Can Ritalin really improve my grades?

[zainy1993]

10charrrrrrr.

[xkittens]

Hey guys, I'm in a dilemma here. We just got our BIO120 second midterm marks and i got 70%, in the first one i got 66%. The problem is I studied extremely hard for the second midterm, listened to his audio lectures again at home and made notes and I studied the textbook as well. I absolutely have no idea how to improve my grade, I'm hoping I can get 80+ on the exam so i can get a B+ average. What I really want to know is if I take ritalin the night before will I really do better on my exam? Is it illegal to use ritalin without a prescription and if I do need it, where can I get it from, i go to U of T btw.

 

Ahh, there's your problem right there

[McMarauder]

If you read his first post, you'd know he's doing well in everything else, so it's not because he's at UofT.

 

BIO120 is what BIO150 use to be correct? When you're writing the test, do you feel like you know everything? I know profs tell you that you need to understand the material in this class, but in reality, it's purely memorization. You can listen to the lectures as many times as you want, but if you're not memorizing, then you're not going to pull anything above 80 in this course.

 

When I took BIO150, I transcribed the lecture recordings and memorized the hell out of those notes. I didn't even bother reading the course manual. It also helped that we had past tests (I think BIO120 is new right?)

[zainy1993]

Yup, its a new course, thats part of the problem. We don't have any past tests. I do memorize all his slides and everything but all his questions are so random, and most of his questions aren't even in the material he's taught us. He asks useless questions about specifics which he never talks about in class.

I really do need ritalin...sigh.

[McMarauder]

have you looked at the BIO150 tests? maybe some of the questions are applicable. And no, you don't need ritalin to memorize..

[a1b1]

Hey guys, I'm in a dilemma here. We just got our BIO120 second midterm marks and i got 70%, in the first one i got 66%. The problem is I studied extremely hard for the second midterm, listened to his audio lectures again at home and made notes and I studied the textbook as well. I absolutely have no idea how to improve my grade, I'm hoping I can get 80+ on the exam so i can get a B+ average. What I really want to know is if I take Ritalin the night before will I really do better on my exam? Is it illegal to use Ritalin without a prescription and if I do need it, where can I get it from, i go to U of T btw.

 

If your looking for a magical secret drug that you can take before an exam to give you an A+, you wont find one. If your confident you know your material, than the problem can be either your not reading the questions/answers well enough (assuming its mc), not getting enough sleep before an exam, not eating before an exam, not being relaxed before an exam or any other problems that may inhibit your performance. These are just a few examples that come to mind off the top of my head. Hope it helps.

 

P.S you misspelled one in your signature.

 

Best of wishes

[McMarauder]

http://web.archive.org/web/20060426063545/http://bio150.chass.utoronto.ca/tests/tests.htm

 

go through these.. they might help. I'm under the assumption that BIO120 is like the first half of BIO150 and that BIO 130 is the first half of BIO250 (I'm old).

[McMarauder]

I'm kinda curious... do you have a copy of your midterms? i just wanna know what they've done with the course.

[zainy1993]

Sure, whats your email? I'll send you a copy.

[mig174]

all about provigil yo.

[zainy1993]

The only problem is WITH this ******* thompson guy, he asks questions which are absolutely impossible to answer, even if you read the textbook, listen to his audio lectures and make notes.

[McMarauder]

Well, those looked way harder than my York bio exams. Couldn't confidently answer a number of those questions.

 

Thing is, this course wasn't taught out of a textbook. A lot of the material was based very specific examples presented by the lecturers, so I wouldn't expect anyone from other schools to be able to answer a lot of these questions. It's actually impossible for anyone to compare this with 1st year bio any where else. I'm sure if you sat through the lectures at UofT, the questions wouldn't seem so hard.

 

Edit: Not sure when you took 1st year bio, but after finishing this course 5.5 years ago, I can't answer these questions confidently either.

[ArchEnemy]

The only problem is WITH this ******* thompson guy, he asks questions which are absolutely impossible to answer, even if you read the textbook, listen to his audio lectures and make notes.

 

If you think Thomson's questions are difficult, I'm certain you're in for a scare for Barrett's final exam. He tests you impossible questions, unless of course you're a sponge and can absorb everything.

