Tips for Starting Off the School Year Right

Want to avoid the misery that comes with sleepless nights, crippling stress, and the lingering taste of Red Bull when finals roll around this semester? It’s possible to save yourself from a world of suffering by putting in a little effort now. Here’s how: 

Get Organized: Go out and pick up all the supplies that you’ll need in order to stay organized throughout the semester before the first day of class. Pick up a separate binder for each class, or group all of the classes that fall on the same days within one large binder and then separate them with dividers. A three-hole punch that sits nicely inside the binder is useful so that you can place important documents like your syllabus, assignments, and readings behind the relevant divider. There’s nothing worse than realizing that you can’t find an important document the night before something is due. By establishing good habits right off the bat, you should be able to keep everything in order with no trouble.

Study Habits: It’s not uncommon to take notes in a class for two full months, but never actually take a second glance at them until the week before the midterm. However, you’ll avoid a load of trouble by simply reading over your notes once a week. This way you’ll have the facts stored in both your short term and long term memories by the time finals roll around, and this probably makes the difference between getting an A and a B. 

Create a Calendar: Once you’ve received all of the syllabi from your various classes, sit down with them and fill in a calendar that outlines when all your assignments, essays, and projects are due. Then be sure to mark down the dates of your midterms and finals. This will help you be able to look at how the semester is going to flow and give you an idea of how to manage your time. Don’t let important tests sneak up on you! For example, if you find that three of your midterms are going to fall within the same week, you’ll realize that cramming for all of them will be completely out of the question.

Make Friends: Within the first couple days of class, be sure to introduce yourself to a couple of people who seem friendly and save their digits into your cell phone. College classes are anything but easy, and it’s extremely difficult to get through them without some help from your peers. If you need to miss a class, you can always call one of these acquaintances and find out if any homework was assigned while you were gone, or if the instructor mentioned a pop quiz right before class was dismissed. In addition, having a study buddy always makes the process a little more bearable. 

Ask Questions: Many classes are set up so that new concepts build upon old ones. If you don’t understand what’s going on in the beginning, it’s hard to simply jump in somewhere in the middle and make sense of anything. That’s why it’s important to ask questions if you don’t understand something early on. This could mean asking your teacher, your GSI, a classmate, or going to the student learning center.

Office Hours: Some people absolutely adore frequenting instructors’ office hours while others loathe it. Regardless of which type you are, you should definitely try to go in at least a few times throughout the semester. It’s especially important to go in during the first couple of weeks and introduce yourself. Getting to know your instructor and GSI usually results in understanding the material better, figuring out what they expect from assignments, and learning what types of questions will be asked on tests.