Study Less, Get Better Grades

First off, the answers to my St. Patrick’s Day math problems. 1) The probability that the leprechaun has drunk a gallon of beer is 1. The numbers on opposite sides of a normal six-sided die always sum to seven. 2) No leprechauns go home sober. The probability of flipping an infinite number of heads with a fair coin is zero. (1/2)^infinity = 0. 3) The game theoretically never ends because with a coefficient of restitution of zero, the ball doesn’t bounce. In actuality, the game ends when the leprechauns pass out, so the answer to the last question is “very drunk.”

Next up, my latest very scientific analysis definitively proving that studying makes your grades worse. I meant to put this up after my first round of prelims, but I was busy with f*****. [Note for anyone who clicked the link and was expecting something very different: 1) Count the number of asterisks again. 2) Get your mind out of the gutter.]

My first round of prelims was scheduled such that I had three prelims in seven days. I still can’t decide whether I prefer having that happen or having one prelim every week for the majority of the semester, which I did last semester. Anyway, the fluid mechanics (fluids) prelim was a Thursday, so I spent the weekend before the prelim getting ahead on homework for other classes (I admit I also worked a shift for Cornell Productions on Friday night and went to pep band for all of Saturday afternoon/night). I started studying for fluids on Monday. In between going to class, doing other homework, and other mostly necessary things like eating and sleeping, I got in almost five hours of studying for fluids.

After the two and a half hour fluids prelim, I had to go and finish my physical chemistry homework. I just had a few things to wrap up, so it only took two hours. I took Friday off, did other homework on Saturday morning, went to pep band on Saturday afternoon/night, and studied for p-chem mostly on Sunday and Monday. I ended up getting in about four hours of studying for p-chem.

The p-chem and macroeconomics prelims were scheduled for the same time, so I took the makeup exam for macroecon on Wednesday. That meant that after the p-chem prelim I went back to my room and studied for econ. By which I mean I reviewed a previous prelim for 40 minutes. Then on Wednesday I went to my six hours of class, followed by dinner, followed by the prelim. Notice I did not have time to study for econ on Wednesday. Notice that the only time I mention studying for econ is for 40 minutes on Tuesday night.

This is what happened when I got my grades back.

Note the trend of grades decreasing as more time is spent studying. Ignore that there are only three points on the graph. Also ignore the fact that each prelim was taken for a different class. Further ignore the fact that a lot of the macroeconomics material was a review of microeconomics, which I took last year. In addition, ignore the fact that each class has a different curve. The takeaway lesson is that studying obviously makes grades worse. According to the best fit line, I should study about -1 hour to get a hundred on my next prelim. It’s too late for fluids, but I still have p-chem and macroecon coming up after the break (in the same week . . . again).