Wear jeans/pants that “breathe” and bring a sweater, even if it’s scorching hot out, until you know which building blasts the AC to 60 degrees F and which feels like a sauna

Backpacks with thick straps are your friend!  Messenger bags are cool and all but if you’re commuting with a lot of stuff, symmetrically styled backpacks are better for your back

You are your own person and you can walk out whenever you need to or want to, so long as you’re not disrupting the class.  Meaning you can go to the bathroom without permission, take a breather if you’re anxious, answer an important phone call, etc.

If you don’t like the class on the first day, if you can- DROP THAT CLASS AND TAKE ANOTHER ONE!  It’ll only get worse from there!

If you can, take a class outside your major; it’s a good break from your expected studies.

You are in charge of your schedule.  Your adviser and guidance counselor is there to ‘advise and guide’ but if you don’t like certain classes and you can substitute for others, that’s your choice.

Consequently, if you are changing anything drastic in your plan, talk with your adviser and instructors.

Pay attention to your credit hours and grades.  Never leave this to the last week of school, you will be sorry and stressed beyond belief!

Unless it’s a lab book or otherwise specified, go to the class for a week or so before buying an expensive textbook.  Some classes, while having it on their required list, do not actually use the textbook a whole lot and you might find some of it scanned online.  Rent if you can or buy used online (schools actually don’t give discounts).  Use your best judgement on what you think you need.

Tell the people who go up to you selling or advertising things you are not interested in that you are in a rush to class and don’t have time to listen to them.  It’s less rude and they’ll leave you alone.

The smaller the class, the better it is to have some sort of acquaintanceship with a couple classmates.  They might save your ass if you are absent one day or need to study.  And talking with them makes the time go by faster without it being so insufferable.

You don’t need to join a club or sport, but internships are cool and useful!

If you can afford it, take a day off once or twice each semester if you’re too exhausted.  Just be aware of what you missed and if it was worth missing!

Your health is the most important, this goes for mental health too!!  Note: College-age/upper teens is when mental disorders like depression and anxiety are most commonly diagnosed.  Most schools have therapy services, especially during exam time.  Look into it if you need to!

Communicate with your professor if you are having trouble with something.  Anything.

Eat and stay hydrated.  Bring a water bottle and snack to class.

All-nighters will happen but never go over 36 hours without sleep.

ADDITIONAL ADVICE

Don’t let a mental health day turn into a mental health week because you will be so screwed.

Pay attention to the syllabus and do not lose it. A lot of professors put all of the assignment due dates in there and ONLY in there.

If your school has blackboard or moodle etc. CHECK IT. a lot of professors will only post certain info there and not talk about it in class

READINGS ARE NOT OPTIONAL.

I REPEAT. READINGS. ARE. NOT. OPTIONAL.

Put them in your schedule, read BEFORE class. And summarise it. For bonus points, come up with some questions about the text and go introduce yourself to your professor either after class or during office hours, and ask them about it. This will make them much more likely to remember you in a positive light (and possibly bump your grade up if you hit a hard patch.)

Your library will have a copy of your textbook. If you cannot afford to rent it, you can go to the library and borrow it from the front desk for a few hours whenever you need it. It is there for you, okay? 

✎ don’t get in the habit of skipping class for no reason. really. it might seem harmless (especially if attendance isn’t required) but it will most likely end up affecting you negatively. just go to class.

✎ try to be as organized as possible. organization can’t harm you and there are so many potential benefits to keeping your school and personal life in order.

✎ don’t be afraid to enjoy yourself. honestly, what’s the point if school is only ever miserable. there are so many ways to enjoy your experience at college, so take a break from your studies every once in a while. otherwise, you might find yourself hating school.

✎ that being said, don’t spend too much time socializing and partying. or, at least, don’t choose it over your school work altogether. you don’t want the social aspect of college to overpower the academic aspect. after all, you are most likely paying a lot of money to study there, and ignoring your studies will only harm you. find a balance.

✎ even if your classes don’t start until 2 in the afternoon, wake up at a reasonable time. it might be difficult if you’re used to sleeping in very late, but the morning is the perfect time to get some things done, and sleeping in until 10 minutes before your class does waste a lot of time. plus, you’ll probably do better in class if you didn’t just wake up.

✎ naps are good though! as long as you don’t nap during the whole day, napping is very beneficial.

✎ don’t get too involved in drama with other people. if your friend group becomes draining and exhausting because of drama, recognize that it might be better for you to take a step back.

✎ don’t get caught up in the idea of having the perfect “college experience.” do what you want to do, not what everyone else does or what you believe you’re supposed to do. there are different types of college experiences, and you don’t have to, for example, join a sorority/fraternity, go to parties, get drunk/high, etc. just because you think you’re supposed to as a college student.

✎ try to participate in class. i failed at this miserably because of my fear of talking to people lol, but it is best to be more involved in class discussions if you can. this is especially important when participation is part of your grade.

✎ if you have a roommate, don’t expect to be best friends with them. you can, but it’s not always best. in my experience, it tends to work best if you’re friendly with them, but you also have different groups of people you hang out with. this is based on preference though. 

✎ get off of campus sometimes! depending on where you live, there may be a bunch of things you can do in your town with friends. you don’t want to always feel stuck at your school. that being said, there are probably a lot of things to do on campus too. 

✎ if you have a source of income, try to be reasonable with your spending. you should definitely save some money for emergencies. and the money you do spend should be spent reasonably. this isn’t to say you should never spend money on things that you enjoy, but you definitely should have some sort of budget, or you might find yourself wasting all of your money on 2am trips to denny’s (if you’re me, that is). 

Ahhhh it’s been a while since I last uploaded my own original content ㅠㅠ so sorry that I’ve been neglecting my blog!! Hopefully once I go back to uni, I will be on here more often and hopefully interact with you all!! But here are my latest spreads for the month of March-May 💕✨

Instagram: @medstudie

My present to myself for getting into grad school finally arriiiived 😍💕

#100studytips TALK YOUR NOTES OUT

When you see people studying they’re normally fairly quiet if not sleeping. This study method may sound a bit odd at first, but it’s a very valuable study hack. Here’s how and why it works.

1. CREATE YOUR STUDY MATERIAL. Just as you normally (well hopefully) would. Create your usual study materials extracted from your messy class and/ or text book notes. eg. flash cards, mind maps, audio notes, diagramed notes etc.

2. TIP. Make sure these study materials are chunked and categorised per topic and sub-topic. This is fairly obvious.

3. TIP. Make sure your study notes are associated and are able to answer and address a number of questions that could be asked. ie. Teacher-type questions that would be found on a test.

4. TALK YOUR NOTES OUT. Go to a private place where you won’t look like a loon. Study your notes, and then recite and talk them out aloud. Because you’re so focused on talking them out correctly, your brain naturally triggers more memory pathways in the brain. It creates a physical context and memory association to the information, which in turn helps when you need to recall that information in a test.

5. EXTRA TIP. Even better than ‘talking your notes out’ is teaching someone else the information. It has a similar effect, but it probably keeps you a lot more focused on the task, because when you’re involving someone else, you inadvertently try even harder and ultimately learn the information even faster and more efficiently.