Studying habits/skills 4m college people...

[AAA240SX]

Semester is starting. Last sem I did well but am looking to improve my own study skills/habits.

I was hoping you guys could just include some tips on studying that help/helped you do well in college level courses.

Looking forward to your guys' posts...thanks!

[HyperTek]

i suck.. i also need advice... from what i used to do.. late night laying on the floor with an ipod used to get me by, since either i would go out or have nothing to do. .unfortinutly i cant get my ipod working.. its messed up (wont boot and pc wont recognize it).

My problem is my mind starts wandering to other things and i end up messing around. Another relaxful place to study is a school libary.

all my friends went out tonight except me (car running on 3 cylinders so i dont really wanna drive)... i guess i should start hitting the books too..

[SilviaDriver]

go study with a group that is WILLING to study. you will study when you are around people whom are serious about studying. study with them even if they arent taking the same subject as you. knowing you are around them and the environment will make u crack your books

[HyperTek]

oh yah, eating a good breakfest in the morning, and plenty of sleep also helps alot.. unfortinutly i haven done either in a while... sucks when your like the only one of your friends in school and everyone is partyin.

[Tenchuu]

I can help you with things to avoid:

studying with a chick you are banging : trust me you will NOT get any studying done.

lots of beer/hard liquor around: once again the temptation is too great.

haveing a computer with internet access or knowing the wesite www.zilvia.net : these also cause alot or "non studyinng time".

generally letting yourself have anyhting around to distract you : at least for me i will make any excuse not to study, so go to a library or someplace equaly as boreing and force yourself, or in a group of auctual studiers like suggusted earlier

[theicecreamdan]

just say no to studying.

[TheSnail]

I get an average of 3hrs of sleep. I go to class feeling like crap. I study an ass load, and finish off by drinking an ass load, and forgetting everything by morning. My studying habit has not worked for me yet, but I will continue trying until it does. You just have to get adapted to collage life, and work out your studying schedule. It takes time. Im on my 3rd year and I have not found it yet.

[420sx]

lets see, never study late at night when u are tired. NEVER. go to bed, wake up make breakfast asap, eat, drink coffee and start studing before class/ test whatever. thats the best study time. i like to study with music in background so i'll crank up soilwork or killswitch or something relaxing.

[rokmplutonium]

Get an apple ipod (4th gen.). If you already have one, you're half way there.
Store notes on the ipod. Now you can listen to your favorite songs while reviewing your notes.

If you're in a big class. Like a class with 300+, you can probably "review" the notes stored in the ipod during the exam. (Of course i'm not suggesting that you be dishonest. But thats up to you.)

[TheSnail]

My calc ll teacher has hearing aids, and when someone sends a text message, his hearing aids start to scream, as he jumps around reaching for his ears to remove them. It's great. Whenever he gives me a bad grade, I send a text message.

[trsilvias13]

go to the library and do not bring a laptop. only bring your books and find a corner desk with no window. so all u have is a table and books and a quiet enviroment. some people cant deal with it though. but it works for me

[TurDz]

Remind yourself why you're really studying. You don't want to do it "just because." Doing this helps you absorb things better (the concept that liking something helps your learn) and keeps you motivated.

Sucks though...the real useful academic material only started happening mid-junior year.

[AAA240SX]

I heard all dat, thnx guys. I'm a Neuroscience major over at UIC. The curriculum is long as fawk for this degree. 75% of which has nothing to do with the mind. This semester I'm in 300 level Psych and its the only class thats motivating me to do well.

If any1 has more tips drop a line! Thanks again...

[Silverbullet]

if ur really desparate, find adderall.

[chlatboy]

You can always just pay attention in class and learn it there. That way, you dont need to study as much. Write whatever the teacher writes down and actually try to learn it. I mean you are there either way.

