Top Two Secrets for Successfully Studying

Did you study in high school? Many college students answer this question with a resounding NO.; while many others claim they studied very little in high school, and could easily do very well on tests by just looking over their notes for 15 or 20 minutes.

Sadly, looking over notes for 15 or 20 minutes prior to a college level exam usually does not result in high grades.  The reason this style of study can work in high school is that most high school level exams test a student’s ability to recall/recognize material. College level exams, however, test for a student’s ability to not only recognize material, but to also apply and think critically about it.

This requires that freshman shift the way they think about studying. Two secrets to successful study are to: first, expose the brain to the course material as often as possible. Second:  practice taking that information out of the brain. It’s very difficult to run a marathon without doing some training first. It’s the same for exams. In many cases you need to train your brain to answer questions before it can be successfully done on an exam. Unless you are truly fascinated by the information, just glancing over notes is simply not enough interaction with the course material to truly learn it.

Secret One: Your Brain is Like a Cow Path (Expose it to the Material Often)

1. Keep up with reading.
2. Take good notes on the readings and the lecture.
3. Transform information into something that makes sense to you like charts, outlines, audio recordings, or flash cards.
4. Look over or listen to the most recent class notes briefly before the next class.
5. Try to interact with the material at least 5-7 times.

Secret Two: Practice Makes Perfect

1. Do not just answer the review and call it a day. Use the review sheet to test your knowledge.
2. Try to assess what you know before you study and intensely study those things you do not know.
3. Explain or discuss what you are learning with a classmate, your mom, or your roommate.
4. Quiz yourself. Answer the questions provided in the text or create your own questions. See if you can answer without looking at the book or your notes.
5. For math exams, try working problems out of order. Be sure that you can recognize a problem out of the context of its chapter in the textbook.