Freshmen Year, Semester One: How I Study

Since I successfully completed my first semester of college, I think it’s time for a “study tip” post! I hesitate to write these kinds of posts because I always worry about whether I’m doing the right things. Then I remember that it’s not about what’s right, it’s about what’s best. Since I don’t study the same way for each class, I decided to break it down:

Psych 101:
Here at VCU, this is a 4 credit course, therefore, it carries more weight in terms of GPA.That being said, a huge chuck of my time went to this class because I wanted an A. Our grade consisted of online labs, clicker questions, writing assignments, SONA participation, and exams. Whew, that was a lot. For the exams, my professor was gracious enough to give us study guides that gave us a central idea of what each exam entailed. To help to review the material, I made Quizlet sets. I would do this at least a week before the exam, which would leave ample time to review the flashcards and play the matching games.
Pro-Tip: Try to include an example for each concept, it’ll help you apply the information.

Sociology 101:
This class was heavily based on 35+ page textbook readings. We had weekly quizzes and we only had 10 minutes to complete them. So, if you didn’t read, well… you know. I spaced my readings out to three days. So, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were dedicated to reading Sociology. Tuesday, I would take the quizzes. During my readings, I took extensive notes so I wouldn’t have to do much backtracking come time for midterms/finals. The only exams we had for this course were the midterm and the final, so we were able to kind of breathe.
Pro-Tip: Do NOT fall behind on readings and don’t forget to take notes! You’ll be kicking yourself later if you do. I talk about how I do it here.

Math 141: 
Math was never my thing. (Heck, it still isn’t.) With, practice, I managed to stay afloat. I think one thing that I will change next semester is practicing little by little each day. That way, you’re not cramming come test time.
Pro-Tip: Keep track of all HWs, class activities, quizzes, and tests. You’ll have plenty of practice questions to your avail come finals. Also, be sure to keep neat notes and write out all work.

Bio 101:
I found it hard to keep up with the professor during lecture, but thankfully she made the powerpoints available through Blackboard. That being said, lots of reading here. Well, for me at least. I’m a visual learner, so the diagrams in the textbook helped me the most. Oh, and let’s not forget about the practice questions at the end of each chapter, a God-send. As far as getting the readings done, I would read the chapters from the week on the weekends or during my SOCY reading breaks.
Pro-Tip: Study groups and practice truly reveal the things you need to brush up on, so use them.

UNIV 101 & UNIV 291: 
These are electives, so thankfully there was no studying required here 🙂 However, I will say, make sure you do all of the assignments, even if you think it’s busy work. There’s no excuse to not make an A in these type of classes.

“Wait, no English?!”

Ha, nope. Thanks to dual enrollment, I completed all of the English requirements I’ll ever need to meet. 

Hopefully I offered some information that you all can apply to your own studies, thanks for reading!