tips for science majors (and all college students)
hey everyone! i decided to compile a list of tips for college students, specifically science majors because a lot of people are starting college soon. a lot of these could apply to any majors in general, but i’m simply speaking from my own experience.
handwrite your notes! I know it can be tempting to type them on your laptop because so many science classes are so heavy with information and lectures move so fast, but handwriting notes is super helpful and a lot of times an easier option, especially when drawing diagrams and writing reactions
make at least 2 friends in every class to study and share notes with. chances are you won’t understand everything perfectly and getting a different perspective might make things clearer. also helpful if you miss a lecture!
practice questions are your best friend! this is true for most classes, but they’re absolutely necessary when it comes to classes like organic chemistry. look up practice questions and tests online and use them.
if you don’t already know any statistics, learn the basics. stats is ESSENTIAL and has come in handy for almost every science class i’ve taken. knowing what a t-test is, p value, alpha value, etc. beforehand is super helpful for labs and reading papers.
practice reading scientific journal articles as much as you can. this is a skill that i’ve yet to master and can be really frustrating but knowing how to process and understand those dense articles is really important no matter what you want to do in your life. most school libraries have subscriptions to most major databases like pubmed and journals like nature and science, so dedicate some time once or twice a month to read an article that’s interesting to you. focus on trying to interpret the figures and summarizing the data.
youtube is great for explaining scientific concepts you don’t understand. because certain processes and molecules etc. are so complex and may be hard to understand from a textbook with words and 2-D pictures, videos on youtube might explain and help visualize things better. there are some good ones out there but googling the topic you’re looking for usually brings up some helpful material!
khanacademy (my all-time fave i would literally die for khan academy guy he can have my firstborn)
bozeman science (also has videos for ap bio/chem/physics/environmental science!)
get involved in research as early as possible. even if you don’t think you’ll like it, getting involved in research is a great experience for anyone. research professors and their work and email as many as you can before the semester starts to see if you can work in their labs. not only does it look great on your resume but you’ll also learn so much about the scientific process.
get a chalkboard/whiteboard for your room. it’s a great study tool to practice drawing mechanisms, reactions, processes, figures, etc. it literally saved my butt in organic chem last year.
don’t get stressed if you don’t know what you want to do with your major. try different things. do research in different labs on varying topics, talk to your professors and advisors, do some shadowing, talk to people in different industries.
rewrite your notes and redraw diagrams. rewriting notes is a good tip for anyone, but redrawing diagrams in a different way than they’re presented in your textbook or lecture in a way that you understand better is super helpful.
don’t put lab reports off until the last minute. lab reports are the bane of my existence, but there’s nothing more stressful than doing one at the last minute before it’s due and realizing your results made NO sense. start them as soon as you finish the lab and don’t be afraid to ask for help from your lab instructor or other students.
those are all the ones i could think of at the moment! hopefully some of these are helpful for some of you :-)
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