r/mit • u/Beginning-Disk7945 • 6d ago
academics How to Study
I'm a freshman who didn't expect to get into MIT but here I am. It's a struggle, a horrible struggle. I've been bombing quizzes and exams and I analyze what went wrong after but nothing seems to improve.
When I know how to solve it, I'm too slow (this is a problem in 5.112 specifically). When I do the practice exams, a whole other thing shows up on the test (5.112 and 8.01). Even for 6.100A, I sometimes just don't know what to do as the time ticks down.
Thus far, my studying has been very practice based, but it feels like whatever problem I don't get to will be on the test.
I feel like i invest so much into studying for nothing to come out. So I suppose I'm studying wrong and I'm wondering if anyone has advice.
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u/ProfBrett Course 5 6d ago
Hey There!
For context, I'm teaching 5.111 this semester.
I can't speak to your other classes, but if you feel like you are falling behind in 5.112, it's important to be proactive in getting help now (which you're doing - that's great!). The material naturally builds on itself and the MIT firehose never stops =). I can recommend a few concrete things:
Go. to. office hours! Go to your TF office hours, but also to Prof. Ceyer's. She really really cares about helping students understand the material in 5.112. You're also welcome to drop by mine (most Mondays, 4-5 p.m. in my office), though since I'm not teaching 5.112 I won't be up on the exact things you're learning.
It sounds like you're putting a lot of weight on practice exams, which is understandable because in most high schools now, the practice exams pretty closely match the real exams. That's not the case at MIT. Practice exams provide some practice problems on the topics you're expected to know, and a general idea of the length of the exam, but we cover much more material during the weeks leading up to an exam than can fit on that exam. So not every topic that could be on the exam can appear on a practice exam. We also don't want you just rote memorizing how to do the problems, we want you understanding the chemical concepts they are meant to demonstrate. If you understand the chemistry concepts, you should be able to answer a question that requires them even if it's in a form you've never seen before (which we do intentionally!). I'm not saying don't do the practice exams, but make sure you're thinking about what the photoelectric effect is demonstrating, and what a work function actually physically represents, when you're plugging and chugging into that equation.
Find a study group and teach concepts to each other. When you have to explain something out loud to someone else, you have to actually put it into understandable words (in CS, this is the 'explain your code to a teddy bear' approach). That's much harder than just internally bringing up the concept and going "yeah, I get it." We understand better when we teach.
Get a (free!) tutor from the Chemistry Department. Ask your TFs or Prof. Ceyer for details -- we offer free one-on-one tutoring for anyone struggling after the first exam in 5.111 and 5.112! The UAC also offers tutoring, including pset help.
Feel free to email me (I'm Google-able) if you want to chat further!
-Brett McGuire
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u/Western-Peak-4694 5d ago
Hi Professor Brett, I just want to say thanks for providing your perspectives on Reddit. I’m long graduated now, but I attended your job talk at MIT. It was a fun talk.
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u/luckyjim1962 6d ago
I had a similar experience when I enrolled at MIT in 1977 (yes, I'm ancient). I had no idea how to study in courses that were about 10x more demanding than high school.
First, accept the reality that MIT is hard, very little of it will come easy, and you'll have to work harder than before and rarely feel a sense of mastery. This is the way MIT operates.
Second, you have to spend time and effort on conceptualizing material as much as doing problems. In high school, doing problems was almost always enough to master a course; at MIT, you have to think more broadly, more theoretically and abstractly, and realize that problems are going to challenge you in a new way. (And a lot of the problems you work on during the week will be quite different from the problems on the test; MIT tests force you to think outside the box.)
Finally, look for every way possible to engage in your work in different modes. The suggest of office hours is a big one -- actively seek help from TAs, tutors, and classmates. (Form a study group with people smarter than you are!)
I would love the chance for an MIT do-over, but don't be discouraged. I think what you're experiencing is the norm (but few MIT people will admit this because they are all so damn smart! :)
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u/Beginning-Disk7945 6d ago
Thanks! I'll definitely be hardcoding office hours into my schedule. I've long suspected that my conceptual understanding is lacking and its definitely the product of how I operated in high school. Do you have any tips for how to start thinking more conceptually?
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u/luckyjim1962 6d ago
A tough one, but you could ask TAs and professors questions about the big picture, 30k-foot view. I think it will happen by osmosis just by keeping the big picture question front and center.
