CL’s Guide to Study Skills!

Studying is essential to being successful in college but most students fail to follow the most helpful hints.  The school year has just started for most of us but before we know it we will be piled with quizzes, tests, and papers.  This year stay ahead and be prepared for a pop quiz or the week before midterms when it seems like all your doing is writing papers and studying.  Here are 10 study skills to keep in mind throughout the semester!

1. Take Good Notes: Taking notes is the key to being prepared for all quizzes, test, and papers.  Avoid taking notes on a computer because computers can easily distract you from what the professor is saying.  Remember not every word the professor says needs to be written down.  Only take down notes on what you feel is important and what the professor stresses over and over again.  Lastly, if you miss class be sure to ask a classmate for the notes.
2. Outline and Rewrite Notes: Organizing your notes after class allows everything to sink in to your brain.  Rewrite and outline the important topics discussed during class.  Doing this will make studying and getting ready for tests much easier in the long run.
3. Highlight or Underline: It is always helpful to highlight or underline important phrases or words.  If your professor keeps repeating something it will most likely be on the test, so highlight it.  I suggest highlighting all vocabulary words!
4. Ask Questions: If you don’t understand a topic ask your professor to explain it further.  If you are embarrassed to ask during class stay after class or send your professor an email.  Professors want to help you succeed and they don’t want to see you struggle.
5. Know What is Due When:  Be organized and know when everything is due or occurring.  If you have a test on Tuesday try not to wait until Monday to start studying for it.  Give yourself time and study a little bit every night.  Cramming is stressful and doesn’t have to be an option if you plan ahead.
6. Divide Large Tasks into Smaller Ones: It can be stressful when you look at a syllabus and realize you have 100 pages to read before your next class meeting in two days.  Divide your tasks into smaller ones and do a little bit each day or spread out big tasks throughout the day so your not focusing on one thing for hours at a time.
   

   Quinnipiac University Library- Arnold Bernhard Library

7. Library: Let the library become one of your best friends!  Working in a dorm may be more convenient but its also more distracting.  The library allows you to be in a quiet place with few distractions.  I find that I get more of my work done in a shorter period of time when I go to the library.
8. Don’t Study What You Already Know: Focus on the topics you don’t feel comfortable with.  These topics will be the most important categories to study first.  Skim over what you already know but pay more attention to the things you feel you haven’t grasped completely.
9. Study in Short Bursts:  Study for a half hour to an hour at a time on a subject then move on.  Rotate between the subjects you are studying for and take breaks in between.  Studying for hours at a time is overwhelming and can cause you to feel like you are not retaining information.
10. Eat Well and Get Enough Rest: I believe this is the most important key to being successful.  Stay in shape mentally, physically, and emotionally.  College students who eat well and get a full night of sleep are more alert and eager to learn then those who are depriving their bodies.

Check out Abby B’s article, “Color Code Your Life,” for tips on staying organized when life seems to hectic to handle.

Stephanie Coppola is an intern at College Lifestyles ™.  She is studying print journalism and sports studies at Quinnipiac University and she is a proud member of Kappa Alpha Theta.  She is excited to be reunited with her best friends for her senior year.