As a last semester student, I can assure you that the studying methods you had in high school will change in some way. This is not to alarm you, but everything in college is different than high school. In college, the class sizes are bigger, exams are now a huge part of your grade, and the professors will not keep you in check if you miss a deadline. All of these factors come into play in college, and I learned that it’s easier and more efficient for yourself to find the studying method that works for you sooner than later throughout your college career. Here are a few tips I have come across that helped me organize to study for the material. Everyone learns differently, so experiment with these studying tips and find the ones that work for you!

Study Spot

Make sure you find that space that will keep you focused and put you into the studying mood. For some that may be in their dorm or room. For me, personally, I tried it my first semester and it worked until I found myself always getting distracted by my friends on the floor or just thinking about cleaning my room (anything to put my mind off that I have to study,) or crawling to my bed and falling asleep. So I had to think about where I study best and the following questions ran through my mind. 

Do you like background noise? Or are you more of a quiet setting person? Do you focus well alone or with a study group to help you out? It could also be both, first alone to go through the material yourself and then in a study group if you have any questions. Would you rather wake up early in the morning to study, or stay up late to review material? 

Once you know the answers to these questions, it will direct you to the right study setting. After a while, you will probably get a little too comfortable in that environment, and that is totally fine! It’s inevitable, but now is the time to find that new study spot!

Calendar

With a lot of workload and club meetings, you will need to organize yourself as well. I highly suggest investing in a planner, it is a huge lifesaver to keep track of all the assignments, readings, quizzes, discussion posts, projects, and exams due. Just writing the list, you can already tell that it’s a lot you may have to keep up with, however, don’t let this discourage you. These are three ways that can help you be more organized:

1. Read through each course syllabus and jot down in a monthly calendar any big projects, exams, and quizzes that are due 

You can customize it personally to your liking with color-coding or highlighting. If you are not a paper person, Google Calendar is by far the most used application I have used throughout my four years at UConn!

2. On a planner or notepad, write the week’s assignments for each class and the due date within that week
3. Now that you’re organized monthly, and weekly, it’s time to organize daily. The night before creating a to-do list of all of the assignments you have to complete, add ‘Study for _____’ to that to-do list every day for two weeks before the exam/quiz. It trains your brain that you have to accomplish this task that same day.

Chunking

In order to study effectively, spacing the course material is essential. If we are being honest with ourselves, the chances of us remembering everything we learned in one class from all of the readings, lectures, videos, and practice examples are very slim. 

Starting early is key to spreading out your study time, which is exactly why writing it down two weeks in advance will come in handy. All you learned in that one class will be split into sections to study for, hence the word: chunking. It can either be going through each chapter’s lecture notes for a day or re-visiting practice problems for 30-45 minutes each day. Leaving off time to do the same thing for your other classes, and you will not be cramming to learn all of the material the night before. 

It can be stressful when midterms and finals season is upon us, yet knowing how to structure your time can not only help you get ready for that exam, it is also a beneficial skill to know in the future when managing work, lifestyle, and maybe even grad school!