Hello guys ... I'm an upcoming college student, my program that I'm gonna pursue is a health profession that deals with anatomy & Physiology and KINESIOLOGY. May I ask how to study smart? since it needs a tons of memorization and I'm much very weak at mnemonics... Thank you so much for anyone who will reply to this. 😊

rising sophomore here, pre-med track. I study bio & psych, but there's also quite a bit of memorization there so these will probably translate.

if (that's a big IF) it's important for the class, then read the textbook. at the very least read up until the first exam and decide whether it was helpful for you. as you read, outline it. this will slow you down, but writing/typing it will help encode it in your memory. if you read aloud (or even just mouth the words without saying them), this will encode it verbally as well. so that'll be three ways you've encoded the information. which might help the info stick better down the line. if you take notes in class, that'll help the info stick even more AND help you narrow down what info from the textbook is the most important. if you've finished the reading before class, then you can also use classtime to gauge how much info actually stuck in your brain, so you'll know what needs extra studying later on.

so that's pre-studying stuff. now for actual studying.

since I have my own outlines, I use them to study verbally. as in, I block the lower part of the screen and I recite to myself what's written underneath the topic. if I get something wrong, I go back to the beginning of the section and start again. this is basically the same as writing extra long flashcards, but outlines are just the format that I prefer. if you want to make flashcards instead as you read the textbook, that works as well. but don't be afraid to make them long and wordy flashcards. it's better to go overboard than under right?

the whole going back to the beginning thing also works for like... body processes you have to memorize, or whatever else. write it down / say it out loud. if you can't remember the next step or you get it wrong, start again from the beginning. continue until you've memorized it.

or just keep typing/writing the material. if you don't remember what comes next, take a peek at the answer. type the whole thing again until you don't have to peek anymore.

but yeah, see the trend here? basically, the trick is repitition. there are also other ways, like relating the information to something in your life / something you care about.

as you go, you'll hopefully start connecting topics / bits of info on your own for increased understanding. but if you find yourself not understanding somehting at all, ASK. and ask early. you'll memorize things far more easily if you understand them to begin with.

if you can, find out whether the exam questions will be strictly knowledge-based, or whether they require critical thinking or connecting topics. I don't know how to explain it well, but some professors like to make questions that require two or more "steps" to answer. or like, they require you to know multiple piece of info to answer them.

lastly, be patient with yourself. some things just don't stick naturally and require a lot of effort on our parts. if you need to, start studying early. for my first biology exam I started studying 10 days in advance. for the next one I studied 7 days, for the last one I studied 4 days. gauge it out for yourself. break up the workload over days into chunks that you find are manageable. you don't want to be cramming all night before the exam– we're all guilty of it at some point, but it's a lot easier on your sanity if you avoid doing that too often lol.

Junior in Economics here. I know we’re in extremely different fields of study but maybe I can still help a little. I recommend taking really good, thorough, notes. Then to study, get two different colored pens. Re-write your notes with these two pens, using one color for things that maybe aren’t so important and the other color for things that you feel like are important. The process of trying to specifically differentiate the important things from the unimportant things helps you remember it all very well (in my experience). Also, try making use of the app/website Quizlet! You can make flashcards and even share them with friends. (Or do what I do, find a friend who makes the flashcards themselves and mooch off them, mwahahaha). All jokes aside, best of luck to you and you have my utmost respect for your choice of major. Not the easiest route, but someone has to do it. Again, best of luck!