How did/do you study in college?!?! HELP!?!??! (engineering courses specifically)

I was a pretty horrible student. I think it was because I didnt care about school. I don't know what it is with me. I wish I'd change. My gpa right now is a 2.56. I know, it's horrible. But I do have time to bring it up because I have 67/130 credits.

I've done well in all the calculus and physics classes in college so its not like im stupid. But I think it's just that when it comes to thermodynamics and statics, I freeze. I got D's in those classes and my father stopped paying for college for me. Im very lucky that he was able to pay for it. I decided then to join the air force but 10 months later, I still haven't gotten to the basic steps of applying because of some reasons so I decided to go back to school. My father is in for it. He's the one that suggested me to go back because he didn't like that I was wasting my life away. I just turned 23.

Honestly, Im very scared to go back to school. I like it. But the classes are brutal. How do you study thermodynamics and statics and dynamics, and all of those classes that you apply what you study with math problems and such. How do YOU do it? Just repeat the homework over and over again? Go to the professor's office hours? Study groups?

Honestly, im scared to death when it comes to talking to people in class for study groups. I have no friends in classes ever. I dont have the balls to say, "hey do you want to study together?" Idk what it is with me? Do you do that? I saw so many people studying together and helping each other out, and im there trying to do everything by myself and had so many freaking questions. Maybe that's why I did so bad in college because I tried to do everything by myself. Honestly, I think its because Im bi, and with 95% of the class being guys, I get all clenched up. You know, imagine if you were in a class with all girls and theyre all "attractive" but you yourself were a girl. I think it's different when you know that other guys don't know that you're bi so they act normal around you. Wouldnt it be difficult for you to be like, "hey you wanna study together"? I think Im just making excuses for myself. How do you ask other people to ask for help? God, I can't believe im asking this on here but I really need help.

Relax .. different methods work for different people .. back when was studying medicine used to blare punk rock and drink coffee .. never did study in groups as it slowed me down .. always learn fast ..

Unless they bring it up why bother mentioning being bi .. your there to study not go on dates .. worry about dating once you finish your studies .. focus on your studies.

He's the one that suggested me to go back because he didn't like that I was wasting my life away. I just turned 23.

Dads can be hard. Is that what you want, to be your dad… or to be you?

You are so very close to finishing. Please don't stop.

Get a group (preferably girls) be funny and bring them food.

It doesn't take 10 months to join the force unless you're on probation. Don't be afraid to do anything that's my point just go for it.

The olfactory sense is linked to memory. Slap on a cologne or aftershave that you don't normally wear while you study and write down the important stuff. When test time rolls around wear the scent you did while studying. I believe it helped me.
Eliminate distractions like television and talk radio. If you have to listen to music, I would recommend classical.
Stay sober.

I have a kid in engineering so I only know what she does. Use as many different methods to learn the course work as you can find until it makes sense to you. You can find some good stuff on You Tube believe it or not. Aside from that there are study groups, TAs, asking other students or whatever else you can think of. She is in a few homework groups and is a volunteer tutor for 1st year students. The university probably provides a lot of help if you look into it. Also she studies continuously. School is about a 12 or more hour a day thing for her.

As for your sexuality.... You're an engineering student. You don't have time to worry about that anyway

How about this ? Find a different subject to study one with a future but less demanding then the one you picked.

a reply to: 5letters

Okay first things first: Asking for help does not mean that a person is weak or incompetent. It means that you're insightful, honest, and you want to be the best version of yourself that you can be. So ask yourself, what do you want to be?

No matter what the subject matter, always read the material before class. That way if there's something you don't understand during the lecture, you have the opportunity to ask. And if you're still not sure, try the TA or office hours. I used to take notes from all my textbooks and the lecture notes and study them both. And for Math I just practiced over and over.

I doubt your sexuality has anyhing to do with it, but you do sound a bit insecure and fearful. Don't project your fears and psych yourself out before you have a chance to reach out to others. 99% of the time, the reaction you're going to get is NOT the one you just imagined. You're only hurting yourself in the end. FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. When you start to go down that path, take a deep breath, stop and look at your feet. Where are they? They're right there in the present and your mind was off in the future somewhere. Bring it back to the here and now. Because you know what? You're worth it. You deserve this degree and you're going to work hard and get it. And if this person you're about to reach out to doesn't give you the time of day, then they don't matter. Unless they're your Professor, then that's a problem. But you won't know unless you try!

For the difficult stuff (like statistics and differential equations) I would record the class while in it. Then, I could play it back, numerous times to pick up on the nuances. Repetition, and deterministic practice got me through it. And this was before the days of smartphones and Google (when it was only a little startup competing against Altavista).

One thing i always find useful is to redo my notes on anything as it gives the subject an extra in and out of the brain (which always helps) so take notes and type them up and the best thing is you can stick on pictures etc to flesh it out a bit to make it more memorable, and don't forget the main thing is that you'll forget 99% of it anyway so just make sure it sticks in long enough for the exams and then forget it so as to make space for the next topic

a reply to: 5letters

It sounds like you have two problems: social anxiety and mastering course materials. As for the latter, keep in mind that you're not supposed to have mastered the material before you take the course. Go to the instructors before the first class (or soon thereafter) and express your concern and ask for advice. The other option is to post a notice on a bulletin board advertising a study group about a specific class and see who shows up. They're in the same boat you're in.

I suspect that the bigger of your two problems is social anxiety. You might consider counseling to help you deal with that. Start now.

Trying joining low-anxiety groups like a book club or film club where the focus is on the topic not on the people and where you won't be called upon to "perform".

Keep in mind that most of the people in college have some degree of social anxiety. When you don't understand something in class and you look around and see other people nodding and taking notes, don't kid yourself. Most of them don't understand it either and are just pretending that they do.

a reply to: 5letters

You certainly have a unique situation because of your orientation, and because of that I wouldn't push to try to get in study groups if that's uncomfortable for you. I had a similar problem being uncomfortable in groups, but it was also because I lived off campus and commuted to school every day. I just preferred to study alone and mostly at home. I missed out on a lot of stuff that got shared by my classmates though, like shortcuts and tricks, you know, ways to solve the problems likely to come up on tests more quickly, etc. but I wanted to try to understand the material. I didn't always succeed at that completely, but I did graduate with a 3.8 or something thereabouts.

One thing I'd advise against is what I did myself, and that's just studying constantly from sunup to bed time. You have to take a break sometimes even when you don't feel like you have the time. Also, I found that if I exercised regularly I did better than when I just had my nose stuck in a book. I have bombed on a final exam before because I studied so hard for so many hours straight and was so whacked out by the time I got to class that my mind just went blank and I kind of just shorted out and gave up.

Oh, also, if you can stay sober as skunkape23 says you'll be better off. I couldn't do that myself and suffered as a result. I always drank at night while I studied and for a while it helps you relax and function better, but past a couple drinks or so it's all downhill.

I had to be in a secluded room with no distractions, maybe some background 'noise' music like rain fall or something.
I generally only needed to write notes once, and then just study them, pick out key words, etc.

My girlfriend had pretty bad anxiety, but she figured taking notes, reading them, then re-writing them by hand helped. When it was time for an exam or test she would quickly scramble up some notes and get myself or a friend to quiz her.

Everyone is different my girlfriends method involved very strict scheduling tho, as most people don't have time to re-write everything. And, as someone already mentioned do your readings! First two weeks of school I just skimmed over my readings sat in class and had no idea what was going on and frantically taking notes. Started keeping up with the material and it all made sense, once you get behind it's tough to get back into the loop.

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