 

For example: On Chapter 21 page 699 of Economy of Nature Book, what did <insert scientist's name> conclude? And mind you, this same scientist also concluded a few other things in that same book. He never covered it in class, but expects that the students go through ALL the assigned readings thoroughly.

 

My friend dropped it in the year, took it in the summer and did way better. If you're doing well in other subjects, you may wish to consider a LWD to salvage your GPA.

[yuenchun]

Just pass.

 

BIO150 sucked hard for me.

[apache]

yes 10char, ritalin does a lot more than increase concentration, working memory, turn on goal motivated reward system, executive function, memory retrieval via working memory etc.

[Robin Hood]

Hey guys, I'm in a dilemma here. We just got our BIO120 second midterm marks and i got 70%, in the first one i got 66%. The problem is I studied extremely hard for the second midterm, listened to his audio lectures again at home and made notes and I studied the textbook as well. I absolutely have no idea how to improve my grade, I'm hoping I can get 80+ on the exam so i can get a B+ average. What I really want to know is if I take ritalin the night before will I really do better on my exam? Is it illegal to use ritalin without a prescription and if I do need it, where can I get it from, i go to U of T btw.

 

I'm think it's illegal, no pharmacy is allowed to give you unprescribed medication, and I think no one is allowed to give to someone else what's prescribed for him. Also, this could be considered as cheating, since it could give you un unfair advantage (since Ritalin is not avaible for everybody). Also, getting an unprescribed medication could be dangerous for your health.

[apache]

it is illegal, and no online pharmacies sell the real deal psychostimulants (just benzos and pain meds), there's a single exception, but you have to be invited and verified into the "club" (i have friends that get ritalin online, and it's 100 percent real, right out of novartis blisterpacks from the Philippines), but you don't want to take the legal risk. same with dangerous for your health, although many gp's don't do their due diligence (ruling out sleep apnea and other conditions besides cardiac, history of schizo/bipolar in family, drug abuse are typical 3) when handing out ritalin. if you wanted to, you could doctor shop, a lot of doctors (still in the minority but if you see 10 doctors you'll run into someone apathetic) don't care (and actually think everyone should have ritalin if they want, or just diagnose you with adhd in 5 minutes so you believe you have it, and can justify your use of it because a doctor talked to you for five minutes and said so... instead of demanding a 1200 dollar report, and interviewing you for hours over many sessions (like certain psychiatrists who know their field inside out)) and will just write you a prescription, so that covers you legally, but those same doctors tend not to do their due diligence, which can cause health problems to be overlooked.

 

the unfair advantage thing is for you to decide, don't let anyone tell you what an unfair advantage is... the dsm itself is a construct, adhd is an academic advantage for me, because i get distracted by concepts, ideas, social situations... it's just a disadvantage in paying bills, and being on time, and other boring things i get distracted from doing (i find school interesting, again, not a lack of attention, just attentional regulation which only exists in a societal construct because we live in a society where paying bills on time is important) because it's very heterogeneous, complex, and can't be diagnosed with a 9 point checklist and 15 minutes.

 

candor... it's a bit dangerous

 

btw, i don't endorse any of this behaviour, i'm just giving you the non-valuative facts

 

I'm think it's illegal, no pharmacy is allowed to give you unprescribed medication, and I think no one is allowed to give to someone else what's prescribed for him. Also, this could be considered as cheating, since it could give you un unfair advantage (since Ritalin is not avaible for everybody). Also, getting an unprescribed medication could be dangerous for your health.

[Robin Hood]

For me, I could study Physics and have no problem with it. But I was disorganized. I was constantly sleep deprived (but coffee could still make it). But when it came to reading (especially for Bio), then it was terrible. My mind used to get easily tired. I too, like you, was mostly distracted from things in my mind, it could probably help solving problems in Physics, but it could make you fail your Bio course.

