What are your study habits?

OhioITNurse · May 18, 2012

I just graduated cum laude from a supposedly demanding program with 3 kids under 7 (half of my friends did not make it through and many others had to repeat courses). I did no studying at all during the week and just spent my entire Sunday each week transcribing notes onto note cards. I'd use them as flash cards in my down time from Sunday until the tests on Wednesdays, then re-use them for comprehensive finals. I read the books for the first half of the nursing classes, but eventually stopped altogether because the notes covered more than 90% of the material and I figured I could afford the 1 or 2 questions they pulled from the books to better focus my studying time. I ended the program with a 3.52 gpa and a score of 985 on the Hesi exit exam. I'm currently waiting on my ATT for the NCLEX. I'm pretty confident I'll pass, but I do questions from Sanders and Kaplan whenever I'm not busy. I found Kaplan helped me with my test taking skills for the NCLEX-style questions used on tests in all of my nursing courses, so I would definitely recommend it!

heparinized · May 18, 2012

That's very impressive.

You see I was never this student who shoots for A's on all my class.. But lately I have seconds thoughts whenever my classmates where talking about what they make in their tests. I feel like I'm the dumbest in the class. WHen I buckle down, and really study, I make the same if not higher that what they make.

I hate dealing with students who thinks academinc excellence is a "competition", and asks you what you made right after you finish a daggone test.. how you do deal with this people?

OhioITNurse · May 18, 2012

I couldn't stand the competition either! At first it really bugged me and I wouldn't tell anybody what I got ever, but once one of my instructors called me out on my score in front of my classmates*, I found it was easier just telling people what I got on my exam and shrugging with the inevitable, "HA, I got 2 more points than you!" or "Oh... I did bad, I got a [whatever]." I'd offer encouragement if the situation required or simply forgot about it if not. That was just one way to deal with it. A few classmates I know really wouldn't ever tell anybody their score and people just stopped asking.

*My pediatrics instructor singled me out IN class after a test and said, "you didn't get a perfect score this week, I was disappointed!" Pediatrics happened to be one of my strengths just because I was able to apply pretty much everything to my own kids. Usually my scores hovered between 85-92 percent.

chocokatLVN · May 18, 2012

School is competive if you want it to be. I don't care what my classmates receive on their test, I'm only concerned on how well I did and what I need to review to do better if need be.

As far as studying, I love to read so I read a chapter from front to back and then go over the topic at hand. I work three days a week as a LVN and during my down time I read.

I don't own a television set because I know I would be watching tv more than studying.

Extreme; maybe. But hey, I have two more classes left in my LVN-RN bridge class and after the NLCLEX I can watch all the TV I want. :w00t:

Iridescent Orchid, CNA, LPN · May 18, 2012

I also feel the same as you. I've been wondering if I've been doing something wrong and not devoting as much time to studying as I should, because I somehow still have a pretty active life outside of school. I study as much as I feel I need to. There are some nights I will study two hours, some nights I'll study a total of four or more hours with breaks in between. I also feel as if I don't study as much as I should, but I am also still passing my courses and understanding the material...while I am not making the greatest grades in the class, I am still doing good considering. I think I am going to continue to do my own pattern when it comes to studying. I am pretty rational with telling myself I don't understand something and need to spend more time on it, so that's what I'll do. I will continue to study as I need to study and I hope that keeps working for me.