[brutalmusic]

Thanks so much to everyone!!!

Writertype:

My learning style is primarily visual, so I get the most value out of staring at the whiteboard during a lecture, reading, looking at examples, and absorbing the contents of a cheat sheet. When I have to memorize difficult terminology, I will either memorize the way the word itself looks, or I'll memorize a bad pun complete with stick-figure illustrations. I get unhappy when I see the same information in several different forms because the visual memories start to compete with one another.

At the beginning of the semester in my social science classes, I tell myself that I'm going to read the entire textbook and any other required reading that is assigned. I put a fair amount of effort into meeting this goal, even if I have an instructor who tells us that he tests only on lecture notes. Closer to the end of the semester, I get a bit more reasonable and stop reading, as I know that if I cram a maximum of four hours before any major social science exam, then I can expect a grade above 90%. Social science classes, therefore, are a source of easy 'A's, but they're also a major time sink.

My math classes suffer from my inefficient study habits. If the social sciences aren't devouring all of my study time, then I'm likely fighting with one homework problem for five hours straight. When I tutor math, I tell my students to set aside unsolvable problems and bring them in to the prof or a tutor. I don't follow my own advice, though. Part of that is simply enjoying fighting with such difficult problems. The problem is, those five-hours-and-still-not-done problems are never the last ones in the problem set.


nhaasch:

That's my trouble, I can't define what's enough. As far as I'm concerned at the beginning of the semester, anything assigned on the syllabus (even those things that won't ultimately improve my grade) is a requirement. Obviously, I know I'm overstudying, but I keep telling myself that 'sure, it's not going to help much, but it'll help."

I'm thirty years old, so I've had a few adventures and I've had a major derailment. Right now, school is my passion more than it is my goal, and my current career goal is to teach remedial math at the community college level, which requires a bachelor's. I have many good friends and I think I need to wait for a serious romantic relationship until after grad school, when I'm done moving from place to place. I'm good at managing money and other responsibilities. So really, school is the only area of life that is important to me right now. I just need to keep from burning out on it.


aelle:

Thanks! School has always come easy for me, so I try to set challeges worth working for.

I know that there's plenty of reason to assume that I'm in my early twenties as I'm an undergrad, but I took my 'experience of the real world' up front, right after graduation, and now, at age thirty, have just completed my first two semesters at a four-year college.

Why so much perfectionism? Because I love seeing that shiny 3.9* on my transcript. It's a point of pride, and it is an extension of knowing that I can do it, so I had better do it. The A's themselves are the cookie that I work for because, like a collection of antique knicknacks, I like to stare at them and know that I earned them. Some of them were easy, some of them were ridiculously hard, but all of them were mine. I do plan to attend grad school, but I expect that I'll get accepted to a program worth doing, get scholarships, etc. just by meeting my own standards.

I can prioritize quite well, but I get stuck in the trap of studying things that I don't need to study, just because I think it could possibly help a tiny little bit. But I suppose that the heart of the matter is indeed in your words on comparing what I get out of an assignment as compared to what I would get out of other non-school activites. The thing is, I absolutely enjoy my work. I'm far enough ahead in my program that I only take classes in my major areas, and I find both areas fascinating. In truth, there usually isn't anything else to do that I would find more interesting, and it's not for lack of friends or hobbies. But if I let myself work constantly, I inevitably overspend my store of energy.


Eric Roosevelt:

"The line is crossed when you're seeking help on the internet about feeling burned out from over-studying."

You are so right. Trouble is, even as I know I've crossed the line, I have no idea where the line is. Even during those times when I am trying to relax or exercise, I can't help but wonder every ten minutes, 'Am I ready to go do the stuff that I'm horribly neglecting?' Even when I've already earned an 'A' in a class, I'll consider doing extra credit. I just don't know how to say 'no' to another batch of work, even the totally worthless ones. I'm stuck in a "study=good" mindset. I know that my perfectionist mind should be able to change that to "study x per week maximum=good" or whatever, but the trouble is figuring out what that 'x' is.


funchy:

Some profs at my university give optional finals. That is, if you like the grade you've earned throughout the class, you can have it and skip the final. Otherwise, you can take the final in hopes of improving your grade. I almost always earn an 'A' before the optional final arrives.

It's both a stress and a time issue -- I give absolutely everything I have to my studies until I'm completely out of fuel. And when I do take down time, it's not much of a down time because I am busy berating myself for not working harder.

I occasionally study with others in the math lab, but I often find that I'm that student that everyone else just wants to copy from. My courseload this past semester was unfriendly: 16 credits, where standard is 12. I received a 'B' in one of those classes, leading me to finally face the fact that I am being incredibly inefficient in my study habits. But I've known I was inefficient for a long time; I just can't resist the temptation to do just a little more and just a little more.


alainplus:

At my first college, I earned 78 credits with a 3.97 GPA. My second college, 111 credits, 3.93 GPA. At my current university, I've earned 29 credits with a 3.90 GPA.

Last semester, I took 16 credits. Six credits were in math, seven in social sciences, and three in humanities.

Monday: 2 hours of class, 1 hour of math club, and 2 hours of work
Tuesday: 3 hours of class, 5 hours of work
Wednesday: 3 hours of class
Thursday: 3 hours of class, 5 hours of work
Friday: 5 hours of work
Saturday: 4 hours of work

You're quite right, I had more than enough time to master the material for each class. Trouble is, after I finished doing the necessary studying, then I began doing things that I really didn't need to do, such as reading textbooks that only needed to be skimmed. I simply don't have a point where I say to myself "I know this stuff. Time to go do something else."

I absolutely love the subjects I study, but I keep at them until I have exhausted myself, even when I know the extra effort isn't going to make a difference.

Thanks again, everyone!
Danielle