 

it is illegal, and no online pharmacies sell the real deal psychostimulants (just benzos and pain meds), there's a single exception, but you have to be invited and verified into the "club" (i have friends that get ritalin online, and it's 100 percent real, right out of novartis blisterpacks from the Philippines), but you don't want to take the legal risk. same with dangerous for your health, although many gp's don't do their due diligence (ruling out sleep apnea and other conditions besides cardiac, history of schizo/bipolar in family, drug abuse are typical 3) when handing out ritalin. if you wanted to, you could doctor shop, a lot of doctors (still in the minority but if you see 10 doctors you'll run into someone apathetic) don't care (and actually think everyone should have ritalin if they want, or just diagnose you with adhd in 5 minutes so you believe you have it, and can justify your use of it because a doctor talked to you for five minutes and said so... instead of demanding a 1200 dollar report, and interviewing you for hours over many sessions (like certain psychiatrists who know their field inside out)) and will just write you a prescription, so that covers you legally, but those same doctors tend not to do their due diligence, which can cause health problems to be overlooked.

 

the unfair advantage thing is for you to decide, don't let anyone tell you what an unfair advantage is... the dsm itself is a construct, adhd is an academic advantage for me, because i get distracted by concepts, ideas, social situations... it's just a disadvantage in paying bills, and being on time, and other boring things i get distracted from doing (i find school interesting, again, not a lack of attention, just attentional regulation which only exists in a societal construct because we live in a society where paying bills on time is important) because it's very heterogeneous, complex, and can't be diagnosed with a 9 point checklist and 15 minutes.

 

candor... it's a bit dangerous

 

btw, i don't endorse any of this behaviour, i'm just giving you the non-valuative facts

[Femto]

it is illegal, and no online pharmacies sell the real deal psychostimulants (just benzos and pain meds), there's a single exception, but you have to be invited and verified into the "club" (i have friends that get ritalin online, and it's 100 percent real, right out of novartis blisterpacks from the Philippines), but you don't want to take the legal risk. same with dangerous for your health, although many gp's don't do their due diligence (ruling out sleep apnea and other conditions besides cardiac, history of schizo/bipolar in family, drug abuse are typical 3) when handing out ritalin. if you wanted to, you could doctor shop, a lot of doctors (still in the minority but if you see 10 doctors you'll run into someone apathetic) don't care (and actually think everyone should have ritalin if they want, or just diagnose you with adhd in 5 minutes so you believe you have it, and can justify your use of it because a doctor talked to you for five minutes and said so... instead of demanding a 1200 dollar report, and interviewing you for hours over many sessions (like certain psychiatrists who know their field inside out)) and will just write you a prescription, so that covers you legally, but those same doctors tend not to do their due diligence, which can cause health problems to be overlooked.

 

the unfair advantage thing is for you to decide, don't let anyone tell you what an unfair advantage is... the dsm itself is a construct, adhd is an academic advantage for me, because i get distracted by concepts, ideas, social situations... it's just a disadvantage in paying bills, and being on time, and other boring things i get distracted from doing (i find school interesting, again, not a lack of attention, just attentional regulation which only exists in a societal construct because we live in a society where paying bills on time is important) because it's very heterogeneous, complex, and can't be diagnosed with a 9 point checklist and 15 minutes.

 

candor... it's a bit dangerous

 

btw, i don't endorse any of this behaviour, i'm just giving you the non-valuative facts

 

 

I totally (well, mostly) agree with muse (actually I feel awkwardly e-connected with him, I think cause I feel like I can relate on some level, perhaps not to the same degree, however).

 

I have noticed several non-favourable side effects of Ritalin, though. I feel that my ability to engage in abstract/complex thought is severely reduced on ritalin. Creativity, necessary for topics such as phil mind, math proofs etc, is also severely reduced...and I now I need to figure out how to balance my life, while still trying to engage in those topics that I enjoy (take or not take...).

 

However, it has changed my life for the better in so many other ways, and I can't believe it took me so long to recognize that many of my issues could have been dealt with before. Yes, ritalin will help you with your bio prep...and that may be enough for you to want to take it, but I don't think it would be for me.

 

I am really concerned about these threads on ritalin, and the impression that many first years/HS kids may get. RITALIN WILL NOT MAKE YOU A BETTER STUDENT OVERALL....IN FACT, IT WILL MAKE YOU WORSE IN SOME CASES. How you will respond to ritalin is very individual, based on a number of factors. Most GPs know **** all about it...

