Against the Curve
Most students study hard. The problem is that the strategies they often rely on are among the least effective ways to build lasting knowledge. I learned this the hard way: an MCAT score that put me squarely in the middle of the pack among admitted medical students, followed by a complete overhaul that carried me to 99th+ percentile on every board exam since. This series breaks down what the research actually shows about how learning works, one principle at a time. No filler, no fluff, just the evidence, my personal takeaways, and how to apply these principles to improve your learning and performance.
New posts weekly.
Contextual Learning: Why the Room You Study In Matters Less Than You Think
You’ve probably heard you should study in the room where you’ll be tested. The evidence says the room matters less than that advice assumes. Studying in more than one place, and picturing it at test time, does more than trying to match the exam.
Proactive Interference: Why Old Learning Gets in the Way of New Learning
The second similar drug never quite sticks, and the first one keeps answering for it. That blurring has a name, and it depends less on how much you study than on how alike the things you study are.
Emotional Learning: Why the Memories That Stick Aren’t Always Right
You might assume the moments that shook you are the ones you remember most accurately. Emotion does help memories last, but it keeps the gist, drops the details, and leaves you confident either way. Here is what the research supports, and what that means for the material that never comes with a story attached.
Growth vs. Fixed Mindset: What the Evidence Actually Supports
You have probably heard that believing you can grow makes you smarter. The studies make a smaller and more useful claim: the belief seems to change how you read a setback, and its effect on grades is real but modest.