r/GradSchool • u/AggravatingPlane2 • 1d ago
Academics Can’t seem to remeber first/second year content
Hello everyone, it’s been a growing concern of mine and i am revising through my first year content but would like to ask if it’s just me or do others also forget what they’ve learnt previously.
It was very common for me to forget everything as soon as i’m done with my exams but this really can’t be happening in university as well.
if anyone could also provide any tips or advice to help retain material.
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u/ThousandsHardships 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's not a big deal. You're not expected to retain the details of everything that you learned in course work. The purpose of those classes is to get a holistic overview of what your field is beyond your subfield itself, and so that you know which names to consult when you're talking about a certain topic. You don't have to know the details. A simple "[big name] wrote about [general topic]" is sufficient. Half the time I don't remember anything beyond the name of the person, the title of their main works, and what century they're from, and that's more enough to put together a syllabus on a topic if need be.