{"id":111043,"date":"2016-03-06T20:29:23","date_gmt":"2016-03-06T20:29:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/03\/06\/what-to-do-when-school-gets-hard-for-the-first\/"},"modified":"2016-03-06T20:29:23","modified_gmt":"2016-03-06T20:29:23","slug":"what-to-do-when-school-gets-hard-for-the-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merindab.com\/private\/2016\/03\/06\/what-to-do-when-school-gets-hard-for-the-first\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Do When School Gets Hard (for the first time)"},"content":{"rendered":"

howtomusicmajor<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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Total honesty time: I was a slacker in high school. I don\u2019t mean that in the sense that I got bad grades, or that I didn\u2019t do extracurriculars. I mean that in the sense that I was the kid who got good grades without having to try, so I never did. Try, that is. This meant that when I got to college, I got a surprise: professors want you to actually study! Like, with the textbook and everything!
Needless to say, I had a rough time figuring out how to do this \u201cstudying\u201d thing, and I know I\u2019m probably not alone in this boat. The good thing is, I\u2019ve figured this out, for the most part, so now you can learn from my mistakes.<\/p>\n

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  1. \nAssume every class is going to be your hardest, going in. <\/b>The day you don\u2019t assume you\u2019re going to have to put in five hours minimum studying for the first real test in a class is the day you will really regret. Until you get a feel for a certain professor, treat it like it\u2019s super hard.<\/li>\n
  2. \nSchedule in studying time and STICK WITH IT. <\/b>DO THIS. Or else you will end up like me, making friends with the other lone person who inhabits the study lounge at 1 am. Don\u2019t be me, guys.<\/li>\n
  3. \nNever underestimate the power of teaching others. <\/b>Seriously, I definitely have kinda taken advantage of my classmates, because I\u2019m the person who tries to explain stuff and writes out the impromptu study guides. By teaching them, though, I\u2019m actually prepping MYSELF to wreck the curve. Basically, once you know it well enough to explain it to others, you\u2019re golden.<\/li>\n
  4. \nDo ALL the readings. <\/b>The professor that assigns the most readings is also the professor who expects you to have learned the most from them, in my experience. Also, don\u2019t just highlight stuff: write important points that you would want to highlight in your notes. Highlighting is just coloring for grownups – it\u2019s fine, but it\u2019s not going to help you learn. It\u2019s just going to catch your eye later.<\/li>\n
  5. \nDon\u2019t judge a professor\u2019s tests by their lecture style. <\/b>Imagine: a sweet little 5 foot nothing professor, dressed to the nines every day and super kind to everyone. My professor who fits this description causes about a third of her students to retake her classes every year. Bigshot business guy with a ridiculously high consulting rate and a weird robe he always wears? 98% pass his classes. Focus on the material, not the prof. <\/li>\n
  6. \nSave your homework assignments. <\/b>It turns out that in college, homework is 95% of the times something that you can actually study from. Do it, do it well, then hang on to it.<\/li>\n
  7. \nKnow your preferred study habitats. <\/b>Do you like to study around a lot of people or by yourself? Are windows a distraction or a necessity? Is the library great or just too far away to bother with? Keep an eye on when you study best and then try to replicate it later.<\/li>\n
  8. \nGet rid of unnecessary distractions. <\/b>Turn off your phone. Notifications are Bad for concentration. Close your email unless you absolutely need it. Have a drink and someone to nibble on if you use that as an excuse to avoid studying. Maybe avoid studying with that one person if you are distracted by existing near them.<\/li>\n
  9. \nPlan out regular breaks. <\/b>Tell yourself every half hour you can go on Facebook, or wander down the hall and talk to someone, or read a chapter of that thing you\u2019ve been working on. Just have something planned out that you can actively work towards. Not just having an abyss of time to fill with studying can be really useful.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    As for studying itself:<\/p>\n

    Notecards, re-writing notes in a different format, having someone quiz you, making study guides, and writing practice essays about stuff have all been super useful for me in some respect or another.<\/p>\n

    Other studying help:
    <\/a><\/p>\n