[sdtouge]

if your teacher has trhe notes online, print them out before class, and instead of just focuing on writing, do nothing but lsten and check your notes to what hes saying. just listen to him/her. then you have the notes to refer to during class and to make notes on beucase they will be adding shit or making graphs on it etc

i need to disable my internet. i cant get any studying done lol, but when i went to the library, btw which is a huge super nice at sdsu, i was ale to focus and read some of a physical chemistry journal, so the library works,

[SochBAT]

When i was in school, i just cheated on all my tests. I was a Chem TA, and a student. So i stole answers to quizes and sold em for hard cash. I also charged people for higher points on exams, reports and all that goodness. I also did other people's homework for greater amounts of cash. You learn, and make $ at the same time. Im a jack of all trades, master to none.

[aznpoopy]

wake up at 7am or so, eat a quick breakfast and get studying. early morning is the best time to study. you can quit around 1pm, having put in 4 or 5 hours, and still spend the rest of the day doing whatever the fuck you want.

[420sx]

^ yea, like i was sayin. dont forget a pot of coffee tho

[ranisron]

don't be like me - looking at stuffs on zilvia.net while in a MBA finance course...

seriously though, you want to attend lectures and pay attention, do some recommended problems and go to prof's office hours to suck up (it would help if you were on the edge of a B+/A-)

[SochBAT]

Oh, contrary to popular belief, smoking weeed doesn't help either. You'll just end up giggling at words like exacerbate and masticate. Worst study session EVER!

[$D$]

cheat. lol

[RiversideS13]

I think taking notes is the key. you should read the class lecture note and text book and write them in a note book in your own words or system. by doing this way, this force you to think and concentrate on the reading. Also, over time it will improve your reading skill.

think actively.

good luck


btw, it is very important to pay attention to lectures too. it will help you save lots of time in studying because you can learn what is the most important topics that the instructors are interested in (unless the test is written by TA). Also try to attend most of review section, in most of time, teachers or TA would leak out some test questions or very important information in the review as rewarding for showing up/work hard.

also try to know more cool people in the class in order to get old exams. sometimes you would get a identical test but sometimes old exams fuck you over....

[warpig2003]

Just make sure you make all your classes and actually listen. Then when you study you can actually just refine what you know instead of having to teach yourself everything.

Study in the library, no distractions. Put on some nice calm music on the head phones that works good as background noise to block out others voices and noises.

Do your readings, and do them the day you learn the lesson so its fresh.

No drinking Sunday through Wednesday. No reason too.

Don't study with girls your dating/fucking/whatevering.

Don't put off doing homework. Do it early so you can hang out at night, and do it well before its due incase problems arise.

Go through the books at the bookstore and find the used one with the best highlites/notes written in it.

Don't get stressed about shit, just relax. Contrary to popular belief, I find that marijuana actually does help me. Calms me down so I don't get all flipped out over tests. You just have to learn how to handle and use it. Maybe thats just me though.

Good luck.

[TheSnail]

I got two tests back this week. 60 for calc2 and 47(with a 7pt curve) in chem. So I dont recomend the studing habits that I talked about last week.

[theicecreamdan]

when teachers have a class dedicated to reviewing for a test... GO, every teacher I've ever had that did those seriously COVERED the ENTIRE test while I went to those, and if its a late class the best thing I could do was go to sleep as soon as I got home from that class, sleeping is the time when you convert short term memory into long term. yayy

[Andrew Bohan]

if ur really desparate, find adderall.

my grades went waaaay up when i found adderall.

then they got suck again when i couldn't afford it :(
but i graduated anyway, so who cares

[Brian]

I'm terrible at school.
I have a pretty big paper due soon, but I'm going drifting all this weekend.
Basicly, school and I have a huge rivalry because my valuable time goes to books and studying instead of going to something important, like making money.
I am becoming very broke, very quick now.
Anyways, I have no idea how to study. I have never studied well during any school.
I don't recall doing any actual studying for anything in high school and college hasn't been much different. Last semester i actually did study because a newly acquired girlfriend pushed me to do it... suprisingly, I ended up getting an A on each final. I guess it does pay off to study.. but DAMn it is such a BITCH!

[sideview_180sx]

music while studying, if you can luck out and have a job that allows you to have your school stuff (papers/books) being completed while at work is cool. Having #'s of people in classes to help you out works wonders, even land you a date or two later on. I have a similar thing like BH with school and money. If all else fails, go online classes!!!