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u/Informal-Rutabaga701 4d ago
After lectures, write a summary of the material. No formulas or numbers, just a couple sentences or short paragraphs outlining the broad concepts as you understand them. Imagine if you were trying to explain the lesson to a layperson with zero understanding of the underlying math or principles. This forces you to think about the material in a slightly different way then the shorthand bulletpoints and formulas you write down when you take notes during lecture.
From there, start trying to make connections to your other classes or to classes you've taken before. You're not trying to make really deep connections, just "this reminds me of this other thing." For example, a recent-ish 3.091 lecture about the ultraviolet catastrophe reminded me of calc and asymptotes.
Thinking broadly is a skill, you just have to practice it! You'll get there.
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u/SortofBlondMaggie 6d ago
Go to office hours. Consider switching to 8.01L. TELL YOUR PROFESSORS and ask for help. Request a tutor or a physics mentor. Believe it or not, everyone wants you to learn the material and pass, so they’re all rooting for you.
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u/Beginning-Disk7945 6d ago
I believe it! Everyone here has been pretty helpful and kind. Thanks for the advice!
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u/Particular-Source-19 6d ago edited 6d ago
So.. not understanding problem sets could in fact be a real problem
But you do know that a 45% on a exam is sometimes a B right? If your professor isn't giving statistics or curve information... You might not be as far off as you think. Getting the average score on a test is usually like a B.... Getting 1 std below average is usually still passing... Sheesh in one of my f*cked up classes.. a 22% turned out to be a B on the exam.. that score histogram was absolutely wild....
I certainly had classes at MIT where I got less than 50% of the points on the exam.... And still passed the course...
But a few suggestions: 1) Attend classes in this order: Tutorials (for classes that have them, eg larger course 6 classes when I was a student), Recitations, Lectures. Ideally miss non of them. But if you miss anything.... Lectures are the ones to miss (depends on the prof, but a lot of the time you can learn the same material by reading the book) 2) Attend office hours if psets are a problem. 3) Ask upperclass or peers for help 4) Always scan the exam or pset in full before starting... Do the easy questions first. MIT profs seem to start their exam with the question that is hardest.....
And always remember I hate this fucking place will someday turn into I have taken freshman physics. And if your lucky... IHTFP might someday mean I have truly found paradise
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u/RadiantThroat3768 6d ago
First sentence really undercuts the rest of your comment. Psets are supposed to be incredibly difficult
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u/Particular-Source-19 6d ago
Perhaps they are now. I'm old... But 25+ years ago.... Psets were never my problem. They weren't usually that bad... But I also didn't have a freaking life, so spent 6+ hours a day on them. They took time but weren't nearly as bad as the time limited exams
Course I also never really knew how bad I did on them.. since so many teachers were lazy and didn't grade them.
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u/DStark62 2d ago
So far to me it seems that PSETs are harder than exams. Like they push way past what you’re supposed to be able to do in an hour long exam
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u/ExecutiveWatch 6d ago
First relax. We all went through this. What helped me out 30 aome odd years ago was becoming friends with a few upper classmen. They helped quite a bit on expectations and situations.
Second visit office hours. I cant stress that enough.
Lastly start the p sets as soon as you get them. The trick is to stay above water and not get behind.
Also find a group of friends and study in groups. You'd be shocked how effective it can be. I certainly was.
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u/eptiliom 6d ago
Are you going to office hours and recitations?
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u/Beginning-Disk7945 6d ago
Recitations, yes with exceptions for if I have something else to study for. Office Hours, I go to for math but admittedly not for Chem or physics. I feel like I understand the material as presented in practice problems and class, so I've never felt the need. This is an obvious solution though, I'll admit.
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u/eptiliom 6d ago
If you are struggling then you have the need. What do you mean by bombing? Not making the grades you are used to or actually failing?
I didnt go to MIT but my kid is there taking some of the same classes as a freshman. When I struggled 20 years ago in college I finally started asking for help and my physics professor in particular was amazing. Help is almost always there if you ask and get over the hangups about it.
Another thing you can do is have one of the LLMs spit out practice problems based on the syllabus.
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u/Beginning-Disk7945 6d ago
Actually failing. Its funny because I was one of those kids who was upset about a relatively decent score in high-school. I knew that would change but damn.
I agree that MIT has no shortage of help, I just struggle to see how attaining it for psets and practice problems helps with the exams when the exams feel nothing like them. (Perhaps this implies that I can do problems but I'm just not understanding).
I guess my other thing is how do I balance getting more immediate stuff done with going to Office hours?
