How does everyone study?

[WithTheFlow]

Hi, I'm currently in my 3rd year of an undergraduate science degree, and I am having trouble with my study techniques. The majority of my classes are heavily information based powerpoint style lectures with many facts and concepts (immunology, pharmacology, biochem, etc). I have always written out entire lectures straight from the powerpoint onto looseleaf after class and it is extremely time consuming. I feel like I am spending more time writing out lectures than actually "studying". It is now becoming way too time consuming and when exams come around I spend the time that I would be normally writing out lectures, studying and rereading notes, which puts me even further behind. In high school I never really studied except for my mom quizzing me the night before (funny I know, but god bless her as I finished 2nd in my graduating class) and I always did well. Does anyone find re reading ppt slides to be just effective and more efficient than writing them out. Any input would be helpful!!

[T-cell]

For sure, re-read multiple times as opposed to writing out, which waaaay too long imo. 

[Anon-e-mous]

Ya, I found that rewriting my notes was also a waste of time. Most of the time I spent rewriting I wouldn't even pay attention. I just passively wrote and my hand hurt afterwards lol. Now I reread my notes once actively while creating a list of questions that could come up on the exam. Then, I test myself with those questions later to make sure it's memorized, otherwise, I review it again. I like to use quizlet for this because I can practice it on my phone anywhere and can play matching games and stuff. Stops me from being bored, lol. Something I also used to do instead of rewriting all of my notes, was to force myself to condense the whole lecture down to one page. Then all of the lectures down to one for the exam, like a cheat sheet. This made me really pay attention and think about what is important. 

[wannabdoctor]

I agree with the other posters for the most part.

I still rewrite the lectures though because it makes me think about what was going on during class. I don't write it down word for word though, I try to write the concepts in my own words or structure the notes in a different way from the lectures. This helps keep me engaged while doing it and helps me understand the material because I tend to sometimes zone out in class. Writing notes also helps consolidate the extra stuff the prof adds during the lecture that is not necessarily in the ppt. And so far it has worked very well for me.

I also 100% recommend quizlet as a study tool (As caramilk suggested). It is very helpful for pharmacology and biochem classes. It helps condense the most important bits of the class in a fun and engaging way.