My stuggling student

theoneo
Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:20:44 +0000

I went through the same situation last semester (fall of freshman year) except part of my problem was not going to classes. The things that have helped me (TREMENDOUSLY) this semester:

-studying with a friend who’s incredibly work-oriented, which gets me into a work-only mode, so if either of us gets distracted we keep each other on track
-scheduling classes so I could go to them. I like working at night, and I realize it’s important to balance your time so you can get used to a 9-5 type schedule, but forcing myself to take early classes last semester yielded me missing classes instead of forcing me to sleep early! This semester my classes begin after 12, so I can work until 5 AM and still get enough sleep
-part of why I like working at night is because it’s quiet - a habit I developed in high school, because there were always distractions in the evening (parents, food, friends). But I have since discovered that study lounges, study rooms, and libraries offer the same quiet whenever I need it, so I won’t have to schedule late classes/sleep so late anymore
-last semester I tried working in my room (and I had a single so I thought it would be fine) but I could always hear people outside and/or they would come into my room, plus just being in my room kept me in the same carefree, prone-to-distractions mode so I didn’t get work done, or I was very inefficient. I didn’t realize how much of a difference this made until finals came around and I realized how well I needed to do to pull off even mediocre grades, so I got really serious and studied outside of my room a lot. This helped enormously, and doing it this semester on a regular basis - separating my social from my academic life, environment-wise - has made a difference
-in general, saying ‘no’ when friends want to go out has been critical. Last semester it was hard because I entered college wanting to fully explore the social scene. I guess that was important to me at the time, so I don’t really regret it, but now I don’t feel the need to go out every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, so it’s become easier to stay in and do work or catch up on sleep
-this semester I haven’t gone to any office hours and I often miss recitations, but what’s more important has been making sure I understand the material when it’s taught in class. I didn’t review any of my notes until midterms came around, but I spend a solid two weeks studying for them each night for at least 5 hours, and I did very well.

These strategies won’t work for all types of courses. For example, my writing and language classes don’t have big examinations so it’s just about consistently spending an hour or so every other day on homework. But my lecture-based classes are about understanding the material and then revisiting it in time for examinations. I realize now that I had absolutely no system or long-term plan for my classes last fall, so when I realized I had a midterm coming up a week later I didn’t know how to start preparing for it. It’s important to know what materials and resources are available to you (lecture notes, textbooks, practice problems, extra problems online) and, even more so, how much they’re worth, because I haven’t used textbooks seriously in any of my classes this semester. The most helpful resources this semester (only for my lecture classes, since they have exams), in order of usage in my studying schedules, have been lecture slides posted online, class notes, practice problems (from recitations or just posted online), and past/sample exams.

Oh, another thing I strongly recommend is marking a calendar at the beginning of the semester with every single assignment and exam. That way you can easily tell what you have coming up in the next week or two so nothing catches you by surprise, and when you’re planning things like trips, conferences, or other events then you can be sure to avoid stressful weekends.