<p>I'm going in to college in a few weeks and I'm terrified. I've heard some pretty scary things about how hard college is and how much studying needs to be done. I did almost no studying in high school but I got still managed to get good grades. Thing is I'm pretty sure this isn't gonna work in college. Am I supposed to dedicate 3 hours every day to just rereading my notes over and over or is there something I'm supposed to do to actually study?</p>
<p>Do what works for you. If you find that you don’t need to study much in college to get the grades you want, then you don’t need to study that much. If you find you need to study more, then you need to study more.</p>
<p>This question is too subjective for anyone but you to answer properly.</p>
<p>“Am I supposed to dedicate 3 hours every day to just rereading my notes over and over or is there something I’m supposed to do to actually study?”</p>
<p>haha, nah.</p>
<p>A lot of my classes have had assignments. Homework. Those are helpful for retaining the lessons and whatnot. Some have also had review questions (usually done by the textbook company) to help prepare for the exams. I usually review notes, homework, and questions a couple days before an exam and I usually do fine.</p>
<p>There’s no set time amount you have to study, study until you know the material! Know everything you were taught and how to write about it in an essay. Sometimes I wouldn’t study at all for classes because the homework was review enough and sometimes all I did for classes was study such as reading material, taking notes on it, making flashcards, etc.</p>
<p>Study? Ummm… Maybe I should have tried that.</p>
<p>But seriously, just like high school it really depends on the student and the class. In college you go to school less than high school but you are expected to compensate for that by spending much more time outside of the classroom learning the material. Like you I rarely had to study in high school to do well, and here in College it still isn’t that bad for me. On average I study like ten hours a week, which is pretty low compared to a lot of the other students that were in my dorm. </p>
<p>As long as you learn the material than you will be fine. For me that meant just sitting down and doing homework or reading the book. I actually taught myself the entire Calc 2 class (got a B somehow) because the teacher wasn’t interested in actually teaching the class.</p>
<p>I mean, it depends on what it’s for. Sometimes I just read over my notes, sometimes I make flashcards, sometimes I rewrite my notes, or make study guides, or highlight key terms, write out sample essay questions etc. Honestly, every class and every teacher is different so there’s no magic, universal way to study. You just have to learn to adapt, and through trial and error figure out what works for you.</p>
<p>That’s probably not what you want to hear, but it’s true. You should be fine though. I didn’t ever study until I got to college and you just learn pretty quickly what works for you and what you need to do to get the grades you want.</p>
<p>Study in a way that you won’t get distracted. I usually turn off the computer and go somewhere where there isn’t any technology that can distract me. You may not be like this but it becomes very easy to procrastinate.</p>
<p>I could count the number of times I studied in high school on one hand. Not having study experience doesn’t hurt you too much in college so long as you know that not studying probably won’t fly much longer.</p>
<p>Most of my studying consists of reading which I do every night for anywhere between one to three hours. When I read I outline the chapters as I go so I can study off my outline rather than the book.</p>
<p>I’ll study study the week leading up to the test (normally, sometimes I start earlier) and I’ll normally read over my notes, do flash cards, do practice problems, and try to explain everything to anyone (including my couch if need be).</p>
<p>In my experience, if you do ~70% of the assigned readings for any given class, diligently complete every assignment, and pay attention in class, you shuold be fine as long as you don’t fall behind. I never quite understood the concept of re-writing all your notes and stuff like that. But I guess it works for some people.</p>
<p>Do keep in mind that some classes ** are ** a lot harder than others, and sometimes you’ll have to teach yourself difficult material. In that case you’ll need to do a lot more than going to class and doing all the required work. </p>
<p>I like flash-cards. I realize it looks kind of dorky, but they’re portable and are a good way to test your recall, which is proven to be a better study technique than testing recognition (practice multiple choice questions, etc.) as it forces you to venture into your subconscious knowledge.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about college studying specifically because I’m heading off to college for the first time too, but I did have to study in high school for a few of my AP classes, and that doesn’t have to be just staring at your notes. The main things I did were reading the textbooks multiple times (I would read it once and underline important parts, then read the underlined parts and highlight the most important parts of that. This allowed me to go through everything while focusing on what would most likely be on the test, and thinking it through like that helped me understand the material) and typing up my notes (I’ve found it really makes the lectures stick, plus it makes them much easier to read if I want to look up some detail from a lecture). Another good tool is quizlet.com - it’s basically flashcards but online, and it’ll quiz you and then make a new set of cards with just what you missed the first time around. Just making a set usually helps information sink in, and it’s great for things like vocabulary or dates when you just need rote memorization (you can also join a network with your classmates and people can all pitch in for one set or share their sets with everyone in the network or anything like that - I was in a network with my hs class and I would make the history sets but rely on other people to make the french sets for example). You just need to try out different methods to see what works best for you. Good luck! :)</p>
<p>I find it difficult to give advice on how to study because it’s just different for everyone. For me, working in a quiet environment works best. I can study with some music; however, I prefer a totally quiet environment like the library. All I do is review the materials and do the readings. After reading/reviewing each section, I go back and summarize them to get a full grasp of section. If I make a mistake on a question, I go back and figure out WHY and HOW I got it wrong. Go to the professor’s office if you have to. Going to your professor’s office during the posted hours will help you immensely.</p>
<p>Edit: I also love to study in coffee shops. If it gets noisy, I put in my headphones and get to work. Studying outside under the shade on a sunny day is really nice, too. I’ve tried group studies but I find it way more distracting than anything else.</p>
<p>I don’t really study. I’ll review my notes occasionally, and once I typed up parts of my notes for an easier read, but other than that I don’t do much. The best thing I’ve ever done for myself is become a tutor. If you can teach someone else the material, you know what you’re doing. An easy check to see if you understand a concept (I do this with my students all the time) is to see if you can explain the concept succinctly. Works every time. If you can’t, then you need to review.</p>
<p>it is different for everyone. a lot of times i go to the library. also depending on what im doing, i might try to work more towards morning and afternoon when there is less going on</p>