Self-study

[Opressoliber]

Hey, have anyone else tried to skip all classes and self-study at home?

The biggest problem with this approach is to stay motivated and self-disciplined enough to not just skip a hard day of studying and go to the gym/play video games/or whatnot + sometime the textbook can be relatively dry and is not always self-contained (I am a math undergrad).

The huge advantage is that I cut off the travel time (by about 1 hour each day, seriously) and I don`t have to interact with more people than I have to.

[antistu]

The biggest problem with this is, I find it very hard to study at home. Too many distractions and conveniences. What I started to do when I need some separation and quiet time, I go to the public library and have these “noise free environment” rooms where no one is allowed to talk, no cell phones, etc. I find it like a compression room for studying, what takes me 3 hours to do at home I can do in 1 hour there.

Studying in general is all about self discipline. Put in the time and make it count. I have taken several online classes and do well in them all. I prefer classroom instruction though because the material is easier to understand by someone who is an expert in the subject matter (vs. you trying to learn it from a book).

[discontinuous]

Yep I have done it, and got no less or more than I would if attending class. (Cut my travel by 3h)

My biggest problem is living with retards. I can manage my time otherwise.

[Opressoliber]

Studying in general is all about self discipline. Put in the time and make it count. I have taken several online classes and do well in them all. I prefer classroom instruction though because the material is easier to understand by someone who is an expert in the subject matter (vs. you trying to learn it from a book).

It's true for most people, but the problem with me is that I have to read the textbook (and understand a good part of it) beforehand, or else I get lost during the lecture and I don't understand diddy squat.

[Nelwyn]

As you pointed out already: it stands and falls with your capability of self-motivation. Making study plans and being able to stick to them. Always know what you need to know for the exams...don't get lost...many fail because they don't know the difference between studying for grades and studying out of interest.

math undergrad is all about practice in my opinion...so you have an easy benchmark for your self-study success...if your able to solve the problems important for your exam - fine...if you fail even getting the text book right, don't lose time on it and better get back to class. It's all about efficiency :)

I'm about to get my second degree by essentially just going to the exams, I'm in Germany, but I studied in the US, too; different system same content. (But I admit I attended all class in the US because I had to)

[Haumea]

The trick to home study -- hit the gym, get a good aerobic work out, then go home and study.

[roninpro]

I went through my undergraduate math education by doing this. I spent very little time in class, and I worked through problems and read about various math topics on my own.

You should not rely on only one textbook to learn something. I think that you'd be better off also going online and seeing how other people interpret problems. (Wikipedia is actually an extremely valuable source. There are also a lot of math people on this forum, so you should post if you have questions about anything.)

[Traverser]

The trick to home study -- hit the gym, get a good aerobic work out, then go home and study.

Excellent advice, and I stand by this. I occasionally take jogs around the neighborhood to get me motivated to do other things, and it works. The way I think it, accomplishing a simpler thing encourages you to accomplish a more complicated one.

I find self-studying to be ideal if the subject is not part of a personal career path that requires state licensing. Otherwise, it's cheap and a huge boon to your self-confidence. Currently, I self-study in matters of Economics and am quite passionate about it; my posts in these forums are testament to that.

If the OP does plan to attend school for whatever reason, I suggest he sample courses for free before signing up. Most educational instutions allow for this, and the last thing you need is to be saddled with a lousy professor or instructor.

[Silence]

What about enhancing your studies with internet sites? Depending on the subject, there are videos, discussions and tutoring sites online that might make it easier to learn, without the inconvenience of traffic/travel time and the annoyance of other people.

[GobNoblin]

skipping class and self studying is how i got through most of college

[Asocialkat]

You do realize that you pay an awful lot for those classes that you are skipping, right? Why bother with the degree and the money if you're going to self-educate anyway?

