A College Student’s Guide to Studying and Test Preparation

General Test Preparation Resources

• Strategic Test Prep: Learn how to organize notes and information to make studying more effective.
• Test Preparation and Test-Taking Strategies: College tests are very different from high school tests. Knowing how to prepare can help ensure academic success in college.
• Test Preparation Tips: These proven strategies can help students efficiently prepare for tests.
• How Should I Prepare for Tests and Final Exams? The best preparation for tests starts with class attendance and good note-taking well before exam time.
• Five Research-Backed Studying Techniques: Effective students actually spend less time studying than their less successful peers. How studying is done is more important than how much studying is done!
• Tips for Effective, Efficient Studying: From getting organized to staying focused, these tips will help you maximize your study time.
• How to Study for Exams: Good test prep starts in the classroom with good note-taking and participation.

Study Skills

• Top Ten Study Skills: Being organized, doing assigned readings, and taking notes are vital study skills for students.
• Academic Study Skills: Achieving academic goals requires learning how to manage time, read critically, and take effective notes.
• How to Study Smarter, Not Harder: Many college students report that no one taught them how to study and their high school habits aren’t sufficient for college. These tips are proven to help students learn and retain information.
• Study Tips for College Students: Moving from high school to college grants most students a lot more freedom over their daily schedules. Learning how to schedule study time is one important thing students must do.
• Eight Study Tips Successful College Students Live By: Experts give great advice, but fellow students also know what tips and tricks are most effective.

Note-Taking Tips

• How Can I Take Better Notes in College? Taking effective notes is a crucial skill for success both in college and the working world.
• 13 Top Tips for Excellent Note-Taking: Students are expected to manage a tsunami of information, as each class requires breaking down various readings, units, and sections. These tips can help students take clear notes.
• The Best Techniques for Taking Notes: Lifehacker looks at various note-taking systems and suggests who might find which system to be the best for them.
• The Cornell Note-Taking System: One simple but effective note-taking system is named for Cornell University.
• Note-Taking: This video walks students through the basics of good note-taking.
• Effective Note-Taking in Lectures: Taking notes during a lecture serves two purposes. It can provide a record of what was taught as well as help the student encode the information into their memory.
• Note-Taking Strategies and Tips for Online Courses: Achieving success in online classes requires great note-taking skills.

Time Management

• Time Management for Busy College Students: School, work, extracurricular activities, and family responsibilities all claim time in the life of a college student, and learning how to balance commitments is key.
• Time Management Strategies: Tips for Balancing College and Life: Time management is learning how to plan and control how the time in a day is spent so that goals can be achieved.
• Nine Practical Time Management Tips for College-Bound Students: Use a calendar, make a to-do list, and try to avoid procrastinating.
• Eight Smart Time Management Strategies for Busy College Students: Write everything down, learn how to prioritize, and carve out personal downtime; these are some of the very helpful tips in this article.
• Time Management: One important aspect of time management is knowing how to be flexible when things change.
• Impact of Time Management Behaviors on Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Performances: Researchers studied the impact that time management skills had on college students’ success and found a strong connection.

Dealing With Stress and Anxiety

• Five Ways College Students Can Deal With Stress and Anxiety: The best ways to manage stress and anxiety include a healthy diet and maintaining relationships with friends and family.
• Anxiety in College: What We Know and How to Cope: Harvard University discusses how common stress and anxiety are in college students and the best ways to cope with anxiety and stress.
• Five Top Ways for College Students to Manage Stress: Students can help manage their stressors by practicing mindfulness.
• Seven Ways to Deal With End-of-Semester Anxiety in College: The end of a semester brings projects, papers, and final exams. These techniques can help students cope with all of the end-of-semester demands on their time.

Additional Resources for College Students

• Essential Skills for College Students: Along with learning academic skills, being successful in college requires students to learn a variety of real-world skills, including money management and avoiding safety risks.
• Top Ten Ways to Successfully Adjust to College Life: Adjusting to college life is challenging for many students. The University of Alabama suggests finding ways to get involved, spending time on campus (when possible), and other strategies for students to acclimate themselves.
• How Will I Adjust to College Life? Students often fear living away from home and leaving high-school friends. Learning how to make new friends is one key element of a successful transition to college.
• How to Pay for College: Eight Expert-Approved Tips: One stressor for college students is figuring out how to pay for their education. These ideas will remove some of the mystery in paying for secondary education.
• Find and Apply For as Many Scholarships as You Can: The U.S. government’s financial aid website has a wealth of information about how to find and apply for scholarships to help pay for college.
• Easy College Dinner Recipes: Not every college student has a meal plan that covers all of their dietary needs, and for some students, this will be the first time they are responsible for making their own meals. Find help here that ranges from a list of basic kitchen supplies to recipes and meal plans.
• Five Budgeting Tips for College Students That Can Help Set You Up Financial Success: Decisions made in college can have long-lasting implications, especially financial decisions. These ideas will help students make good decisions that will help them as young graduates.