Welcome to our newest segment, “Ask a Senior,” where Sara addresses your questions, concerns, and doubts about life at Notre Dame!
What is the best study spot on campus?
Choosing a study space that works for you depends on a lot of factors – what are you planning to study? Do you need a computer or outlet? How much studying do you actually intend to get done? When is the assignment due? The list goes on and on. Some people can sit in their dorm room and study for hours. In my case, I can’t be in my room to do any work or to study – I get distracted by everything else going on (and my roommate and I were pretty close so if we were both in the room, there was no chance for me to get work done).
The main study spots on campus are the Hesburgh Library (affectionately referred to as the library or Club Hes, especially after midnight), LaFortune Student Center (you will hear this called LaFun), DeBartolo Hall lounge (DeBart, not to be confused with DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, DPAC), and the Coleman Morse Center (or CoMo). The library and LaFun tend to get quieter the higher up you go, floor-wise, so if you are looking for silence, the top floors of the library are the best bet. For group projects, people usually choose the first floor of LaFun or the part of the first floor of the library surrounded by windows (usually called the Fish Bowl). Also, there is food in both LaFun and the library so they are very convenient for marathon study sesions.
For those cold winter nights when you don’t want to venture across campus, every dorm has study space! In PW, my ND campus home, we have a large study room and study cubicles on the first floor, as well as an elevator lounge and study room on each of the higher floors. (Side note: when PW is overpopulated, aka every year since I was a sophomore, the study rooms on the residential floors become triples. This happens in a lot of dorms. Boo.)
Personally, I have different study spots for different levels of studying and I am a person who has to constantly move from spot to spot while I study. If I have a big paper to write and I really want to get it done, I go to the library. If I’m just trying to get some reading and reflection writing out of the way, I’m normally on the first floor of LaFun. I would share my favorite study spots, but I am very protective of them. There is always the chance you see me in the Theology section of the library or outside the Glee Club office…
An average day in Club Hes
What are your study tips for freshman? How many hours outside of class should we devote to school work?
I’m going to use every cliché in the book on this one – beginning with studying is a personal activity. My study style is taking a lot of breaks and moving locations frequently. I blame this need for new scenery on being a millennial. In regards to actually reviewing material, I normally write my notes out by hand; when it comes time to begin study for an exam, I type out my handwritten notes which allows me to review them as I go and have an electronic copy I can turn into an outline or other study material easily. Additionally, I am a “To Do” list fanatic, queen of sticky notes, and obsessed with highlighting, all of which factor into my study style.
However, these methods don’t work for everyone and how you study also depends on what you study. The advice I was given my freshman year was for every one hour of class you have per week, put in two to three hours for that material outside of the classroom. This advice still rings true for the most part, but you also need to account for how well you understand the material already, when the assignment is due, and how much of your grade the assignment is worth.
Overall, you get out what you put in – I’m sure you’ve had a teacher by now who explained their grading process by saying they aren’t the one giving you the grade, it’s the grade you earned and they can’t do anything about it. To some extent, that is true. Of course, there are things you can do about it to make sure you don’t have to drop a class, like Biology. (Not that that’s happened to anyone writing this article who used to be a Bio major…) Generally speaking, there are five classic tips for effective studying.
1. Time management. It is imperative that you start the study process early (not the day before your exam, please, I beg you) and prioritize the importance and urgency of everything you work on. It helps to make study schedules and agendas with set time limits for each assignment or test. Also, don’t be afraid to take modest breaks. Sometimes your brain needs a rest.
2. Focus and motivation. I find it hard to stay focused if I spend too long on one thing or in one location. For me, switching up my study spots helps me stay motivated because I set smaller deadlines in my mind. For others, listening to a certain playlist, rewarding studying with a trip to the Huddle’s candy wall, or taking a break every hour might be the best method.
3. Summarize and quiz. Summarizing lectures in your own words, making your own flashcards, outlining important concepts, and taking practice quizzes are all proven methods of effective studying. Of course, in order to ensure you have enough material to study from, you should take good notes in class (it seems obvious, but there have been times when I’ve gone to study for exams and realized my notes are really spotty and cryptic. Think and pay attention, kids.).
4. Review. It definitely helps to review your notes every day – or at least before the next time you will meet for that class. This also negates the need to cram right before the midterm. It’s better to overlearn the material than to get a question you don’t even recognize on an exam. Related note: Scientifically speaking, pulling an all-nighter should never be the answer to getting everything done. (Coming in on my senior year having never stayed up all night to study, I am living proof they are not necessary.)
5. Don’t be shy. One thing graduating seniors say over and over again is that they wish they had gone to their professors’ office hours more often. Your professors are experts in what they’re teaching you – ask if you don’t understand a concept or have a question about the material. Similarly, if TAs offer review sessions, go! I recommend beginning to study before you go to office hours or a study session so you actually have questions ready. Finally, have friend proofread your papers – it’s easy to miss simple errors when you’ve been staring at the screen for five hours.
Other notes: Go to class. Save everything in more than one place and back up your files (you never know what could happen). Studying is important, as are getting good grades and graduating but they should not take priority over your mental and physical wellbeing. Sleep is key to memory retention and your health. Never sacrifice your sleep – it might be the only down time you get in a day.
Go Irish! HCNDXO
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