Homework alone often cannot prepare students for exams. Hours and hours of additional preparation are needed in order to be completely ready for some assessments. Many people have different studying styles, but here are some tips that all college students can take advantage of.

1. Find your motivation

At times it can be easy to lose sight of the purpose of all your schoolwork. Many college students feel like giving up when the school year becomes too overwhelming. At times when laziness and defeat set in, remind yourself of the reason why you are in college, and the reason why you are pursuing this plan of study.

For some people, their motivation lies in making their parents proud. Others find motivation in a goal for the future that requires hard work in order to achieve it. If you are unsatisfied with your major, then change it to a course of study that makes you excited about learning.

2. Work with others

When you feel that your current style of studying is unsatisfactory, take a lesson from your peers or from a tutor. Ask to form a study group with other students in your class, and work together to tackle challenging assignments.

If working with other students is not an ideal option for you, look into what resources your university provides for academic assistance. Many professors and teaching assistants offer office hours, which can be extremely helpful for learning the material. In addition, many universities offer free tutoring and review sessions for certain subjects.

3. Get organized

It is difficult to be efficient and productive in your studying if your assignments are all mixed together and you are unsure of deadlines and due dates. The first step to getting organized is to utilize some kind of planner, which can either be in the form of a paper notebook or could be digital.

The Apple App Store offers a variety of apps, some free and some paid, that help students organize their assignments. IStudiezPro is one example of a study app with a 4.5 star rating in the apple store.

4. Take care of your health

Healthy habits actually improve studying ability. Research has found that just half an hour of aerobic exercise can improve brain processing speed and overall cognitive ability. Aside from exercise, healthy eating can improve studying as well. One study found that eating omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids before an exam can reduce test anxiety, leading to opportunity for higher grades.

5. Utilize memorization strategies

Make use of methods to increase information retention. One useful technique is called “spaced retention,” in which students study by breaking up coursework into smaller units and studying them repeatedly over time, as opposed to studying all at once for an exam the next day. Another technique is writing by hand instead of typing, which helps to improve memorization.

In addition, reading notes out loud can help the brain to retain content. Moreover, creating name mnemonic devices, such as PEMDAS, helps to reinforce and memorize concepts.