/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.3708844]

Alright /sci/ I just started college and I want some opinions answers.

What's your major
Do you take notes on your classes (lectures? books?)

Need some help learning how to take notes and not be bored the fuck out.

pic related, the reason why I want to study science

[Anonymous No.3708861]

comp sci
no, if you are truly fascinated by the subject then it won't be hard to remember the material.

[Anonymous No.3708874]

Chemical Engineering.
I don't take notes when I read, but I try to take notes during lectures. I mostly just write out definitions I will need and work out the example problems.

[Anonymous No.3708890]

Comp Sci

I take some notes, but usually I don't need to, honestly most of my notes just end up being page numbers the professor suggested focusing on in the book, websites, etc.

[Anonymous No.3708895]

>>3708861
>>3708874
Okay this is what I thought, I hardly take notes I can typically remember it on the exam especially when it's multiple choice I just don't want to get to the midterm and be like....fuck. fuck me. I'm only worried about two classes being like this. thank you for your input

[Anonymous No.3708900]

Math
I try to go to every lecture and take notes because I don't buy textbooks unless i explicitly need to do problems from them and can't find them online, I try to pirate when I can but it's about 50/50.

[Anonymous No.3708914]

>>3708874

I am a chemical engineer too and what do you mean definitions? Unless you are a freshman or something within that many credits, there are no definitions just a fuck ton of math that has hardly any numbers in it.

As per OP's question:
Freshmen year won't challenge you too much, but I recommend getting into the habit of taking notes and learning to study. I never did in high school and aced everything, come college and suddenly all goes bad. Learn to study, it will save your life and do things that truly interest you.

Take notes in color pencils, use different colors of reminders, questions, highlights, examples, definitions and useful equations, and so on. Avoid most technology or use a tablet but kill the wifi, your ADD will kick in and by the time you realize it you are behind five chapters.

[Anonymous No.3708992]

>>3708914
I tried to take notes today and I got about two pages (I write pretty large) on a chapter and then I started telling myself things like "what if this isn't even on the exam" "I feel like I already knew this" "I'm taking too long to just read one chapter and take notes" (it was about 2 hours that it took me to write on just one chapter) "if I get behind my notes on previous chapters would be useless because there will be a gap in my logic" then I got tired and gave up and just read the next chapter through.

[Anonymous No.3709052]

>>3708992
1. Read ahead. Just conceptual stuff if it's too hard. Just be interested in it.
2. Take notes about everything, don't think, just write. That seems to help me when professors enter hyper speed mode and doesn't leave me time to process. If it's on exam or not is not the point, you are taking the class to learn shit. Everything is on the exam one way or another. If not, oh well, you learned shit that will help you in your job.
3. Next day or so review your notes and do fuck ton of practice problems, the harder the better.
4. Take colored notes for questions and shit, color helps me, it seems to spark photographic memory better than black and white. Use annotations and drawings, that making remembering things easier, assign funny sentences or something. There is sparkchart pdf for studying, ask for it (I got shit to do right now).
5. You're free time will be gone to shit, but if you follow you will definitally know all your shit up to graduation.
6. If you have no clue wtf is going on, see friends/classmates and/or hunt down professor in his office hours, he gives does for a reason (he's bored) and he likes people who ask questions. If fails go see tutoring, schools usually have them.
7. If this all fails (I don't know what kind of shit hard graduate mega major you're taking for it to fail) pray to every deity you can think off for an unrealistic curve.

In reality your social life, ADD, parties, sleep, boredom, friends, annoyance, frustration, and so on will kill your will to study and you will find yourself hours before the final freaking out.

Welcome to college, it really sucks. But remember it's either 4 years of suck or 40.

[Anonymous No.3709090]

>>3709052
thanks I'll try this, and inevitably I'm going to have to wait until my midterms to see what my classes are actually like on paper.

[NavalAnon !!jz5JQZ1dN2Q No.3709118]

>>3708844
Nuclear Engineering
Note Taking is mandatory
Also, stand the fuck up, and deal with it, science is boring, life is boring, and you aee most likely being paid. Get used to putting in if your GPA is ... below a 3.1 20 hours a week, 3 hours every day at the minimum.

[Anonymous No.3709169]

Theoretical physics,
I usually take notes of most things, since it seems to help my memory and it's useful to review them later. Also, I'm trying to build some kind of standard reference library, because I think it's nice to have actual books, as soon as its more than a few pages I find it so much easier to read than on a computer. However try and look at the book first before buying, not every textbook is worth paying for, but some really are.

As for studying, just do a little every day. Frequent repetition, especially of the basic concepts, is key. Problemsolving is of course also required, if you have troubles talk to fellow students. Trying to explain stuff to others are also a great way to learn, as is trying to write down clean and logical summaries of the lecture notes (in Latex, for example).

[Anonymous No.3709174]

Physics major here. This is just what I do, and it's working well so far.

Read up on lecture material before class, don't have to necessarily know it well but make sure you at least understand what the lecture is going to be about. Sometimes teachers go ahead and explain in-depth stuff without first telling us what they're even talking about first.

Take notes on everything. If the lecture's from a slideshow that's available online, then take notes of what the prof says - accompanied by the slide number. If you're in a math based class, take notes on paper.

After the lecture, on the same day, rewrite your notes up on the computer. I use LaTeX. Try to make this copy of your notes as easily understandable and clear as possible. Then upload it somewhere to share with your classmates, you will make lots of friends if you're smart.

Rewriting your notes like this helps your understanding and puts stuff into your long term memory.

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough”.

[Anonymous No.3709177]

a question for you computer science majors in here, what are your plans after graduating?

I am a biology major now but after looking into comp sci and knowing somewhat alot about computers I figured this change might be beneficial, only problem is I want to have a job market

[Anonymous No.3709179]

It takes some time to get good at taking notes. It is a skill, and therefore requires practice. The real key is getting the main points with the key supporting evidences/points. You don't need to get everything, just the big stuff. If you have a professor who gives out practice exams/study guides before tests you're even better off.

[Anonymous No.3709181]

>>3709177
>biology
>job market

A CS grad probably has more prospects

[NavalAnon !!jz5JQZ1dN2Q No.3709185]

>>3709174
>>3709174
Ha ha, I know that, but that's not true, there are plenty of things you can't possibly explain simply (like how some fucking circuits work) but you need to be able to explain it. The highest student retention happens from reteaching after all

[Anonymous No.3709240]

Chemistry.

Yeah, I take notes, but for some classes I do it more than others. I tend to take sparse notes in upper level chem classes because we go through the material too fast and if I take detailed notes I'll get behind. Then I take some notes while reading through the books (like reaction mechanisms or whatever) and do a ton of practice problems. Though pchem I do heavy notes for in class.

I also take a lot of upper-level math and I take very heavy notes in those classes because it's necessary.

[Anonymous No.3709253]

>>3709181

Das ist nicht nur nicht richtig, es ist nicht einmal falsch.

[Anonymous No.3709260]

Mechanical engineer here. I take very good notes. Even if you don't end up looking at them, writing it down forces it deeper into your mind. I draw a lot of diagrams for example problems also which really helps. Take good notes. You'll be glad you did.

[Anonymous No.3709272]

as soon as i run into anything frustrating i throw a tantrum and masturbate furiously. try not to masturbate furiously and do your homework.

[Anonymous No.3709277]

>>3709253
"This is not only not right, it is not even wrong."