Doing well in your courses----A guide by Andrej Karpathy

Doing well in your courses

A guide by Andrej Karpathy

Here are some advice I would give to younger students if they wish to does well in their undergraduate courses.

Have been tested for many years of my life (with pretty good results), here is some rules of thumb that I feel helped m E:

General

all-nighters is not worth it. 
Span style= "FONT-SIZE:14PT; font-family: ' Microsoft Yahei '; " >sleep does wonders. Optimal sleep time for me was around 7.5 hours, with an absolute minimum of around 4hrs.
it have happened to me several times that I was stuck O n some problem for a hour in the night, but is able to solve it in 5 minutes in the morning. I feel like the brain "commits" a lot of shaky short-term memories to stable long-term memories during the night. I try to start studying for any big tests well in advance (several days), even if for short periods of time, to maximize t He number of nights that my brain gets for the material.

Attend tutorials or review sessions.
Even if they is bad. The fact that they get think about the material are what counts. If its too boring, you can always work on something else. Remember that can also try to attend a different tutorial with a different TA.

tests:preparation

considering the big picture and organisation are the key. 
create schedule of study, even If you dont stick to it. For me this usually involves getting a idea of the everything I need to know and explicitly writing it under terms of Bulle T points. Consider all points carefully and think on how long it'll take you to get them down. If you don ' t does this, there are a tendency to spend too much time on beginning of material and then skim through the Important) later material due to lack of time.

always try to look at previous tests before Starting to study.
especially if the past tests were written by the Same professor. This would give you strong hints on how you should study. Every professor has a different evaluation style. Don ' t actually attempt to complete the questions in the beginning, but take careful note of the type of questions.

reading and understanding are not the same as Replicating the content.
even I often make this mistake still:you read a Formula/derivation/proof in the book and it makes perfect sense. Now close the book and try to write it down. You'll find that this process is completely different and it'll amaze you the many times you won ' t actually be able t o do this! Somehow the things use different parts of the memory. Make it a point-to-make sure so can actually write down the most important bits, and that's can re-derive them at Would. Feynman famously knew this very well.

Always try-to-collaborate with others, but near the end.
Study alone first because in the early stages for studying others can only serve as a distraction. But near the end get together with Others:they would often point out important pitfalls, bring up good issues, and Sometim Es give you a opportunity to teach. Which brings me to:

Don ' t only stronger students.
Weaker students'll has you explain things to them and you'll find that teaching the material helps A lot with Underst Anding.

go to the Prof before final exam at least once for Office hours. 
even if you have no Questions (Make something up!) Profs would sometimes be willing to say more on a test in 1on1 basis (things they would not disclose in front of the ENT IRE Class). Don ' t expect it, but if this does happen, it helps a lot. Does this give is unfair advantage over other students? sometimes. It ' s a little shady:)
but in general it's a Good idea-to-let-the prof get to know-least a little.

study well in advance. 
Span style= "FONT-SIZE:14PT; font-family: ' Microsoft Yahei '; " >did I mention this already? Maybe I should stress it again. The brain really needs time to absorb material. Things that looked hard become easier with time. 
you want to Alocate ~ days for midterms, and for exams.


if things is going badly and you get too Tired, in emergency situations, jug a energy drink.
they work. It ' s just chemistry.

For things like Math:exercise > Reading.
It was good to study to the point where you were reasonably ready to start the exercises and then fill in the gaps through Doing exercises, especially if you had many available to you. The exercises would also make your go back and read things you don ' t know.

Make yourself cheat sheet.
Even if you ' re isn't allowed to bring it to the exam. Writing things down helps. What are you want are to cram the entire course on 1 or more pages so you can in the end tiles in front of your and say with hi GH degree of confidence "This is exactly everything I must know"

Study in places where other people Study as well, even if not the same thing.
This makes you feel is the one not studying. It works for me:)
Places with a lot of background noise is bad and has a research-supported negative impact on learning. Libraries and Reading rooms work best.

Tests:on Day of

optimal eating/drinking habit is:t-2 hours get Coffee and food.
for me, Coffee or food right before the test is Always bad
coffee right before any Potentially stressful situation is always bad.
no coffee at all are bad.
i realize the coffee bit may is subjective to me, but Its something to think on for yourself.

