven't revised for a bit before you go to sleep? I know its not great advice but would it help? (I know it probably won't, sorry)
You have plenty of time and you need to use this properly.
I study 4 hours every day in the very early morning after I exercise and shower. (12 hours on the weekend)
During the day when I am at university I go through my notes and review my exercises and just add anything on from the lecture/find more work.

Just get your head down and focus.
Is it possible to record your lectures so you have it to go back to?
I don't have the time, I usually have one assignment every week to complete for the next week, sometimes I get more though. And of course I need time to cook dinner, clean my room, do laundry, get groceries, all of those things take up a fair bit of my time as well but I can't spend every free minute I have studying. This is why I'm trying to come up with some other way of studying.
Original post by lizzydavis
Is it possible to record your lectures so you have it to go back to?


My lectures are recorded by the uni, and most of the time I have to watch the recordings anyway because the lecturers just go over things so fast I don't have time to write it down, and a recording I can just pause and rewind.
Original post by Ilikelemons
You have plenty of time and you need to use this properly.
I study 4 hours every day in the very early morning after I exercise and shower. (12 hours on the weekend)
During the day when I am at university I go through my notes and review my exercises and just add anything on from the lecture/find more work.

Just get your head down and focus.


No, I do not have plenty of time. I have 3-4 pieces of coursework to complete for 4 modules during one semester, so that's 1 or 2 pieces of work every week that I have to prioritise over revising lectures, since they actually have a due date.
I live in halls and I need to find time to do basic things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, food shopping, all those things are necessities and do take up time. I can't spent every living moment studying or I will end up starving and living in a dirt infested room. Not to mention I do need so socialise and relax sometimes as well or I will go insane.
Original post by Sheisun1998
No, I do not have plenty of time. I have 3-4 pieces of coursework to complete for 4 modules during one semester, so that's 1 or 2 pieces of work every week that I have to prioritise over revising lectures, since they actually have a due date.
I live in halls and I need to find time to do basic things like cooking, cleaning, laundry, food shopping, all those things are necessities and do take up time. I can't spent every living moment studying or I will end up starving and living in a dirt infested room. Not to mention I do need so socialise and relax sometimes as well or I will go insane.


Then you are not being efficient.
OK lets break it down.

For food why don't you meal prep?
Food shopping? Do it online or early in the morning or things like pasta/rice (if you eat them) just stock it.

You need to wake up earlier. You will get a lot done. My day is basically finished at 8am because I have studied efficiently, exercised and showered so all I have left is attend university and just some other small projects I need done.
Original post by Sheisun1998
I'm currently in my first year of uni doing a Biomedical Science degree, and I'm finding it hard to revise everything from every module while also completing assignments and coursework on time. Initially I thought I can't do it because there is so much content to learn but now I realised that the amount of work I have isn't much greater than I had at A Level, its just paced a lot faster, which is why I can't keep up.
Usually I would take all my lecture notes (annotated printed PowerPoint slides), and write them up on paper and add any additional info from textbooks. It worked fine in college but now at uni I just don't seem to have the time because everything is happening so fast. I will get maybe 3-4 lectures out of 22 written up for each module by the end of the semester, which means that most of the content I haven't revised.

Now that semester 2 is coming up, I want to change my studying method so I can get all lectures revised. Does anyone have any tips or techniques that they personally use that work for the university pace? I'm sort of out of ideas and I don't want to be going into exams with only half of the knowledge I need.


Think you're overdoing it. You need to summarise the material you're learning, not try to write massive essays of each lecture.

I get a A5 or A6 notebook with lots of pages and stick each of the lecture slides on one page (say page 2) then add small notes on the page next to it (page 3) so I get a overview of both the slide and my notes about the slide, when I have the notebook open. A small notebook helps me keeps things brief and is great for revision. I queue up at Tescos and whip the book out for a quick revision until I get to pay.

How the notebook is structured depends on the module. A maths module will be differently structured to a module that involves writing essays. The method is really good for cramming technical and language exams where you have learn loads of stuff.
Original post by ThePricklyOne
Think you're overdoing it. You need to summarise the material you're learning, not try to write massive essays of each lecture.

I get a A5 or A6 notebook with lots of pages and stick each of the lecture slides on one page (say page 2) then add small notes on the page next to it (page 3) so I get a overview of both the slide and my notes about the slide, when I have the notebook open. A small notebook helps me keeps things brief and is great for revision. I queue up at Tescos and whip the book out for a quick revision until I get to pay.

How the notebook is structured depends on the module. A maths module will be differently structured to a module that involves writing essays. The method is really good for cramming technical and language exams where you have learn loads of stuff.


That's the thing, I was pretty sure I was overdoing it but I couldn't think of a different, faster way to study so I just continued doing what I was doing.
Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try it out. Sounds like it could work for me.
Original post by Sheisun1998
That's the thing, I was pretty sure I was overdoing it but I couldn't think of a different, faster way to study so I just continued doing what I was doing.
Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try it out. Sounds like it could work for me.


Personally i try and spend no more than an hour writing up a lecture afterwards, anymore than that and you are not only going to be unable to keep up but you are probably not condensing the content, meaning that you haven't understood it well enough.

Admittedly i also struggled with finding the most time efficient way of studying in 1st term so i do have sympathy, try out different ways of making notes and go with the one that works best for you (i.e Handwriting, MindMaps, Anki etc).
Reply 12
I definitely spend a few hours on an assigment and I spread it over a couple of days. It gives me time to send emails to professors if I do need any help with them and most of the time I do. As for writing up lectures I'd say I spent maybe 2 hours writing up one lecture. Some of them are very lengthy.

I have 4 modules in each semester, 3 of them having either 21 or 22 lectures with 2 lectures per week. One had 17 lectures because its a skills module and a lot of the teaching is done through my tutor instead of lectures.
Reply 13
Honestly, i just treat university like a full-time job. If there are long breaks between lectures I don't goof off or go shopping or home I go to the library to condense notes/work on assignments. I also set my own deadlines to try and finish coursework at least a couple days ahead of time so there is plenty of time to proofread and correct and takes the stress of real deadlines away (for me at least). Breaks down to about 18 hours of lectures a week with 12 of self-guided study/coursework and I spend a some more of my time doing my own side projects on top to improve my programming skills. That still leaves me with way more free time than I ever had while working in the real world :biggrin: Time management and self-discipline are priceless skills that are well worth practicing.

Tips from me would be
- Plan ahead for quick easy meals to cook/batch cook one pot meals like chilli and freeze so you can microwave another day and have little dishes.
- Do a weekly shop instead of daily.
- Revise key points from lectures. A lot of background knowledge given on my course at least isn't needed for exams its just useful context.
-One note on my laptop is a lifesaver for taking organised notes. If you can touch type Its handy for taking notes organised by module and date while maintaining focus on the lecturer.

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