Learning how to study was one of my biggest hurdles in college to get over. Going from high school to college for me was a very big difference. I remember taking my first exams and not doing great on them. The main reason for that was I had no idea how to study. In high school I was able to just look at the material for maybe an hour or two and be able to ace the exam. That was not the case in college, so I had to figure how to study and what kind of studying worked for me. Now that I am a junior in college, I feel that my studying routine and how I prepare for exams have evolved a lot and I am finally achieving the grades I want. For this reason, I want to share how I study because it may help someone struggling to find their study routine.
First off, I always try to start studying a week before the exam date. If not a week, then at least a few days before. I have realized that trying to memorize and learn everything two nights before the exam does not work for me. Secondly, I always make a study guide with all the material that will be on the exam. I normally use learning objectives that are given by the professors to make these. For classes like physics, organic chemistry and other classes that are formula based, my study guides consisted more of formula with examples. To study for an exam that is not formula based and more conceptual and applying the knowledge, I make flash cards from the study guide and go through them till I get them all right. For classes that involve formulas or reactions, it helped me to just do different problems over and over and over again. This method helped me know how to apply the formula and understand how to use them in different problems.
While these methods of studying help for me, it is very involved and requires you to be very focused on studying and managing time for it with everything else going on. These studying habits work for some people, but others retain information differently and learn in a different way. Don’t be discouraged to try methods even though they might not work, you’ll eventually find what studying suits best for you and it may take time to find it!