You've adjusted to your new life by now (hopefully); but have you adjusted to all of the work (reading, writing, studying)? Believe it or not, it really does take some concentrated effort on your part to stay on top of things.
Are there some tricks to managing the college workload? Certainly! Consider the following tips when putting together your plan of action.
- Make certain you are studying the material/topics your professor wants you to study. How do you know what this is? Refer to your syllabus (that's the lengthy list of books, assignments, etc. you received the first week or so of class). If you still have questions, contact your professor immediately.
- Before you begin studying, make a list or outline of your material/topic. Why? This gives you a road map to work with. As you read your notes or listen to previous lectures, use your list/outline to organize yourself.
- As you read and/or listen, ask yourself questions. Engaging your mind in the study process will help the information "stick."
- Relate your notes to your text/other materials. How do you do this? As you're reading through your notes, match up the concepts and ideas you found important in class to the material that you read in your text/supplemental materials.
- If, after reading your notes and your text, you don't understand the materials; contact a classmate and/or your professor. Where does this get you? Hopefully, closer to understanding. Usually, a second set of eyes is helpful in coming to understanding of a topic.
- If you're having trouble remembering concepts, come up with a mneumonic. A mnue-what? A mneumonic is a word, phrase or series of letters that stands for something else (for instance, if you're working on a math problem, remember "My Dear Aunt Sally" - multiply, divide, add and subtract - to provide you with the process for solving the problem).
- Cramming is not a good study solution. If you haven't studied much at all during the semester, you're not going to be able to stuff all of that information into your brain overnight. Its just not going to happen. If you do remember anything at all, you'll be too tired to regurgitate the information.
- Visit the learning assistance center. The good folks in the LAC do much more than assist students with subject matter tutoring. They can also help you with your study habits and give you tips on making your studying much more productive.
- Vow to do better next year, If you haven't done well in your studying process this semester, vow to do better next year. Think of this as a sort of New Year's resolution. When August comes around, you're going to make it work!
.Until next time!
Lynn Byrne
Preparing for college admissions? Trying to find direction? Need a little help with the planning? Check out my college planning series:
- College Planning Made Easy--the planning and preparation workbook for the take charge, college-bound student,
- Paying for College Made Easy--a college financing guide designed to assist students and families in preparing and planning for higher education expenses; and
- The Great Scholarship Search--my guide for students and parents researching and applying for scholarship funding.
