How will I be able to transition my lackluster high school study skills to the college level and improve on them?

Hi Griffin,

The previous answer is solid on every level and one you should follow. I will give a small personal anecdote to piggyback on that. I rarely, if ever, studied in high school. When I got to college I was in a bit of trouble because the subject matter became much more difficult and it forced me to be disciplined. My advice would be to take it class by class and professor by professor. You will notice tendencies and what they look for. Some are more definition-oriented. Some are a bit more cerebral and want you to summarize things you have learned. Take pertinent notes in class, regularly study them to keep yourself updated week by week, and attend class. This may seem obvious but missing a class or two can put you quite far behind. Ultimately stay regimented, take good notes, read, and stay engaged. You will be just fine.

Thanks!

Mike

Griffin, great question. In highschool I also did not have the best study habits and while I wasn't a bad student and got decent grades, I was far from the best. I would study the day before an exam and would wait to write essays until the last minute possible. When I got to college I knew I had to do a 180 and turn myself around as I had somehow got into my #1 college and didn't want to squander the opportunity.

1) Understand that the stakes in college are much higher and use this pressure to motivate yourself. In high school the stakes are nowhere near as high when compared to the stakes in college. Bad grades in college won't sink you for the rest of your life, but it will be much harder to get the job of your choice or get accepted to the graduate school of your choosing if you have lackluster grades. Use this pressure to motivate you.

2) Start early knowing that you will have more free time to do other things. In college you will be given a syllabus on the first day of class that has all the assignments, readings, and essays noted and when they are due. While having an essay due in November may seem far off from the first day, I assure you that those dates really sneak up on you. When you get the syllabus, highlight essay due dates and put them in your calendar. I always tried to begin an essay 1.5 weeks before it was due. This time allowed me to write the essay with plenty of time to edit it and go back.

I would write as much as I could on the first day of those 1.5 weeks and for the rest of the time I would take 25 minutes everyday to edit my essay and make it stronger. I found that I would finish writing all my essays with DAYS to spare; so while all my classmates were running around panicking, I was hanging out in the Starbucks drinking coffee and relaxing.

3) Never bring your laptop to class to take notes, you will just end of distracting yourself. After my first semester of freshman year, I realised that bringing my laptop to class had a direct impact on my grades and reverted to bringing a notebook and pencil instead. I would use a notebook and pencil as I found my retention of information to be better when I hand wrote my notes. Also, since there was no way that I could write down everything that the professor said, I was forced to write down only the most important information. Instead of having ten pages of typed notes full of useless information, I would have two pages of handwritten notes that contained only the most important information.

4) Form study groups to harness the power of multiple brains, but be careful to keep the group small so as to lessen the chance that your study group will change into social hour. Forming a group to study is always better than studying alone as everyone has different strengths, and the other group members may be able to explain things to you that you don't completely understand. Studying via talking with others helped me immensely as while I was explaining things to a group member, I was in a sense quizzing myself on the material. BUT, be warned: keep the group small...ideally 5 people or less. A study group of more than 5 can quickly turn into a social club if you are not careful.

I could go on and on, but I will stop myself here. Should you be interested in more study skills that will help you in college, please do ask!!

Best,

Austin