College courses can be difficult. Taking multiple difficult courses can be even harder. No matter who you are, sometimes you just need advice on how to manage your course load. Here are three tips to help every college student manage their course load with a difficult class or a full schedule.
1. Prepare for tests beforehand
Cramming for tests, while sometimes necessary, is often a difficult endeavor. An easy way to avoid the unpleasantness of cramming for a test is to prepare for it in advance. This is a beneficial way to go about test-taking; you face less time constraints, and ideas and concepts are easier to remember if they are in your long-term memory. One way to prepare in advance is to make note cards of the concepts that you have learned about after each and every lecture. Doing this saves you time that would have been spent searching through your notes or textbook. Doing this also means that you do not have to prepare any studying materials right before the exam. In addition to preparing for tests along the way, start studying at least three days in advance of any test. This is a good way to make sure information has crossed into long-term memory.
2. Get clarification
Sometimes a concept will be introduced that you do not fully understand. This is a perfectly normal occurrence and should be taken care of. The first step in addressing the problem is to thoroughly read the entry in your textbook regarding the concept you are struggling with. However, sometimes reading the summary of the concept in a textbook is still not sufficient. The best way to understand information is to ask for clarification from someone who knows the material and can explain it in person--your professor! Getting help from a professor is the preferred course of action because they know exactly what they are doing. Sometimes, however, professors are busy or otherwise unavailable. In these cases seeking help from a school tutor, student adviser, or a friend who understands the material can be just as helpful. Seeking guidance from the internet should be avoided since this can sometimes provide false or misleading information which can negatively impact your studying.
3. Prioritize work according to importance
On top of the tests and quizzes that usually accompany difficult courses, there is also the reading and other coursework that comes along with college courses. The first step in navigating these difficulties is to budget out your time. When budgeting your time, prioritize things that you must do. Relevant items include eating, and attending meetings or classes that are mandatory. The next step in budgeting your time is knowing what work is the most important. Whether that importance is measured by time constraints, course difficulty, or the percentage of your grade that an assignment is worth is entirely up to you. The important thing is to always prioritize doing your most important course work first. Doing this will ensure that you have set aside enough time to get everything done, this will also ensure that you have completed the things that are absolutely essential for you to do.
