5 Study Tips for College

ahhhh....I just survived my very first semester of college.  It was quite a bit of stress,  but I made it through-- and quite successfully.  I'm not going to lie, I didn't achieve a perfect 4.0 GPA (which is depressing quite, I got one A-).  However, I did get very close.  A 3.92...and that's fine enough by me.  For those struggling to get good grades in college or at least to a 3.9 standard, I think I can help you out.  Hopefully I'm offering some refreshing tips.  Of course, stick with the parrot sayings but also keep these few short tips in mind.

1.  Set a date with the Library

Not the librarian, the library.  Set a date and time and stick with it.  Treat it like it's a date with your significant other, and never miss it.  This will be your study time and help us fight procrastinating once and for all.  For me, everyday after school I would spend at least an hour to an hour an a half at the library.  Force yourself to go to a silent area and force yourself to gloss over the textbook.  It's as simple as that.

 

2. Read the textbook upside down

Yes.  Flip the book over and read.  Sometimes when we're reading a boring textbook, it's easy to gloss over the words while daydreaming about god knows what.  But if you read it upside down, it makes forces you to slow down and attempt to understand each word and phrase.  So if you catch yourself glossing over, try this method.

3.  Reward yourself

Make most of your rewards beneficial for yourself.  A Youtube video and social media scrolling is acceptable if your brain is about to blast and melt.  But to reward yourself after an hour of studying, it's best to reward yourself towards an easier task.  There's not much time to waste in college.   And this sounds like a horrible thing to do to yourself, but it's well worth it.  When you finish a study session, reward yourself with a group study sessions (which is beneficial for some, but lbh usually nothing gets done).  Just for some rewarding ideas:

A snack break

An easier homework assignment

A group study session with your friends

Making flashcards (I recommend studyblue.com)

In other words, jump to the no brainer tasks until your brain is healed from it's hard work.

4.  Familiarize yourself

Now that you're at the library and glossing over your textbook, it actually doesn't matter whether or not you actually retain the material or the letters start to look like hieroglyphics (as long as this is occurring when you first get your reading assignment).  Just force yourself to read it.  The point of this exercise is to get a gist of the textbook or what the subject is talking about.  That way when you re-read the chapter, things will make a lot more sense.  Trust me it works like a charm.  What I have found to work countless times on my midterms and final was to "study" everyday and then have a mini cram session starting a week before the test.

5.  Plan one week ahead

Make a study plan before a midterm approaches a week in advanced.  This will give you plenty of time to study and make sure to make it as realistic as possible.  Try to spread it out the material as thin as possible and leave the last day before the test for a mini cram session.  If that's a little confusing, let me give you and example.

"Midterm is on Monday and it will cover chapters 1-10.  You have six days to restudy this material.  Day one will be dedicated for chapters 1-2.  Day two will be dedicated for chapters 3-4.  And so on so forth.  Day seven will consist of a mini cram session of all 10 chapters."

good luck

xx

S