[inspiring-curmudgeon]

I found that ritalin took my studying to a whole new level. I completed twice as much in half the time, and still remember the material I learned to this day. On the other hand, my friend was a wreck on it, so try it out before you start going nuts.

 

Study drugs are just as much an advantage as having a rich family and not having to work a job, or having a family connection to a prof that lands you a research position. People need to get over it.

[apache]

well, the thing is, ritalin creates a snowball effect, you think very logically and are serious at first, and you're good at it, so you continue to think this way, so it's reinforcing, however, if you're aware of the physiological effects of ritalin, you can choose not to enforce the unfavourable ones, i'm not any more serious/less abstract on it, because i make an effort to think abstractly on it, people don't realize the power you have over your emotions etc. and it's nothing you can explain to someone, just something you have to phenomenologically experience... but even things like biofeedback show that we can regulate things as visceral as our heart rate, but because we adopt a reductionistic materialistic paradigm, we believe that there's no top-down effect, and actually perpetuate the initial effect the drug has (i initially felt aggressive, serious, emotionally blunted, but new that was the drug, now i'm always in a really happy, empathic mood, and am actually working on developing my concrete thinking skills (since i'm way too abstract a thinker all the time). the same concept is exemplified in placebos, which have substantial effects many times.

 

the idiosyncrasy of reaction is true, you have an increased ability to regulate attention, but that doesn't mean you'll study bio, you may use that increased ability to pay attention to socialize, have a philosophical conversation, anything you want really, but you will more than likely feel an initial drive to get something done, but that something can be anything. it can also worsen anxiety. this is why psychiatry is crap, it fails to acknowledge the extreme complexity of individuals and categorizes people in constructivist boxes they can call objectively diagnosable disorders (because the diagnostic criterion is oversimplified and the paradox is that there is still a subjective interpreter interpreting the meaning of objective criterion, which cannot be objective because even simple sentences can have infinitesimal meanings and interpretations), then again, being able to exclusively "diagnose" disorders confers expertise and money... and monetaristic gain is the zeitgeist of our era... and most people haven't had experiences which make them take a fervent enough interest to see the subtleties through which this is accomplished, meaning, they get taken for a ride (like when your mechanic rips you off because you don't understand a thing on the bill, but at least engine failure is engine failure, try to give me an umbrella definition of social anxiety disorder that isn't so vague as to be useless and isn't so detailed as to be ungeneralizable... can't be done.

 

candor, sometimes it bites

 

I totally (well, mostly) agree with muse (actually I feel awkwardly e-connected with him, I think cause I feel like I can relate on some level, perhaps not to the same degree, however).

 

I have noticed several non-favourable side effects of Ritalin, though. I feel that my ability to engage in abstract/complex thought is severely reduced on ritalin. Creativity, necessary for topics such as phil mind, math proofs etc, is also severely reduced...and I now I need to figure out how to balance my life, while still trying to engage in those topics that I enjoy (take or not take...).

 

However, it has changed my life for the better in so many other ways, and I can't believe it took me so long to recognize that many of my issues could have been dealt with before. Yes, ritalin will help you with your bio prep...and that may be enough for you to want to take it, but I don't think it would be for me.

 

I am really concerned about these threads on ritalin, and the impression that many first years/HS kids may get. RITALIN WILL NOT MAKE YOU A BETTER STUDENT OVERALL....IN FACT, IT WILL MAKE YOU WORSE IN SOME CASES. How you will respond to ritalin is very individual, based on a number of factors. Most GPs know **** all about it...

[A Second Daniel]

I found that ritalin took my studying to a whole new level. I completed twice as much in half the time, and still remember the material I learned to this day. On the other hand, my friend was a wreck on it, so try it out before you start going nuts.

 

Study drugs are just as much an advantage as having a rich family and not having to work a job, or having a family connection to a prof that lands you a research position. People need to get over it.

 

Good point, it's not like being a doctor requires genuine intellect or anything...Drug abuse is nothing like having a research connection btw.

