<p>I'm going to college (hopefully) this fall and I need to learn how to study</p>
<p>Please tell me how you do it, do you just read the book and do problems? Go over notes? How is it possible to do this for more than like an hour a day? Just do it over and over again until it's ingrained in your head? What about for history or English? And is it normal to read small sections and then feel absolutely compelled to think about something else for a while? How productive are your study sessions?</p>
<p>For example, someone said "I plan on getting in 200 study hours for the SAT" - this seems astronomically impossible to me. First of all, are these quality hours? My few experiences so far have been 25% studying (aka reading) and 75% mandatory time-wasting (or else I feel like giving up). Is it just giving your mind a mental beatdown and focusing on the SAT for hours? If so, I should get started on this because I'm disgustingly undisciplined.</p>
<p>First, you need to organize your life. Plan when you're going to study, and make a schedule. More importantly, stick to it. </p>
<p>Now, as for the actual studying part, you need to find out what makes you comfortable and wanting to study. Sometimes I like to go to the library and study, other times I study in my apartment. You need to be somewhere where there will be no distractions (aka, no computers, games, friends, etc). For me, once I get started studying I go through a lot of material and end up finishing after several hours. </p>
<p>Concentration is important, if you can make the material you're studying interesting, your brain will be hooked onto the subject and it'll be hard to stray away and get distracted. </p>
<p>This is just my way of studying, as an engineering student I spend a lot of time doing it so I've found what makes me comfortable and effective. Find out for yourself where you feel the most relaxed and wanting to study.</p>
<p>Yes concentration is important. If you lack that, make LOTS of lists. be as specific as possible. Say you want to finish a study guide review today (such as a 300 pages Barron's book perhaps?) put down sticky notes separating each chapter. Write a specific list like:
Ch. 7 read ______ (line where you put a check mark after finishing)
Ch. 7 problems ___________
Ch. 8 read __________</p>
<p>and etc. </p>
<p>Then after two or three chapters, go take a break and come back. </p>
<p>After a while, you can estimate how much time it takes to get certain common tasks (ie. one bio chapter or one physics p-set) and you can do some time blocking with actual hours and write down next to each checklist item how much time it'll take. </p>
<p>Checking off lists always makes me ridiculously happy.</p>
<p>I do that exact same thing with my Cultural Anthropology and Sociology class with my local university. Professors are not so upfront about the readings (only tell you them once) and are not on your back all the time like your high school teachers, so I make a list with each chapter, case study, et cetera with a box for check marks. They are so wonderful, aren't they!? ;)</p>
<p>Yeah, lists are the bomb. You can make
-Check lists
-To-do lists (like actual times and stuff)
-A year-long calendar with the little boxes for days and pages for months--so helpful! Write tests in red, big projects in black, or whatever.
-And make a plan at the beginning of every week of what you want to do on each day. It gives you a realistic idea of how much you can procrastinate (which I'm guessing you will at college) without going insane last second.<br>
^All of those can be mental lists, but it's so much easier just to write it down. invest in a planner with months, weeks, and day planning!</p>
<p>And find one place that's your study haven. I'd recommend a library off campus (on campus is bound to be a common room with bookshelves), or a park, or whatever. Someplace you can go every single day, where there are no distractions and your mind can easily shift to study mode. There's a college in my town, and I always see the odd student sneaking out to the town library with his laptop. Obviously on-campus is too noisy.</p>
<p>How much you study is based on how much you feel you mind cramming. I get all the problem sets, worksheets, and other smaller projects due first, then study, then work on larger projects. How much you actually study daily will depend on whether you want to learn material the second you learn it or whether you cram before assessments. I like to learn it immediately, and I just recopy my notes (I take them on looseleaf first then copy into a spiral). Then I bring up interesting things with my parents or friends and that helps me remember. Before tests, I make study guide outlines or practice tests based on those notes.</p>
<p>It's not too hard to study, you just have to decide to do it!</p>