I have more study tips for you friends, this time for general biology! As a premed, I obviously had to take this as one of my freshman year classes, and it was actually my hardest class my first semester because I hadn’t taken biology since ninth grade of high school. But with a lot of hard work, I was able to do well in the class, and I hope this will help you too!
Try to take very detailed notes in class, and if you can’t, make sure to take care to pay attention to details in the powerpoints or the textbook. My professors liked to test a lot on very specific details regarding different processes- i.e. how many molecules of ATP are made during oxidative phosphorylation, all the types of DNA polymerase, etc- so it’s important to know all those things for the test. Don’t bother complaining about it; it is what it is. Sometimes these details are focuses of intense research in university.
You can rewrite or retype your notes, like I did for muscle memory (can you see a trend with how I learn), or you can just read your notes a lot. Maybe you could write your own questions using concepts you learn, and then answer them yourself. Answering questions like Cornell notes can also help a lot, particularly as you prepare for a test and you’re reviewing. They’re also helpful if you want to review with friends- biology is much easier to review concepts verbally.
Flashcards really help, because of how much terminology there is in biology. Try making them on Quizlet instead if you find there’s too much material to hand write out, and review them periodically as you go. You should try to learn gradually, not cramming, because that way you can get more used to the language and get familiar with the processes.
Biology tests tend to be multiple choice, so get used to using process of elimination on tests, especially if you don’t know something right away when you see it.
Draw out diagrams. Diagrams are incredibly helpful for learning processes in the body, like waste excretion in the excretory system, the action potentials of the nervous system, or other complicated molecular processes such as DNA replication or transcription and translation. Color code them a lot, using markers, highlighters, or pens- it’s much easier to visualize this way if there’s a lot of parts to the diagram.
Professors may or may not give you homework, but I believe it’s important you do it because it may give you a better idea of what you should study on the test.
Biology’s just a lot of memorization. However you memorize things best, that’s basically what you should do. Since it’s a lot of material, you should be periodically reviewing and keeping up with the material, so that you don’t have to cram everything the night before the test. It also all builds towards the end of the class sequence, so you should definitely try to learn topics well so that you don’t have to relearn it later.
Remember that if you feel anxious about not doing well or kind of dumb after going to class, don’t worry- we all feel that way too! It’s a lot of different material, and it’s hard. I really struggled with the class at first, because I didn’t have any classes that were straight memorization for so long. But you can do great, as long as you find the method of studying that works for you best!
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