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young person sad sitting alone in library
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TCNJ | Life > Academics

Spring Semester Slump: How I Combat it.

Samantha Libby Student Contributor, The College of New Jersey
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TCNJ chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Spring Semester Slump is where a college student is academically “burnt out,” they don’t do as well in their spring semester courses compared to their fall semester courses. In a way it follows the same idea of Senioritis, where high school and college seniors already have jobs, or after graduation plans set which fuels low motivation for classwork and high excitement for the end of school!

I know I am not the only college student to fall victim to the spring semester slump. Spring 2025, I fell into such a bad academic and writing slump I thought that my GPA was a goner (I locked in after mid-terms and was not at the mercy of a bad GPA). 

This spring, I am taking all the steps I can to avoid the slump and re-step back into the academic weapon I was this past fall semester. 

  1. Using my planner more consistently- I did not do that my freshmen year and this past fall I noticed just how helpful it is to me. I put everything in it and constantly cross-check it with my Google Calendar. 
  1. Assignment tracker- When I first figured out how to do this and input all of my assignments and readings that I needed to do into the sheet, it really made everything more digestible for my classes.
  1. Planning studying/reading time into my week- Especially when I have back to back classes, it is important for me to assign study times the day before those classes so that I can get those assignments and readings done.
  1. Giving a friend access to my documents- My friends and I share our documents to each other to help keep each other accountable for our work. For example, when I have a paper, my friends will go in and check my progress as I get closer and closer to the deadline of that paper (just remember to only give them viewing/commenting access).
  1. Learning it is okay to study or work by yourself- Freshman spring I never studied by myself, meaning I would get distracted so easily by my friends, especially if they didn’t have any work to do for their own classes. This fall, I learned where I work best on campus by myself and where I don’t get distracted by my friends and it really has helped me hold myself accountable.
  1. Study-crawl method- On the weekends closer to midterms and finals, when you find yourself needing to study for hours on end, I recommend doing the study crawl method. This was inspired by the idea of the bar crawl where instead of drinking at different bars after so long, you go and study in various spots around campus. I usually start in one of the various cafes like the Library or even the Education building cafes and make my way around. Some of the areas I have liked the past few times have been: the first and second floor of the library, the library cafe of course, upper level of the student center, random classrooms in the social sciences building, the atrium of the social sciences building, the basement of ROSCOE West, and the Education lounge in the Education Building. 
  1. Figure if dorm lounges work for you- Depending on the hall, I have found very few dorm lounges to actually work for me to study and do assignments. The few that have worked for me are: the Allen Drawing Room, Ely lounge, and the Townhouse West community lounge. 
  1. Learning effective reading strategies- Being an education and history major, I am assigned a lot of readings for my classes. While it is different for every major, learning effective reading strategies can help cut down on the time it takes you to complete class readings. With my two specialties, I have found it important to find the argument or the aim of the article and skim read every chapter to find supporting or disproving evidence for the claim/aim. 
  1. Keywords- Not every history class that I have taken does multiple choice exams. Many tests ask one to identify keywords and link them together. An effective way to study for this is to make sure you note words or even questions that your professor emphasizes during class. If the professor gives you a study guide, add these words and/or questions to it if they’re not already on it! 
  1. Don’t Cram- While it may be easy, especially in the beginning of the semester to slack off, I recommend you hit the ground running in becoming an academic weapon… that way, the knowledge is there, and you’re not trying to rush through your studying and miss read words or remember the wrong things. It may be tiring but it will genuinely pay-off in the long run.
Samantha Libby

TCNJ '28

Samantha is a Sophomore History Secondary Education Major. She loves writing, self-care, Broadway, snacking, and binging 2000s Disney and Nickelodeon TV shows and is very involved with the theatre orgs. on campus!