[apache]

actually, that's a loaded question... being a good doctor actually requires you to have a lower intellect (or a high intellect, but an ability to tune it down), because our bodies are so complex, it's impossible to logically come to conclusions from basic principles, because we don't know all of the basic principles, so there are many apparent paradoxes in medicine that appear because of "hidden variables"... this makes medicine an empirical field, where extreme intellect can actually hinder you from memorizing paradoxical lab results, you're more clinically effective in many specialties if you can just say, these results mean this, even though the logic of the known physiology would predict something to the contrary.

 

also, using a drug isn't drug abuse, read about slave and master morality, the marketing of automatic moral values, the construction of societal social schemas and automatic emotions thoughts, and you'll realize the simplicity and discrete nature of the statement discredits it, this could be called the slippery slope fallacy, the either/or (dichotomies) fallacy.

 

check it out, you may learn to pull more clever word games with people:

 

http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/fallacies_list.html

 

or you may just learn to back up what you say with some sort of evidence

 

Good point, it's not like being a doctor requires genuine intellect or anything...Drug abuse is nothing like having a research connection btw.

[Robin Hood]

Maybe we should replace psychiatry with medical psychology. Biology can't explain all psychological problems, and so drugs can't cure them all. Also, another problem with mental health professions, is that you have symptoms common to more than one disorder, so there's a good risk of misdiagnosis.

 

well, the thing is, ritalin creates a snowball effect, you think very logically and are serious at first, and you're good at it, so you continue to think this way, so it's reinforcing, however, if you're aware of the physiological effects of ritalin, you can choose not to enforce the unfavourable ones, i'm not any more serious/less abstract on it, because i make an effort to think abstractly on it, people don't realize the power you have over your emotions etc. and it's nothing you can explain to someone, just something you have to phenomenologically experience... but even things like biofeedback show that we can regulate things as visceral as our heart rate, but because we adopt a reductionistic materialistic paradigm, we believe that there's no top-down effect, and actually perpetuate the initial effect the drug has (i initially felt aggressive, serious, emotionally blunted, but new that was the drug, now i'm always in a really happy, empathic mood, and am actually working on developing my concrete thinking skills (since i'm way too abstract a thinker all the time). the same concept is exemplified in placebos, which have substantial effects many times.

 

the idiosyncrasy of reaction is true, you have an increased ability to regulate attention, but that doesn't mean you'll study bio, you may use that increased ability to pay attention to socialize, have a philosophical conversation, anything you want really, but you will more than likely feel an initial drive to get something done, but that something can be anything. it can also worsen anxiety. this is why psychiatry is crap, it fails to acknowledge the extreme complexity of individuals and categorizes people in constructivist boxes they can call objectively diagnosable disorders (because the diagnostic criterion is oversimplified and the paradox is that there is still a subjective interpreter interpreting the meaning of objective criterion, which cannot be objective because even simple sentences can have infinitesimal meanings and interpretations), then again, being able to exclusively "diagnose" disorders confers expertise and money... and monetaristic gain is the zeitgeist of our era... and most people haven't had experiences which make them take a fervent enough interest to see the subtleties through which this is accomplished, meaning, they get taken for a ride (like when your mechanic rips you off because you don't understand a thing on the bill, but at least engine failure is engine failure, try to give me an umbrella definition of social anxiety disorder that isn't so vague as to be useless and isn't so detailed as to be ungeneralizable... can't be done.

 

candor, sometimes it bites

[apache]

yup, that's what i've said forever, except i would call it bio-psycho-social-phenomenelogeco-empircal psychology, also, disorders don't exist, they just exist as discrete entities because of communicative value, but they're too heterogeneous and reliant on societal norms and contexts to call psychological "problems" disorders, getting up at 11 am is only a "disorder" in a society that's 9-5, if 12-8 was the social norm (as it can be in many 24/7 cities like new york, the disorder ceases to exist, because you can't qualify you're constructivism with it has to be distressing to be patient anymore)

 

Maybe we should replace psychiatry with medical psychology. Biology can't explain all psychological problems, and so drugs can't cure them all. Also, another problem with mental health professions, is that you have symptoms common to more than one disorder, so there's a good risk of misdiagnosis.