study group or nah?

Conqueror+, BSN, RN · Jan 17, 2016

I vote nah. 3.85 without one.

SWM2009 · Jan 17, 2016

Nah is my vote. At my school the mantra was always "you must be in a study group to pass" but I proved them wrong.

LJR89 · Jan 17, 2016

I felt pretty neutral about study groups all of my first semester, until it came time to study for finals. At that point everyone had already learned the material initially but reviewing that amount of content was not doable by ourselves. Plus the anxiety about finals kept everyone on task. I would say do what works best for you obviously, but maybe keep groups an option when it comes to finals week, I wouldn't have done nearly as well without my classmates.

springchick1, ADN, RN · Jan 17, 2016

I felt pretty neutral about study groups all of my first semester, until it came time to study for finals. At that point everyone had already learned the material initially but reviewing that amount of content was not doable by ourselves. Plus the anxiety about finals kept everyone on task. I would say do what works best for you obviously, but maybe keep groups an option when it comes to finals week, I wouldn't have done nearly as well without my classmates.

I will say it may be hard to find a study group for the week of finals. Most people who have their groups set aren't willing to add another person.

umbdude, MSN, APRN · Jan 17, 2016

No study group for me. I get through so much more by studying alone and I've never heard my classmates forming study groups either.

LJR89 · Jan 17, 2016

I will say it may be hard to find a study group for the week of finals. Most people who have their groups set aren't willing to add another person.

Excellent point, glad you mentioned that. The ladies and gentlemen in my groups might be a little more generous than some for allowing me in so seamlessly. I got lucky with a great cohort.

3peas · Jan 18, 2016

I am a "study loner" as well, but I studied with people when I felt it was beneficial to me. I had a friend we would meet up every day before exams early in the morning and do the last minute cram. If we had questions we could ask each other-that was the best thing for me. If I had a topic I struggled with I would reach out to my friends and ask for a tutoring session. I made wonderful friends, but never had a "study group." I had a killer class that almost did me in and a group of us met once a week to go over NCLEX questions to talk them out.

Figure out what works for you and do it. Don't feel compelled to do something that would waste your time.

Honey Clover · Jan 18, 2016

It works if you're with the right people you click with. I've had classes where I was basically tutoring my peers and that really solidified my understanding of the material and it motivated me to learn the material early so that I can help others. But then I had other classes where I never found the "right" type of person or group to study with. For that, I studied by myself but I ended up doing good anyways. I think study groups helps tremendously for people with different learning styles. For some people, they don't need study groups and I believe you don't have to necessarily study with other people to do well. However, there are pros that everyone should consider. You can study by yourself and talk it out in your head but it's just different when you need to talk it out to your peers because you have to explain it to them in a way that makes sense for them too. They will ask questions back and respond in different ways. I think building this habit of communicating and explaining in different ways to others will help in an actual job setting.

amberdragonfly, ASN · Jan 18, 2016

I'm like you. I like to generally study alone, and I have found that sometimes in study groups we don't cover as much subject matter in the time spent that I would have alone, and I have walked out of some feeling like I wasted my time. BUT that being said, I have more often found them to be a fun, bonding experience that does help reinforce some material for me. Mostly because I can spend some time helping others to get something that they're having trouble with, and that in turn helps to reinforce it in my head leading me to understand it even better myself. And it helps to brush up on things I may not have focused on, but others did. I don't generally need to rely on study groups, but I find them to be a very beneficial supplement with the right mix of people.

Lajimolala, BSN, RN, NP · Jan 18, 2016

OK, this may sound totally random, but I really wish someone would have told me this when I was in nursing school. I was much like you, I had aced pretty much all of my prerequisites prior to nursing school. And my grades were never that good again in RN school. I was in a state university doing my bachelors, so granted it wasn't supposed to easy, but still. I always wondered why I stopped excelling. But I just figured RN school is tough. and I was never in danger of not passing, so whatever. At that time, I thought I NEEDED study groups because I find that they helped me focus. In reality, I study much better by myself but unfortunately I never knew that because I felt like the groups helped me focus on important topics. Studying by myself, I found myself being easily distracted, or having to read something over and over again even though the material wasn't that hard. I couldn't figure out what it was that made it hard for me to concentrate.

Fast forward a year after I got my first RN job. I went to the doctor's office for a regular check up, got blood work done and found the answer I was looking for. I was vitamin D deficient, and I'm so sure now in retrospect that I must have been so for YEARS. I had only one-third the amount of vitamin D a normal person should have. Looking up the signs and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency, one really stuck out: poor concentration. Interestingly enough, I went to grad school not too long after with NORMAL levels of vitamin D, and my studying experience was completely different. I never relied on others to help me focus. I was so much more efficient with studying. I didn't have to spend hours and hours on a topic. And more importantly, my grades were higher in grad school than RN school.

Sorry, I know this is a long-winded story to just say: make sure you get your vitamin D checked out. It really can affect how you study and your grades :-)