<p>One thing that I know will be different from high school and college is the amount of studying time. In high school, particularly my senior year, I didn't study extensively, yet I managed to graduate with a 3.94. I know that in college I will HAVE to study in order to get good grades. So, for all of you current and former college students, how did you study in college? What did you do that you didn't do in high school that helped (or hurt) you in college? The thing that I am most afraid of is understudying and failing exams. What can I do to be sure that I study efficiently? </p>
<p>My plan will be something like this for each chapter of information for each class:
day 1: read chapter and outline chapter
day 2: watch online lectures and start homework assignments
day 3: finish homework and reread the textbook and then memorize outline/notes
then I’m just going to repeat every time we get a new chapter</p>
<p>The main difference is the textbook you use. If you took honors courses in high school then your textbook chapters were about 1/5 the length of the chapters in a college textbook. The college textbooks are written with higher levels of sophistication. This is why most people who didn’t read the textbook in high school fail if they don’t change in college. If you took AP courses then you are probably used to these kind of textbooks. The other thing that gets people is that mos colleges operate on semester system which makes it much faster than the the typical year-long schedule that most high schools operate on. College courses cover more material in a shorter amount of time.</p>
<p>As everything in college, it really just depends on what class/professor/and the overall requirements for the course. They say the general rule is “each hour of class equals 2-3 hours of outside studying”. Finishing my sophomore year - I can say this is very much false. There will be classes that require lots of reading (I’m talking 30-40 pages before each class) and there will be classes where you can succeed with only taking a few notes and skimming through the readings. </p>
<p>My general advice would be to:
- Check your syllabus often, as it will most likely show you what chapters are due before class, and how/if they will be tested.
- If you are unable to fully read everything required, at least try to get a general understanding about the material before attending class. Otherwise, the entire hour during class will seem completely out of context. It’s very important to be slightly ahead.
- Professors LOVE to assign readings. I mean hundreds of textbook pages, articles, essays, books…you name it - they’ve assigned it. However, I guarantee you that 70% of that will just be “busy work” or not graded material. So, when you notice that he/she never quizzes or grades material from the articles, then you will know to only read those if you have spare time under your own convenience. It is very important to find priorities among the readings and homework. </p>
<p>Make review study guides to try to guess the content of the exam. For example, if you are doing math, re do problems from the homework and write the steps right next to it. Do 3-4 problems for each unit.</p>
<p>My math, physics, and engineering courses spoke for themselves. Being able to proficiently do the problem sets / lab work under exam conditions means being able to do well on the exams.
–The idea is to learn how to problem solve / have a visual and conceptual feel of how the physics works over cramming a bunch of readings and formulas. Moreover the items in the book you’ll be able to reconstruct in your own mind from scratch.
Differential Equations at a community college was a little different because there wasn’t assigned homework so you just have to practice a bunch of textbook problems / review the examples in each section before the exams.</p>
<p>As far as my GE courses, I’ve had one where the exams were online so you didn’t really have to study and another one where the professor was nice to provide a study guide so I would skim the textbook instead of reading it… Ended up with my only A- of college, oh well!</p>
<p>Know what your weaknesses are (for exmaple: Netflix, parties, constant naps) and combat them with solutions. No one knows you better than yourself so if you study better by yourself because you get too chatty or sidetracked, there is no reason to study in a group of six. You will have to do a lot of studying and effective studying as well. I say effective studying because you need to be able to absorb knowledge and be able to recall it when the time comes (exams, quizzes, essays, etc.). Read at your on pace and take notes. A lot of notes. If you are in lecture, take notes from beginning to end and make sure they are legible. I breezed through high school as well and I never had to study for anything. I had to learn to study fast to survive in college. You should read and read ahead if you can. Definitely get your priorities in order and stay motivated about attaining your career goals. Doing this will keep you focused and you will stay on track. I had to turn my life around and now, it’s like I’m a completely different person once I became passionate about what I really wanted in life. </p>
<p>Also, this may sound corny but I keep a daily agenda. I write everything I need to do for each day and ahead of time. Each day will have the subject and list of things I have to do for each class. I number the listed items and circle the numbers. When I complete an assignment, I bubble it in and it’s extremely gratifying when I finish things ahead of time. :P</p>
<p>In college, I find that it helps to go to the basement/stacks of the campus library and turn off my phone and just stay there for several hours until I get my work done. It sucks, but otherwise I get too distracted. </p>
<p>I put all my assignments and meetings and stuff on google calendar and had alerts sent to my phone. Then I did all my homework and studying during the mornings and afternoons if I could help it. Because at night I’m totally useless. I saw post here a long time ago about Cal Newport’s Study Hacks and read all his blogs and book which helped me a lot on how to be productive. </p>
<p>Good advice here so far! As you can see, all of these posts basically indicate that time management is key. You need to develop your own system that a.) gets your work done, b.) gets it done well, and c.) gets it done on time. </p>
<p>Personally, I like to schedule myself study periods. I’ve found that I study best either right away in the morning or directly after a mid-afternoon class, so I make it a habit to do work during those times. You’ll get twice as much done if you work during times where you’re motivated and alert, so it’s really a win-win. A good 2-hour homework burst can sometimes equal a 4-hour cram session if you plan it right. </p>
<p>Also, I’ll comment on doing well in humanities classes since a lot of advice has been given for more STEM or traditional classes. Sometimes in the humanities you’ll have classes that are more dependent on the professor than a textbook. Likewise, you might find that taking notes on what they say doesn’t work since they won’t be teaching things you can memorize and regurgitate. It’s always important to understand the main concept and know how to apply it.</p>
<p>More specifically, some classes like writing require taking in advice and knowledge and then using it to craft your own work. You need to listen to the professor’s lecture and truly try to apply the content. To help it sink in, compare it to other things you know, try to find situations where it works, ask the professor for more examples; do whatever it takes to get the concept solidified in your head. </p>
<p>This is a subtler kind of learning that in a lot of ways pulls on relational skills. You might not have a lot of these classes if you have a more technical major, but you might come across certain classes that have more of a “listen really intently and engage with the content” approach. Some people love these and some people hate these, just like some people love memorizing formulas and some people hate them. </p>
<p>So, in sum, manage your time appropriately and know how to handle each course’s work! </p>