STUDY HABITS .. please respond :)

texas*princess · #1 01-27-2003, 06:58 PM

Ok, this should probably be in the Academic forum, but I thought I might get more responses here.

I am in major need of some study habit tips. In high school I didn't need to study for good grades, and somehow I cruised through my first two years in college.

Who would have thought college gets harder as you go?

I (desparetly

) need some good study tips for this semester, because taking a look at my first two weeks of class, this isn't going to be pretty.

Tips or tricks for studying or helping you learn (or remember

) things would greatly be appreciated!!

Dionysus · #2 01-27-2003, 07:23 PM

*Highlighters, highlighters, highlighters! If you're being tested from reading highlight the key words and main ideas and memorize them.

*Study a few nights before, but do a big review...a hour or so right before the test.

*If you are more of a auditory learner, record your lectures and pop it in your car's cassete player when you drive or pop it in your walkman before you go to sleep.

*Speaking of sleep, get enough of it!!! No all nighters.

*Eat right and keep food on your stomach. A balance of carbs and protein will do the trick. Don't skip meals.

*Drink Hansen's Energy citrus soda, it has all the good stuff to "hype" you up,
such as, 80 mg. of caffiene, b-vitamins, ginseng, taurine, etc. If you don't know
what I am talking about, it's in a tall green soda can,
by the health food section, it's a little expensive ($1.99), but it's worth it.

*Run bitch run!

When you exercise, your body releases chemicals like
dopamine, adrenaline, endorphins, seratonin, etc. That can help concentration,
but don't over do it or it will get worse!

*Sit behind a scrawny geeky kid with glasses, and look over his test. J/K J/K J/K

sweetie adpi · #3 01-27-2003, 09:20 PM

review your notes as close to after class as you can! you will retain so much more from the lecture!!!! (and take good notes -- if you don't think you are taking good notes, and that is a problem, go to the counseling center, or contact the dean of students office and they should be able to put you in touch with people that can teach you ways to get the most out of lectures, etc) don't procrastinate, stick to your schedule... prioritize.... find someone you know in the class or make an aquaintance with someone in your class in case you have to miss you have a contact... see if you can find someone that took the class to get copies of past exams, or ask the prof if they have old exams, etc, to study from... find a good study buddy, they can really make a difference when you study for exams.... don't waste your time with people that are slackers and if you are a slacker (i am) don't forget how much you owe the awesome people that are on top of stuff by letting you study with them and shower them with gifts

so they let you continue to get help from them... outline chapters, and lectures, go to your prof's office hours!!! if they know you're trying, and know who you are, you have a better chance in the class. good luck!

Coramoor · #4 01-27-2003, 09:48 PM

1.Go someplace where the atmosphere is 'academic'. I can't study in my fraternity house to save my life. I have to go to the library or a cafe or something that has the right atmosphere.

2.Study with friends. Even if it's not the same subject, studying with friends makes a study session more enjoyable.

3.Budget your time. My first year of college I wasted so much time going to the student union building and talking to friends, or hanging out in other people's rooms. Now whenever I have a break between classes, I go and do the homework of the class I just got out of. After dinner, I go to the library and get stuff done before going out that night.

I cruised through the first year and a half in my engineering program...but I want to go to law school so I have to bring my gpa up a bit. That's my advice.

SuperSister · #5 01-27-2003, 10:52 PM

1) Take REALLY good notes. Most stuff on a test is going to be covered in class, if you have really good notes you probably have most of the test right there.

2) Schedule well and make to-do lists. With student teaching this semester and 2 organizations (president of one and vp in the other) I still keep grades up by having a master schedule of everything including study time. Every morning I make a to-do list for that day (errands, assignments, studying) and so I know that no subject is going to be forgotten and I will get everything done. It also gives me a feeling of accomplishment to cross something off my list!

texas*princess · #6 01-27-2003, 11:07 PM

great suggestions... thank you everyone

CarolinaCutie · #7 01-27-2003, 11:18 PM

I know this seems pretty obvious, but go to class. Even classes where the professor doesn't take attendance.

Shark In Skirt · #8 01-28-2003, 01:37 AM

I'm only a freshman, but I managed to do pretty well through highschool and my first quarter here at college...

But here's a study tip that has always worked for me but obviously doesn't work with everyone. I'm sure someone will strongly disagree with this advice, but here it is...

CRAM CRAM CRAM ALL NIGHT LONG. Of course, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't study ahead of time, because you should... but you can never study too much.

I never sleep before tests. I just go through the night cramming as much as I possibly can into my little brain until I take the test the next morning. I honestly think hours spent cramming are better than those spent sleeping.

But hey, everybody is different, this may not work for you. I just know that I can't successfully take tests any other way!

XOXO,
Annie.

Munchkin03 · #9 01-28-2003, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CarolinaCutie
I know this seems pretty obvious, but go to class. Even classes where the professor doesn't take attendance.

I've never had a class where the professor took attendance. I guess my classes are so small that they can just tell who's in class. But, I've never had a college class where my name was called in the beginning.

ladybug1116 · #10 01-28-2003, 11:02 AM

Actually your brain does need sleep to process the information. I don't have the time to look it up right now but I know I've read in several places that sleep/rest helps your body move information from the short term memory bank (which is the info you are more likely to forget) to a more long term "storage area" (for lack of a better term right now)

valkyrie · #11 01-28-2003, 03:02 PM

Mnemonic devices.

The easiest way to remember things after studying is to make up little memory tricks to help you. They did this a lot when I took a bar review class, although by now I've forgotten (haha) specific examples. It's like Roy G. Biv to remember the colors of a rainbow, that kind of thing. Sorry I'm not explaining it better, but you know what I mean.

Similarly, if you can make up a song about something, you'll remember it forever. When I was in law school, I made up a song to help remember the definition of "agency" and believe it or not, I could sing it to you now, 4 years later:

Agency, is the fiduciary relation resulting from the manifestation of consent by one party to another...etc...

texas*princess · #12 01-29-2003, 12:23 AM

Today I went to the LIBRARY! hehehe. I hadn't been there since... well it's been awhile. And it really did help me get away from my television and all the other distractions here.

Does anyone find outlining the chapter helpful? I tried that today for my management class since our first exam is coming up.

texas*princess · #13 01-31-2003, 12:46 AM

One of my professors told my class to go to the following websites. I'm sooo glad she did. On the sites you can determine what your 'cognitive style' and 'learning style' is (if you are unsure or don't already know.

I'm posting them here and hope maybe other people could benefit.

The address for the Learning Style test is:

http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/u...ir/ilsweb.html

The address for the Cognitive Style test is:

http://www.advisorteam.com/user/ktsintro1.asp