Studying Tips

[Dae1730]

I know some academies have transitioned to the college setting!? Does anyone have any good strategies to studying and retaining the info you learnt each day!?

Respectfully Yours,


New Recruit

I BLEED BLUE!!!

[GangGreen712]

Take your written notes and type them up in a Word document.

Make bullet points and outlines; reorganize and categorize things by subject. Make the lists as short and easy to remember as possible.

Bold, highlight, or underline things that the instructors say will be on the exam.

A lot of academies have the rule that they won't drop hints as to possible exam questions. In that case, keep this in mind: if the instructor says it more than once, it's probably on the exam.

Here's a big one: If you have a long sentence you need to know, bold half of it. Then, when you're quizzing yourself, treat one half like a question and the other like the answer. Example:

"Police departments today are facing an increasingly hostile public, often attributed to the public's misunderstanding of how law enforcement works."

Write it like this: "Police departments today are facing an increasingly hostile public, often attributed to the public's misunderstanding of how law enforcement works.

Biggest thing of all: Have a spouse, significant other, parent, sibling, friend, whoever, quiz you regularly. Even when you have it memorized, have them quiz you.

[Madcap_Magician]

Also! Ending all of your sentences with exclamation points! It really puts the emphasis on what you're saying!

[tj05]

I just went back and reviewed my notes each day for like 30 minutes. It's not hard, just study a little each day and the days leading up to a test review.

[billnmads]

Read through your material every night when you get home, that way you won't have as much cramming to do on the weekends. Also make flash cards!!

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[lpstopper]

x2 on flash cards. Also a few of the recruits in my academy class would have study groups before a test. So if there was a test friday, we would get together after being released thursday and cram for a couple hours.

[spyder_]

I'm at one of the last full stress academies in the state so i literally don't have time to study till the night before. i come home, read the entire LD front to back while highlighting the main points and details. then i review the highlighted portions one last time before sleeping. then test that morning. for testing purposes its important to think like POST and not like your self. thats how u end up over thinking questions

[Dae1730]

Thx guys I APPRECIATE all the good advice!!! What I'm also going to do is, record myself saying my 400 codes and definitions and listen to it over and over while reading them off an index card

I BLEED BLUE!!!

[Monty Ealerman]

Take your written notes and type them up in a Word document.

Make bullet points and outlines; reorganize and categorize things by subject. Make the lists as short and easy to remember as possible.

Bold, highlight, or underline things that the instructors say will be on the exam.

A lot of academies have the rule that they won't drop hints as to possible exam questions. In that case, keep this in mind: if the instructor says it more than once, it's probably on the exam.

Here's a big one: If you have a long sentence you need to know, bold half of it. Then, when you're quizzing yourself, treat one half like a question and the other like the answer. Example:

"Police departments today are facing an increasingly hostile public, often attributed to the public's misunderstanding of how law enforcement works."

Write it like this: "Police departments today are facing an increasingly hostile public, often attributed to the public's misunderstanding of how law enforcement works.

Biggest thing of all: Have a spouse, significant other, parent, sibling, friend, whoever, quiz you regularly. Even when you have it memorized, have them quiz you.

outstanding post Sir

[jbAPD]

Anyone that has completed the academy & graduated with a bachelors in CJ. Comparing both which one is more challenging in your opinion & why? Thanks in advance.

[SmallCityCop]

Academy is more stressful than taking a college course.

[Flash2pablo]

Anyone that has completed the academy & graduated with a bachelors in CJ. Comparing both which one is more challenging in your opinion & why? Thanks in advance.

I don't have a CJ bachelor's degree but i do have Law Graduate degree. In my opinion Law school was more challenging, but way less stressful.

[tj05]

Academy is more stressful than taking a college course.

Yea, because this is for your JOB. Not some degree you probably won't ever use.

[SmallCityCop]

Yea, because this is for your JOB. Not some degree you probably won't ever use.

You sassin' me?

[GangGreen712]

Anyone that has completed the academy & graduated with a bachelors in CJ. Comparing both which one is more challenging in your opinion & why? Thanks in advance.

I can't speak for a bachelor's in CJ specifically, but I have bachelor's degree (in history) and I graduated from a police academy (still waiting to get hired). My bachelor's degree certainly had a heavier and more eclectic workload. However, the academy was MUCH more stressful and challenging. The reason? It's much easier to fail out of an academy than it is to fail out of college. Colleges just want your money and to get you your degree. Police academies would rather see you fail out, for your sake and theirs, than allow a sub-par officer to police the community.

Most college courses require a 60% to pass most tests and assignments. Most academies require 75% or better to pass. If you fail a test in college, you just move on and try to do better with the rest of your tests. If you fail a test in an academy, you'll first get chewed out, then you'll have to do the block over and retake the test. If you fail TWO tests in college, you can probably still pass the class, probably even with a respectable grade if you do extra credit. In most academies, if you fail two tests, including physical tests, you're out. You could fail your first test, then ace every single one after and be #1 in the class, fail your final test, and suddenly go from valedictorian to washout on the last day.

I was in a 780 hour night program. We met 4 nights a week for 47 weeks. The tests got progressively harder as the year went on. Imagine failing a test early on, then knowing that one more and you've lost a few thousand dollars and a whole year out of you and your families lives with absolutely nothing to show for it. Lucky for me, I didn't fail any tests, and studied like a madman. But we had one guy who failed the first test, and passed by one point on I think two other tests, one being the very last one. He graduated, but how's that for stress?