I don’t know about anyone else, but the end of the semester is hitting me like a bus. It’s that time of year where everyone has at least three projects, two exams, one presentation, and half a cold. In short: we’re all dying just a little bit. Personally, taking 18 credits this past semester has kicked my butt. However; having a heavy course load has sort of forced me to have better study habits too, and i feel like it’s my duty as a fellow collegiette to share my knowledge with you.
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Outline
At this point, I honestly think that I owe my life to outlines. Any time I have a paper, I sit and outline each paragraph, its main ideas, and my support for each section. If I can make an incredibly detailed outline, I have found that writing the actual paper is a thousand times easier. I have also found that if I can make an outline of my notes for my classes, studying for tests is much smoother and straightforward.
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Flashcards
I feel like this tip seems kind of obvious, considering flashcards are how most of us learned our basic addition and subtraction facts, but there is just something different about making them myself. I have always found that writing my flashcards forces me to organize my information, and writing it also helps me remember it just a bit easier.
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Office hours
At this point in my college career, I am officially a junior, and I can honestly say that i have never gone to as many office hours as I have this past semester. I always used to feel intimidated by the fact that it would just be me and a professor all alone in their personal office. However, I have been forced to suck up my pride and just do it. Weirdly enough, it’s been helping. I would encourage anyone who feels intimidated by the thought of going to office hours to give it a try, because more often than not, the professor if grateful that you are coming to them for help rather than suffering in silence.
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Homework
Time for another obvious tip, but turning in your homework and assignments on time makes a world of difference. In the past, i have missed an assignment here and there, but this past semester i have made sure not to miss any due dates, and my life has been so much better. Anytime that I have missed an assignment, it usually takes me weeks to catch up in the course because by that point I’m behind everyone else. Following deadlines strictly has saved me so much stress it’s not even funny.
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Have a planner
I used to think that having a calendar or a planner made someone old,but now I cannot survive without one. By filling out the calendar in my planner with all of my due dates and exam dates, I have found that it’s a lot easier to manage all of my course work. Having everything written down in one place is also a sort of fail safe to help me make sure that I’m not forgetting anything, which has been a life saver.
Overall, I know it’s the point of the semester where everyone is struggling just a little bit (or maybe a lot), but it’s never to late for some awesome study habits. By implementing even one of these study tips, who knows? Maybe the rest of your semester can be just a little bit more bearable.