Habits of Highly Successful Students

Habits of Highly Successful Students

• Study
• Take frequent breaks from studying
• Always have a piece of study material with you when you have down time (getting a haircut, doing laundry, working on the new Captain America Movie, etcetera).
• Read through chapters BEFORE class (read ahead of time)
• Highlight the book as you read (even if you rent books, you are allowed to highlight them within reason and still return them!!)
• Find out what study environment works best for you: ex. with background noise (I use the television), late at night (that's me)
• Don't cram....it seriously doesn't work. New information only gets organized and placed into long term memory while we sleep.
• If you are having a hard time getting something in your head try two things:  act it out as if you were teaching it to a class or someone else. Stand up, refer to your notes and talk out loud as if you were teaching it. Secondly, look over the information right before your test, then put your notes away, get the test, go directly to the part what requires your information and do those questions first.
• Get some sleep before tests!!
• If you have to do a presentation or group project, meet with the instructor ahead of time, tell them that you want a good grade on the project and that you don't want to do all the work yourself.  Ask them to place you into a group with other high performing students. Then do your part!
• Start writing projects on time that way you can have them complete  before they are due and ask your instructor to proof read them.
• Get to know you instructor
• Ask the department secretary who the best instructor is for a particular class.  This conversation usually turns into the secretary (Bless his/her heart) relaying stories from student: both the good and the bad stories.  They will usually tell you who to avoid when registering for a class.
• Meet with the department chairperson and discuss your education goal. Ask them to help you choose classes that will flow together and relate to each other in the long run.  Having a bunch of unrelated classes gives you a broad overall knowledge, but having classes that work together may give you an advantage in your career search.
• Use your resources:  LIBRARIANS, learning labs such as the math lab, writing lab, serious study groups, etcetera.  The best way to attack a problem is to annihilate it! Attach it from as many angles as you can.
• Ask if there are practice tests either online or from your instructor. These are very helpful.
• If you are having a hard time deciding on a topic for a report or presentation, ask your instructor to assign you one.  Just say that since you are new to your field, everything sounds interesting and you want to make sure you can find enough material for your work.
• Don't get wrapped up in a social scene! Fraternities and Sororities are a very bad idea and social drinking every weekend or Tuesday night can quickly turn to habit.
• Take an OCCASIONAL day away from classes.  If you just "can't" go to class on a particular day, give yourself a break and skip it.  But only ONCE per semester.  This gives you the feeling that you are in control of the program and not owned by it.
• Try not to schedule harder classes during the morning or right after lunch. After lunch you may be lethargic and sleepy=not good for paying attention.  On the other hand, if you are a morning person and nights are your worst time of day, go for it and schedule your tough class for the morning. Just be sure you are not perpetually late.
• Take notes! Use a loose-leaf binder so that pages can be added and subtracted as necessary.  Use whatever method for note taking you like (outline, main points, etcetera) as long as you can read it.  KEEP returned tests, reports, quizzes and the like.  Put them right into your binder with the related information.  These often become gold when studying for a test.
• Try to join a club or organization that does not require regular meetings and that lets you participate at your own level.  This will give you things to do (besides study) when you have down time.  A good one for this is an honorary society.  These are full of high performing students that understand time constraints.  Ask the department secretary for advice on joining one or more.  These also look great at graduation and on your curriculum vitae.
• Save all of your work on your computer and on a thumb drive or other storage device!!! Don't lose your work.  The computer labs are full (each one has a box) of lost thumb drives.  Keep your work in two spots if you can.  One mobile, one not.  Work on university computers do not save when you log out.  Look into web based storage areas if you must. Email yourself reports, presentations, etcetera so that you always have a copy.
• Take advantage of online forums like "Blackboard" if you instructor uses it.  Create and respond to posts from other students.  Instructors love this! You will stand out.
• Sit near the front of the class, just off center (first or second row just to the instructors left or right).  This will get you eye contact AND will keep you from noticing distracting students because they will be out of your line of sight.
• Volunteer to go first when giving speeches or presentations.  Firstly, this will give you a sense of power over the classroom and will be admired by peers.  Secondly, I think instructors are more lenient when grading the first presenter as they will use the first presenter as an example and point out to the class what worked and didn't work.  The grading may get tougher after that as the student should then know what the instructor expects.
• Don't eat in class. This is a disruption to both you and others.  A small bag of chips or pretzels are alright as you may need to get rid of some nervous energy while sitting still for long periods.
• If you think you have ADHD, dyslexia or other learning challenge, there is a department of learning disorders that can assist you and where you can take tests out of your normal classroom.  Don't be afraid to utilize this department.  Many students do.
• Try to study for test in the same classroom and in your same seat as when you are in class.  The familiar environment may make it easier to retain and retrieve information on an exam.
• DON'T CHEAT!  EVER! It is not worth being caught or told on (it happens). Your best work will likely be sufficient to pass your classes. It is not worth your personal integrity or your college career.
• Drop classes that you think that you need to drop right away.  An class overload or taking a class within the same semester as other difficult classes can quickly become overwhelming!  If you must, drop it and replace it with something else.  Do this quickly as two things are affected:  your refund for the class.  The university has recently shortened its refund policy tremendously.  You now have only days to drop a class after the semester starts to receive a full refund.  After that, you only get a percentage back and quickly get nothing back.  In addition, if you are receiving financial aid, there is a minimum number of credit hours you must take to qualify for it. If you fall below that threshold, you loose funding.  At present I believe there is a one time exception of falling below that mark for one semester...but don't flirt with the rule. Check with the financial aid office to make sure you meet the minimum if you drop a class and don't replace it.
• When choosing classes, sign up for them as soon as they are available.  This means the semester before.  Over schedule yourself.  There will be a limit that you can schedule for but build your schedule with many classes that fit your schedule.  Before the next semester begins, drop the ones that you decide are no longer workable.  Yes, this will fill up classes that others may need but this will happen whether you do it or not. Be sure to quickly make your decisions and drop unwanted classes as soon as you can.  If you want a class that is full, make contact with the secretary of the department and ask them to put you on the top of the list for when someone drops that class that you want.
• ALWAYS ask the department secretary if they have a copy of any book that you need for classes!  Sometimes they have a copy of the current text book sitting on a shelf and won't mind loaning it to you if you promise to return it.  This will save on text book costs, obviously.
• You will be required to pay certain fees as part of your tuition.  Currently, there is a $25 fee for using the mass transit system of the city (RTA buses) and a similar fee for "technology" used at the university.  You cannot escape these fees so go ahead and use and exploit them. Take the bus, use the campus computers and all that goes along with it.  Don't hesitate, however, to make complaints about computer problems or connecting to campus to the technologies department.  They can be helpful in diagnosing problems with your personal computer as well.  If you bring your computer in, there may be a fee involved, but advice is often free and helpful.

***In an effort to keep the University off my back.....Please note that the information I present here may be outdated or inaccurate. My opinions and suggestions are just that, My opinions and My suggestions. I recommend verifying any and all information contained here on your own. There, now I should be okay.

Hope these tips are helpful.

Allan