I’m sure you were all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at the start of term, full of happy notions of how you’d enjoy your classes, stay organized and generally masterfully succeed at life. Well, no offense, but I highly doubt that’s actually all gone according to plan. It’s the quarter system, so it all comes too quickly and is over to fast, and hopefully you’ve absorbed some of the information. Well, here are some of my tips and tricks. As a senior, having survived a fair few quarters now, I can safely say these things work for me.
1. Flashcards are handy for anything you need to remember, and you can honestly use them for any subject.
Put a signifier or main term on the front and then load the back with information. If you have to know a list of things about a term, person, place, thing or concept, put those on the back.
2. Use outlines.
You can outline the plot of a book, a sequence of historical events, a group of people and their connections, the possibilities are endless. This can be the more enjoyable part of studying because you can use fun pens and it feels almost like procrastinating, but you’re actually getting work done.
3. Get to know your professors (go to office hours!!).
Many, many people will probably tell you this, even your professors will try to get you to go into office hours, and they’re not kidding: it really helps. Different departments have different policies, but sometimes it does have a direct (positive) effect on your grade. For other departments it definitely never hurts to know your professors, and then if you’re very strongly motivated by personal connections like I am, it helps tremendously in choosing classes and working hard for those teachers.
4. Find a place you like to study where you can be productive.
Maybe it’s a coffee shop downtown, maybe it’s a corner of the library, maybe it’s the dining table in your apartment or the common area in your dorm. No matter where it is, finding that one place will help set up a routine and make studying just that much easier. Part of that for me was figuring out the environment I needed: did I want music, and if so what music, did I want snacks or coffee? I feel like it’s worth it to pay a few dollars a few evenings a week (read: a lot of evenings a week) for a few good hours of productive schoolwork.
5. Figure out if you study better with silence or some ambient noise.
There are loads of playlists online—8tracks.com is a prime place to listen to mostly ad-free playlists—and they include different moods such as ‘study’ or ‘chill’ which can be utilized to their best advantage for a nice quiet afternoon study session. Listening to the same type of music can also help set the routine of studying.
6. Set realistic goals, use a planner and embrace to-do lists.
If you have a paper coming up or a test, think about when you can study and plan to get certain things done by certain times. I was never someone who could plan out the hours of my days exactly and get things done according to a blocked-out schedule, but it definitely helps to plan to have an outline or beginning of a paper by a certain day and a draft a few days later, etc. The same goes for studying for tests with lots of memorization: start early—perhaps with your handy flashcards—and give yourself time to fully absorb information so that you don’t end up in a last-minute panic. For finals I usually try to start making flashcards or organizing my materials by week seven, because that way at least I’ve looked at the stuff I’m supposed to know a few weeks before the test.
7. Figure out what type of test you’ll have to take and what material will be on it—this will allow you to optimize your studying.
Study smarter, not harder. Here is where getting to know your profs will have definite benefits: you can ask them how they’ll be organizing their tests. I’m not kidding, I’ve done this as early as week two or three and gotten legit answers about it. It’s not a mystery, they don’t want us to fail (at least the English professors don’t), and it helps me study as the term goes on. For example: one professor does tests as text identifications using a quote and then having the student provide the information about it; this sounds daunting but when asked, he told me it would be passages he had covered in class, and that told me that I should keep careful track of the quotes he mentions during lecture. Not rocket science, but it’s good to stay on top of it. For anyone actually studying rocket science, I have far fewer tips for you; that’s far beyond my studying habits.
8. Finally, make time for down-time.
The quarter can get a bit out of hand, but that doesn’t mean you’re failing at life. One bad grade—or a grade less amazing than you’d like—will not ruin your life. It’s normal to be overwhelmed, so taking time out for yourself and figuring out good ways to de-stress are vital. This year I told myself I would go to the Farmer’s Market as many Saturdays as possible, for as much time as possible before nine am, and just sit quietly and read. Whether you decide to find a candle you love and light it while you study, or you get a coloring book—it’s really a good way to de-stress—or you pick up some paints or start a new hobby, finding something productive other than schoolwork can be a great way to take a break.
As we come up to the middle of term, remember you can do it. Registration for winter quarter will soon be upon us, but time will keep going, you will figure it out, and it will all work out in the end.
