Check out these tips that have helped many students achieve academic success:
Check your syllabi!
High school teachers have been telling you the whole time,
‘In college, professors will hand out a syllabus on the first day with all the
due dates for the semester and it’s up to you to keep track of them. They won’t keep reminding you about upcoming
due dates.’ Due dates can be one of the
hardest things to keep track of in college because, it’s true, you’ll get a
list of them on Day 1 and have to remember them for the rest of the
semester. Whether you think it or not,
at some point, you’ll forget to do a homework assignment or to take an online
quiz (Don’t fret, it’s not a big deal!).
It’s important to get into the habit of checking your classes’ syllabi
every day. Find a strategy that works
for you. I like to keep all my syllabi
in a single folder so when I’m done with class for the day I can just open up
each one and check to see what assignments are due that night/the next day. Another great strategy is to print a big
calendar and mark down all the due dates for each class so you can see them all
together.
Do the homework!
Another big change from high school to college is optional
homework. A lot of classes still have
homework that you have to turn in but many others have optional homework
assignments (anything from problems in the book to reading about a topic and
coming to class ready to talk about it).
While it’s extremely tempting to not do these assignments, it will
ALWAYS help your grades to do them. Some
people choose to not do them at all, others choose to put them off until exam
time and try to work through the problems a day or two before the exam. Try your hardest to do homework assignments
when they’re assigned. It will let you
know that you understand the material and if you don’t it gives you plenty of
time to go for help. Problem-based
classes like math, physics, statics, strength of materials, etc. (as opposed to
concept based classes like chemistry) often put problems on the exams that are
extremely similar to homework problems so doing them can only work to your
advantage.
Send emails and go to
office hours!
I think a big misconception about college is that professors
are scary and don’t want to help you when they have a thousand other
students. Professors can be your best
friend! I haven’t had a class yet that I
haven’t at least talked to the professor or TA on one occasion. If you’re stuck homework and you think it’s a
simple mistake or something small, don’t be afraid to shoot your professor a
quick email explaining what you did (sometimes even attaching a picture of your
work!) and asking where you went wrong.
Going to office hours can be inconvenient sometimes and a lot of times
they’ll answer your question over email.
That being said, going to office hours is extremely beneficial. No matter how small your question is, most
professors will sit down with you and work through the whole problem with you
and explain it until you understand it.
Also, don’t wait until the last office hour before the exam to go with
all your questions! There will be a lot
of other people there! That’s why doing
homework on time is helpful.
Go to help sessions!
Often times professors and TA’s hold weekly help
sessions. This is a great place to go
with your homework questions because they set aside that time specifically to
answer student questions. I’ve had
courses before where I went to a help session each week just to sit and listen
without any questions just because it can be helpful to watch professors/TAs go
over problems. The repetition helps
ingrain it in your head!
Do the reading!
Most classes won’t have required reading but most will have optional reading. My suggestion is, do the optional readings
until the first exam. Some professors
use textbook material often, others don’t ever even reference it. Only by doing the reading will you be able to
gauge whether or not it helps you do better.
You may find you get enough information through lectures and homework but
never forget the textbook is there and you can reference it when you’re
confused.
Start studying early
and take practice tests!
I can’t tell you how to study. Everybody has different study methods that
work best for them. What I can tell you is if your professor gives
you practice tests, TAKE THEM! Practice
tests are nearly always identical to the real thing! Professors reuse questions all the time with
different numbers and different wording.
If you do well on the practices tests, you should be confident you’ll do
well on the real thing. Also, start
studying early! Depending on how big the
exam is, I usually like to take a practice test before I start doing any other
form of studying. A week or two in
advance I take a practice test to gauge how much I need to study. If I fly through it and do well, I don’t go
back to studying until 3-4 days before the exam. If I struggle, I know I need to start
studying soon so I have time to go to office hours and get help.
Know that there’s
always more help available!
If after all your homeworks and practice tests you’re still
not doing well and you’re still not feeling good, get outside help! I’ve never gone to an outside tutoring
business but hundreds of students do and you shouldn’t feel bad about going for
extra help! Lion Tutors and PSU Know How
are two places you can go where you may get extra practice tests and extra
hours of tutoring to help prepare you for exams.
If you try your hardest and use all the resources available to you, the
rest should fall into place!
Danielle Berman is a junior majoring in Civil Engineering, and is a Mentor for WEPO 2015!
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