In a little under two weeks, I go back to academic life and start my 2nd year at USC. Being the bit of a nerd that I am, I have been getting a bit excited for this upcoming academic year, mostly with just thinking of school supplies and getting ideas for study tips. And I haven't just been watching constant Youtube videos, I've actually been using these techniques, for the class I was taking this summer. So below are my top 7 study tips for a productive school year.

2. Create a google calendar with all your classes, extracurriculars, internships, etc.

This especially helps for the beginning of the semester. Creating a calendar helps you plan out your days and see which days you are most available.

3. Don’t overdo it with the highlighters

Honestly, please don't go highlighting all the words in the readings. Literally only highlight key words. When highlighting, from a book especially, I find that it helps to also use page flags and have a method (like color-coding, index, etc) that categorizes these page flags.

4. And also don’t overdo it with the school supplies

The things you really only need is a writing utensil, paper, laptop and maybe one or two highlighters. Not only are you saving money, but all those extra colored pens won't be sitting in your drawer all year long.

5. For lectures: it actually does help looking over the Powerpoints and readings

I'm major in STEM and Fine Arts and let me just say, reading the lecture notes/readings before class helps in both instances. Not only have you gone over the material before class, but you're able to understand what the lecture is going to be about and participate.

6. Don’t start studying for exams a week before, start as soon as you get the work and create an efficient revision schedule

The number one thing I learned my freshman year (the hard way, might I add): Do not pull an all nighter. I cannot even count how many allnighters I've pulled and each study session/last minute lab report resulting in how I wanted. There's really no pro to pulling an all nighter-- you're tired, probably doing a lackluster job and then face the consequences of coming back home and sleeping for over 12 hours. If there's one tip you should take from this list-- don't pull an all nighter!

If I knew all of these facts during my freshman year, I guarantee that I would have done so much better in my classes! These tips aren't meant to change your whole lifestyle (like some suggestions of waking up at 5 am or studying for the class during the summer), they're meant to be easily incorporated and truly will help with academic life.