Six Strategies for Success

I am going to a book signing this afternoon and have been asked to briefly (5 minutes!) share success strategies for college students.  It is hard to narrow it down, but here are my top “Six Strategies for Success” for college students:

Go to class.  College is very different from high school!    You are on your own with no one else to tell you what to do.  Be sure to go to class every day.  It is very easy to miss one day, and then the next, and the next…..

Review and learn your notes after every class using active learning strategies such as rewriting; reorganizing into study guides, study cards, questions and answers; or saying the information out loud.

Read the textbook with intention to remember and active reading strategies such as margin notes, separate notes, or underlining.

Practice recitation (restating in your own words from memory); restate what you have read or studied in your notes in your own words before moving on to the next section.  If you cannot do this, reread the textbook or lecture notes section!

Remember that, unlike high school, most of the learning happens outside of class and that you are the person responsible for making it happen.

Habit – get into positive academic habits at the very beginning of the semester.

The spring semester is either over or almost over.  Take a minute to reflect back – which of these strategies did you use?  Which ones could you add during your next semester?

First Semester Success: Study Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is now available at wordassociation.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.