You’re a few weeks into moving into college! Congratulations! You have heard everything a 100 times over. “Make sure you lock your dorm room!” “Make sure to eat a balanced diet!” “Make sure to get in good standing with your professors!”. Those pieces of advice are all good and well, but have you ever gotten some studying tips from your great aunt Ruth? I bet you haven’t. You haven’t really heard about the best studying methods for college. Which of course, it’s different from high school, because the teaching styles are very different. A Lot of people make the crucial mistake of just using their old high school studying methods in college. Which if it works for you, congrats, but a lot of people are going to realize that it isn’t working for them anymore. Here are some tips and tricks to help with the study load!
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Get a planner!: A planner or an agenda book really helps with the workload. Writing down what you need to remember and which days you have specific classes really help you pin down which days you should do which classes will keep you really organized.
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Color code your classes: Even though it may seem elementary, it genuinely really helps you keep track of what classes you need to do. Such as science is green, math is blue, etc. Having a color-coded system not just for your classes, but also for your notes. Such as yellow highlighter means you need to review that topic more, blue highlighter means you have questions about it, etc. This last one may be a stretch, but even color-coding your sticky notes can help as well!
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Keep numbered notes: While you are reading your textbook on a topic, keep your notebook or binder with loose-leaf paper, and write down important topics. Keep these notes separate from your class notes. Your class notes will be more generalized, while your notes, you can make as specific or as grand as you would like.
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Put your phone AWAY: There is no work that is going to get done if your phone is near you. You will want to check Twitter, snapback your friend, or endlessly scroll through your For You page on TikTok. If you need anything that is on your phone to study from, upload it to your computer!
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Your notes don’t need to be gorgeous: You have seen people make their notes really pretty and colorful, which is nice but can also be distracting. There is nothing with color-coding, but spending 15 minutes on just the title of the notes is a bit much. Make your notes clear and neat. As long as you can read them it’s great!
Everyone studies and writes notes in different ways, but hopefully by using these tips and tricks your notetaking will be a breeze!