hello! i’ve been on tumblr a lot lately and i have been many “studyblrs”. they all give these study tips but i never found some good tips for studying for engineering. so, how do i study for engineering? any good study habits? best places to study? good tutoring websites? what are some good supplies to use? any organizational supplies you recommend? any and every tip is welcomed and appreciated. 
thanks!
…you study for it like you study for anything else. In the first year, it’s not different from any other STEM major, so just develop your study habits in that first year and keep up the self discipline?
Usually, other students will tell you about the nice study spots, and they’ll usually recommend tutoring website, as well as on campus tutoring services.
For me (MechE), it was crucial to do all the reading and all the assigned problem sets (whether required to turn in or not), I did the problem sets on my own, but sometimes I met with other students to review /collaborate. I studied before exams (usually reviewing my homework), but my main test “prep” was to never fall behind.
It is pretty much the same as any other major, as @colorado_mom says. Read ahead and do your homework. Treat your week as if you were at work (college IS your work after all). Find a place to do reading and homework in between classes and organize yourself to get the work done during the day. Of course you will have to pull some late nights but if you are organized and work this way, you will be ahead most of the time.
It really comes down to time management. Best suggestion I have is “early and often.” The side effect of this approach is that you will end up in situations where you realize that it is 4 in the afternoon and you have no more work to do before class tomorrow. That’s a great feeling.
I agree it’s like most other majors - but problem set intensive.
- Go to all your classes. It amazes me how many students skip this step. Including all recitations.
- Do all assigned and recommended problem sets as they are assigned. Don’t wait until the last minute. Keep up with the work.
- Find old practice tests. Do the tests. Completely - don’t just look them over, do the problems.
I found with engineering, practice, practice, practice. Many students find it helps to work in a study group.
Do homework problems, understand the concepts behind them. It’s really a lot less complicated than people would have you believe.
bump
Most important thing is to go to class. Be engaged and take detailed notes. Goal at the end of each class is to understand the material, if not review promptly. Do not wait until the next day to “learn”.
Homework do if it’s assigned. Do it, if you want to, if it’s not. It can’t hurt to do extra problems if you already understand the material. The goal is to master the concept/method/material.
Do old tests. Before each exam I did about two to three old exams along with understanding what’s expected on the exam.
If you have pockets of time, which you should based on the flow of classes, maintain the information. Review and brush up on stuff.
Viola! You have studied for engineering and hopefully won’t be one of those kids who walks in to Mechanics of Materials forgetting how to take a moment 
Read ahead and go to classes. Prep for finals weeks ahead not just days. Give your brain time to absorb the material. What I found useful was 2-part reading. One to skim through a chapter, second was to read and highlight. Sometimes I even took note on the side. After all these steps, I’ve almost committed to memory about 90% of the material and then went to bed. Sleep helps process these information. I must admit for some classes, I fell behind on homework assignments but didn’t seem to hurt my grade.
Don’t skip class seems obvious, but it’s crazy how easy it is to fall into that trap. Don’t do it.
As for techniques, the most important that I’ve come across is something Cal Newport outlined after he surveyed Phi Beta Kappa inductees. You have to remove distractions and study in chunks of time. That means phone in airplane mode so you don’t get texts, emails or calls. Set a timer, you phone works great for this. Choose the max time you can actually fully concentrate, but at least 25 minutes and never more than 50. While “on the clock” you do nothing but deep study, no music, no potty or drink breaks, no texting, no email, no random internet searches, in short, zero distractions. Then set the timer for a 5 to 10 minute break where you do what you want. Then repeat. It’s amazing how many high school and collegiate hours are wasted “studying” because of inefficiency. It’s what Newport refers to as pseudo studying.
Good luck.
A lot of people say that sleeping on your textbook allows you to absorb the knowledge inside via osmosis.
That is incorrect.
You see, you must take advantage of diffusion, not osmosis. Place the most vapid, pointless book available on your desk. Twilight or a similar book will do. Place your head on that book. Be sure not to read it. Then, place your textbook on top of your head. Be sure that both books are open, with the dumb book facing upwards and the textbook facing downwards. The information inside of the textbook will flow through your head into the dumb book in an attempt to reach knowledge equilibrium, allowing you to absorb that information
Post #10, very good point. I forgot there are more distractions now.
I did every problem in the book. It was extremely time consuming but when I did so, I mastered the concepts like no other. Completing old exams are also helpful if you have access to them. Lastly, use your classmates and Youtube as valuable resources for new approaches to concepts which are difficult.
Prepare for the lecture!! I cannot stress this enough. Read the material that will be covered in the lecture BEFORE the lecture. You don’t need to fully understand it, just become aquatinted with it. Doing so will help you stay on top of class discussions, and also give you the ability to ask more focused questions during class.
Study for conceptual understanding. If you understand WHY things work, you are less likely to rely on some memorized formula. Every time the professor derives some frequently used equation, make sure you understand (and can replicate) the derivation. The quadratic formula is a very simple example-there is no need to memorize it if one understands how to complete the square.
To be honest, I put off learning how to complete the square until differential equations.
Learning deviations is useful, but don’t explode your brain. For some of the equations in fluid mechanics, I just ran with them and didn’t look back at the derivations. shudders
Great advice from team CC!
@VANURSEPRAC seconded
@Niquii77 i hate derivations
@solveforx You won’t develop a lot of insight into how to apply old topics to new, complex problems without at least understanding where the derivations come from. To use the example provided by @Niquii77, if you don’t at least understand that the Navier-Stokes equations are a force balance, you probably won’t develop the insight needed to develop a more easily-solvable model for a given situation.