I never really studied in high school. Never really had to. I graduated with a 4.7 GPA. I am just good at papers and tests and if I messed up on a test, there were like 10 other test grades to help recover so it wasn’t a big deal to me.
College is a whole different story. You get 4 tests plus a final and midterm IF YOU’RE LUCKY. When tests make up 40% of your grade, you almost wish for weekly tests so one 65% on a test doesn’t drag you to a 70% in a class where you need a 75% to pass. I have failed tests and passed tests in college. You will fail tests even if you were a straight A honors, AP, and duel enrollment kid in high school like myself.
So here is a list of my advice from trial and error. It includes do’s and don'ts. Please pay careful attention to the don'ts because they were my mistakes that resulted in failure and having to retake classes. Don’t repeat my mistakes.
I recommend taking notes before the lecture or at least reading the section being discussed. Figure out what confuses you before class starts so you can pay attention during those parts of the lecture and ask questions if needed or talking to the professor after class about what confuses you
ASK QUESTIONS. If you are not comfortable doing so, ask a friend to ask for you or talk to the professor during office hours. Seriously. You are not paying thousands of dollars to sit there suffering and confused
GO TO CLASSES. It seems like a no brainer but seriously you will not want to go to class around a month in. Don’t give in. Even if you can just take the tests and pass the tests. I did this. I got an A on every test I took. I never showed up except on test grades. I FAILED. Most classes count participation or attendance as a big part of your grade and some colleges will think you are cheating or something and fail you.
You won’t be able to completely avoid 8AMs but you should avoid as many as possible. I get up at 6 AM naturally every day and I still struggle to pay attention and know what I’m doing in my 8AM lab. And you will be so tempted to miss a couple classes and then you’ll get behind so fast. Seriously. You miss one day of class and you are like 10 days behind. It’s insane
Make friends with the people sitting next to you. They will come in handy for when you do miss a day or when you’re confused about something small and don’t want to bother the professor
Take notes in a way you will want to look back on them and in a way that will make you remember as much of the material as you can at the time. Notes are pointless if you never look back on them
DO THE HOMEWORK. Even if it’s optional. It will help you understand the material better and a lot of professors are lazy and use their homework questions as test questions
Do not wait until the day before the test to study. In fact, do little studying the da before the test. Maybe just review a few things, but besides that, don’t really study the day before. You just stress yourself out and don’t really remember anything you studied. Relax on that day or do work for another class.
Instead, study throughout the week before your test. Focus on topics that you struggle with. Ask questions, go to office hours, practice some concepts.
Make flashcards of things you need to remember. Make flashcards of vocab or formulas or concepts. And use them to study. Really these help a lot. You can bullshit yourself when you go through a practice test or a checklist or your notes trying to figure out what you know and what you don’t. You can’t bullshit what you know and don’t know with flashcards
Listen to songs that go over concepts you need to remember on repeat until you want to puke and cut off your ears. Until you can sing it yourself on the spot if someone demanded you to. Need to remember the periodic table? AsapSCIENCE has a great song for that. Need to know the quadratic formula just in case someone holds a gun to your head and makes you recite it because that’s what math teachers seem to think happens? Go on YouTube and find the quadratic formula pop goes the weasel song. My algebra teacher played this EVERY CLASS in 8th grade and I still get it stuck in my head sometimes. Serious, catchy songs like this make memorizing less painful and easier
Read things related to the subject you are studying that are interesting to you and not your textbook. Sure you may not be tested on some other concepts you find, but it will give you a better understanding of what you are studying
When picking classes go to ratemyprofessor and find teachers who are willing to work with you. Hard teachers may not be pleasant but they may be worth it if they work with you and are preparing for a future. Do remember that you are paying hundreds if not thousands for each class so you should learn stuff to make you a better candidate for the job you want
Your life doesn’t revolve around studying so don’t burn yourself out trying to study all the time
This is not a complete list nor is everything here true for everyone. Feel free to add to the list with other tips and advice! I love seeing how other people deal with the torture we call schooling!
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