In any case, I was too neurotic for that. I frequently had dreams that I missed an exam because the date/time was rescheduled. Then again, I also had dreams that I didn't realize that I was registered for a course until the last day/week, then I had to go in and take the exam. I still have that dream a couple of times a year. It's annoying since I graduated six and a half years ago. I suppose it will be even more annoying if/when I turn 80 years old and still have them. Grrr...

[Opressoliber]

You do realize that you pay an awful lot for those classes that you are skipping, right?

Damn straight. Those people are hustlers.:angry:


Why bother with the degree and the money if you're going to self-educate anyway?

To be succinct: it looks good on the CV aka you get bragging rights. Also, it makes some great decoration in the living room;)

If everything works out well, I will hopefully never have to use it, but it sure is a nice insurance policy in case something goes wrong.

[Asocialkat]

Also, it makes some great decoration in the living room;)

If everything works out well, I will hopefully never have to use it, but it sure is a nice insurance policy in case something goes wrong.

It's a degree, not a rifle. :p

[theficklefinger]

If I had to do it again...I wouldn't bother with college unless it was a highly technical degree, where I came out with working certification, that garnered a guaranteed job...it's too much time, too much money, too much BS to come out with info that could've been had through reading books at Borders.

Self study: You can either sit in class, or sit at home reading the book...some college classes are so worthless, that the instructor purposefully makes you take notes....so you have to show up, or you won't have the info for the test.

With flying, most all a self study, get some help with a flight instructor..take the test....

Discipline isn't the problem for some of us...it's getting the right information, and not have to pick out the useful stuff out of 50000 pages of fluff and filler.

They should just have trade schools...and pare it all down to what you need to produce...leave the humanities, arts, poli sci, and all the other crap to summer classes, night schools, online courses, ect.

[morethanafeelin]

Excellent advice, and I stand by this. I occasionally take jogs around the neighborhood to get me motivated to do other things, and it works. The way I think it, accomplishing a simpler thing encourages you to accomplish a more complicated one.

I find self-studying to be ideal if the subject is not part of a personal career path that requires state licensing. Otherwise, it's cheap and a huge boon to your self-confidence. Currently, I self-study in matters of Economics and am quite passionate about it; my posts in these forums are testament to that.

If the OP does plan to attend school for whatever reason, I suggest he sample courses for free before signing up. Most educational instutions allow for this, and the last thing you need is to be saddled with a lousy professor or instructor.

It's not even a matter of simple vs complicated; after you do physical exercise for a while and stop, you start to get into the mood to do more mental activities like reading and trying to understand concepts. Just like if you sit around for a while reading and studying you start to get really fed up with it and tend to want to do something very physical. I guess you could argue that the physical exercise is "simpler" in nature, but saying that I want to do something complicated because I have been doing something "simple" isn't exactly the wording I would use. I actually find I value physical activities slightly more than mental activities because I can go for longer periods without really stressing my mental capabilities but I HATE not doing any exercise for a long a time and need to do an intense amount of it everyday. The idea of being out-of-shape disgusts me which is why I remain in excellent shape.

[PUPA555]

I don't recommend skipping class. My college grades strongly correlate to my attendance. And if you're already having trouble keeping up, cutting is likely to do a lot more harm than good. You'd need iron fucking discipline and routine study to learn properly on your own.

[N0c7urn3]

Sometimes they have systems in place where you are put at a disadvantage if you don't attend classes. Things like: pop quizzes, attendance scores, participation scores, incomplete notes that you need to note-take in lectures, extra (testable) materials said only in lectures, etc. There certainly are some classes I could learn more effectively by myself. But there are others which are better suited in the classroom. Personally, I find that (at least at the college level) having access to a tutor that can correct your reasoning on the spot is a pretty good way to learn how to learn that particular set of materials, especially so if the tutor is an expert in that field.

But, yes, it is useless if the lectures are only going to go through what is already well described in the textbooks. I think of them as encoding the same information on another modality. Helps with memory, but not with comprehension.