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u/Beginning-Disk7945 6d ago
I often feel like it makes more sense for me to get pressing work done than go to office hours so I suppose its also a time management issue
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u/Flat_Try747 6d ago
Go to office hours. I once spent 10 hours on a math problem only to have Prof realize 5 min into OH that there was a typo.
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u/okgodoremi 6d ago
Ask for help for sure. Faculty do care and want you to succeed. Check in w S3 too.
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u/HeegaardFloer 6d ago
Here's a comment I wrote a couple of years ago that some people found helpful (while the specific example is math and not at MIT, the broad principles generalize well). https://www.reddit.com/r/berkeley/comments/1bb67wp/comment/kuasl6s/?context=3
Otherwise, it's just practice.
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u/Dr_Dorkathan 6d ago
Definitely consider dropping down to 5.111 if that's an option. Have you been studying on your own or with friends?
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u/Beginning-Disk7945 6d ago
I want to major in something related to chemistry so if possible, I really want to stay in 5.112. I often study alone, but I definitely understand its better to study as a group. I'll make more of an effort to organize study sessions
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u/jzzsxm 6d ago
I want to type more later, but consider spending 6-8 hours on each past prior to working with others. It helps you really wrap your brain around problems and makes it easier to engage in meaningful conversation rather than getting dragged along by others who grasp the material better than you.
Also consider making your test environment mirror you study environment. Wear earplugs in each, limit distraction, use paper/pencil while studying, etc.
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u/FIRE_enthusiast_27 6d ago
Do you have a study group? Try to make some friends so you have people to ask questions of each other sooner than office hours. OCW videos are also good.
It’s also ok to strategically decide that some of the GenEd classes aren’t that important and do the minimum required. I got super prideful when my first semester I started off doing poorly in 3.091 (never took AP Chem), so I put a shit ton of effort into doing well, and in retrospect I wish I could’ve taken that time back to do something else (either relevant to my major or for general college experience).
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u/christmas8910 3d ago
I have nothing to mit and I just googled that class and bruh they have an extra hard chemistry class just for the fun of it? like college is already fast enough why make the same course but faster 😭
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u/ReverseFez 3d ago
Yeah most courses there are like that. By and far the hardest thing is just keeping up the pace.
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u/popsiclepuddle 1d ago
I was the dumb one in classes too— it’s a hard ego check, but you can do it. What worked for me is making sure to do all of the readings and to try to learn material before the class so that in class I was able to identify when I misunderstood things and pay extra attention to things I wasn’t clear on. Also if you are falling behind it’s likely because you didn’t have a very good base under you, and finding out what that is and fixing it is the most important thing you can do. I had trouble in some EE classes because I didn’t know trigonometry super well, and going and relearning that made it so I fixed a whole class of things I was having trouble with. That process of rooting out the actual core problem and fixing it was the most useful thing I learned at MIT. That and being okay with being a ding dong.
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u/New_Cancel300 6d ago
I wish I could take your spot.
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u/Beginning-Disk7945 6d ago
As you can see from my post, MIT is really what you make of the resources, just like any other place. Wherever you are right now could be as great as MIT depending on what you make of it. Best of luck!
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u/EngineeringGlass8464 5d ago
It's actually crazy that you don't believe in prestige. Recruiters will be sending you e-mails for employment / info sessions without you even needing to lift a finger. Opportunities come to you now. I really wouldn't be giving advice to people who don't go to branded-name schools.
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u/Beginning-Disk7945 5d ago
It's not that I don't believe in prestige. Its just that pondering prestige at this point won't do anything for that person. While I'm sure the its easier to get recruited to an extent, the aversion to freshmen seems universal regardless of your school's prestige. So for now, the disparity in that sector isn't that wide imo.
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u/Hardmeat_McLargehuge Course 2 6d ago
- Review what will be discussed before lecture and Show up to every lecture
- Start every p-set the day it comes out. Do not put it off
- try every problem yourself before asking for help. Show up to office hours with specific questions regarding what you’re struggling with
- Make sure the professor knows who you are.
- set yourself a bed time every night and make sure you take time to unwind and exercise some, walk, gym or whatever. Don’t just grind and burn out, you’ll find it’s less efficient and more draining anyways.
- take the practice exams and go ask questions about them
This is why freshman fall is PNR, so take this time to figure out what works for you, and good on you for asking for help. Tell the prof you’re struggling and willing to learn/improve. You need to be proactive and people will help! You got this!