Study very intensely right before the test.
I see many people give up before the test and claim to "take a break". Short term memory is a wonderful thing, don ' t waste it! Study as intensely as possible right before the test. If you really feel your must take a break and take it on an hour before the test and make sure you study really hard 30-45 Minutes before the test.

DURING the TEST

Always use the pencil for tests.
You want to is able to erase your garbage "solutions"

Look through all questions very briefly before start.
A Mere 1-3 Second glance per question is good enough. Just absorb all key words, and get idea of the size of the the entire test.

On test, does easy questions first.
yourself to get stuck on something too long. Come back to it later. I Skip questions all the time ... Sometimes I can complete as little as 30% of the test on my first pass. Some questions somehow become much easier once you're ' re ' warmed up ', I can ' t explain it.

Always try to being neat on the test.
Surprisingly few people actually realize this obvious fact:a human being would mark your test. A sad human being gives low marks. I suspected this as undergrad student and confirmed it strongly if I was taing and actually marking.

Always BOX in/circle the answer
Especially when there is derivation around it. This allows the marker to give, a quick check mark for full marks and move on. Get in the mindset of a marker.

never. Ever. Ever. Leave test early. 
you made a silly Mistake (I guarantee it), find it and fix it. If you can ' t find it, try harder until time runs out. If you is VERY certain of no mistakes, work on making test more legible and easier to mark. Erase garbage, box in answers, add steps to proofs, etc.
i has no other, the putting this--people who Leave tests early is stupid. This is a clear example of a situation where potential benefits completely outweigh the cost. 

communicate with the marker. 
show the marker that I know more than what do you put D Own. Ok you can ' t do a particular step, but make it clear this you know what to proceed if you did. Don ' t be afraid to leave notes when necessary. Believe it or not, the markers often end up trying to find what's more marks--make it easy for them.

consider number of points per question.
many tests would tell you how many marks every Question is worth. This can give your very strong hints when you are doing something wrong. It also gives you strong hints in what questions you should is working on. It is, the course, silly to spend too much time on questions worth little marks that's still relatively hard for you.

If there is <5 minutes left and you is still stuck on some question, STOP.
Your time is better spent re-reading all questions and making absolutely sure do not miss any secondary
Questions, and that answered everything. You wouldn ' t believe what many silly marks people lose this.

Congratulations if you got all the here! Now so you're here, here's my last (very important advice). It's something that I wish someone had told me when I am an undergraduate.

Undergrads tend to has tunnel vision about their classes. They want to get good grades, etc. The crucial fact to realize was that noone would care about your grades, unless they was bad. For example, I always used to say that the smartest student would get 85% in all of his courses. This is the-to-somewhere around 4.0 score, and you do not over-study, and do not under-study.

Your time is a precious, limited resource. Get to a point where you don't screw up in a test and then switch your attention to much more important endeavors. What is they?

Getting Actual, Real-world experience, working on real code base, projects or problems outside of silly course exercises I s extremely imporant. Professors/people who know you and can write a good reference letter saying so you have initiative, passion and Driv E is extremely important. Is you thinking of applying to jobs? Get a summer internship. Is you thinking of pursuing graduate school? Get experience! Sign up for whatever programs your school offers. Or Reach Out-a professor/graduate student asking to get-involved on a-a-like. This might work if they think you ' re driven and motivated enough. Do not underestimate the importance of THIS:A well-known professor who writes in their recommendation Driven, motivated and independent thinker completely dwarfs anything else, especially petty things like grades. It also helps a lot if you squeeze on least one paper before you apply. Also, you should is aware that the biggest petPeeve from their side is over-excited undergrad students who sign up for a project, meet a few times, ask many questions, And then suddenly give up and disappear through all that time investment from the graduate student ' s or Professor ' s side. Does not is the this person (it damages your reputation) and does not give any indication so you might be.

Other than the projects, get involved with some group of people on side projects or better, start your own from Scrat Ch. Contribute to Open Source, make/improve a library. Get out there and create (or help create) something cool. Document it well. Blog about it. These is the things people would care on a few years down the road. Your grades? They is an annoyance you have to deal with along the the. Use your time well and good luck.

Doing well in your courses----A guide by Andrej Karpathy