A Guide to: College – Study Skills

I’m in my second semester of college, and, if you ignore that fact that I did not keep up with my blog at all, I did pretty well my first semester.

So, here are some of the things I learned, that might help you.

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1 – GO TO CLASS

Go to class. You are paying to be there, and sometimes professors say things that aren’t in your textbook. So, even if the professor doesn’t care about attendance, go to class. Also, if the professor knows you and likes you, they may be willing to give the the benefit of the doubt and be a littler nicer on partial credit or short response answers.

Also in this vein – GO TO OFFICE HOURS.

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2 – Get a Planner

You will not remember the due dates of everything. You will not remember the pages you have to read. Do not right it on scrap paper, you will lose it. And you’ll probably forget that you wrote it in your notebook if that what you do. Get a planner. Write down due dates, homework assignments, and exam dates.  Trust me.

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3 – Rewrite Your Notes

For any class you feel shaky on, or that depends on memorization of specific numbers/steps/dates/names etc. you’ll benefit from rewriting all your notes to improve retention. For me, this takes the form of rewriting my physics notes into really condensed form. I rewrote my notes about three times, until I got all of the most important information onto about ten sheets of paper to study from – much easier than an entire binder’s worth of scribbles and doodles.

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4 – Watch Videos

Crash Course

Khan Academy

Lectures that Professors Put on Youtube (Professor Leonard is a GOD for calculus)

It helps, especially for topics that the professor didn’t cover in depth, or for that class you missed, or for the topic you were zoned out/hungover for. Or anything that you learned in an 8:30 class.

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5 – Find YOUR Study Space

Lots of people like to study in the library – I don’t like sitting in the library for hours, I don’t like it. I like studying in the lounge or my room. Where I can have a blanket and take my shoes off and lay across the couch and am allowed to talk to and whine with friends about my work instead of having to sit nicely and politely in the library. People work in the student Union, or the basement of the library so it doesn’t feel like people are looking at them. People work in empty classrooms, or basement lounges, or random nooks and crannies around campus. Find what works for you. Don’t force yourself to work in the library or your room if its not working for you.