How to study for university? 7 psychological tips

Studying for college, especially for someone who doesn't have a lot of college experience, can be quite a challenge. It is clear that some careers are more difficult than others, but one thing is clear: preparing for university exams and be up to date with the topics given in the subjects College requires more preparation than you would expect in a normal school or high school.

So that… how to study for college How can we adopt those study habits that will allow us to adapt well to the pace of work and learning that is expected of us in a college? Let's see it.

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How to study for college and learn week by week

When adapting to the type of study typical of a university, keep in mind the following indications and key ideas.

1. Autonomy is what matters

The first thing you should know is that in the university world the person directly involved in learning is clearly each one of the students. If in the institutes the little experience of the students had to be compensated by a very proactive attitude on the part of the teachers, this logic no longer exists in the university. Students must do what is necessary to keep up to date with the content they teach in class, without waiting for the nobody's help (especially taking into account that in most faculties there are many more students than teachers).

So, get rid of the idea that behind you there is a lifeline of people willing to prevent you from having to repeat subjects or pay again to take exams. This no longer works like that.

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2. Face-to-face classes are an important resource

Many people believe that classes are simply that place that you have to attend so that you don't get a discount for attendance. However, there is something that makes these spaces very valuable: are used to raise questions.

There is a habit of seeing the questions in class as a rarity, something that only slows down the pace of the agenda. Yet they are the essence of what it means to teach. The question session is used to fill in knowledge gaps that remain between what is explained and what is learned by analyzing what the teachers say. It is normal for these types of knowledge gaps to appear, so something must be done to prevent them from continuing to exist.

Raising a question out loud is something that can save us minutes or even hours of searching through the notes, reviewing the bibliography, consulting other students, etc.

3. create a calendar

You should avoid by all means making your study time depend on the dates on which you have exams to start reviewing your notes a few days before.

To do this, create calendars from the first week of the semester, locate the days of the exams, and create a first sketch of your study sessions for each subject. Bearing in mind that to optimize your study times you should spend time studying all subjects at least once a week, distribute those sessions so that you have a balanced calendar.

4. create outlines

Do not limit yourself to reading what it says in the books, in the photocopies and in the notes that you have taken as you listened to what was said in class. Write your own versions of those contents. It may seem like an unnecessary “extra” task, since theoretically it implies duplicating something that already exists in other visual supports, but in reality it is not. The reason is very simple: doing so requires you to express content in your own words and make it form a coherent "whole".

For example, carrying out this activity with the content to be learned will allow you to detect those "gaps" of knowledge in time and those apparent contradictions that, otherwise, would only come to your knowledge at the time of taking the exam or shortly before. In addition, it will make the study much easier, since have all the content in one place and as part of a structured text in a way that makes sense to you makes things much easier.

On the other hand, the fact of writing the contents of the agenda again makes you memorize them a lot. better than you would by simply reading, as it makes that information stick better in your mind. memory.

5. If you can, study in a group

Group study sessions are an ideal way to detect questions early on that otherwise would not have occurred to you. Thanks to these sessions, those difficult questions that would have been off your radar if you just studied on your own, without counting on others, are centralized. Of course, make sure you study with people who have a level of knowledge similar to yours, or it could be a frustrating experience.

6. Go through imaginary exams

At the end of each study session, ask yourself questions for a possible imaginary test. In this way doubts will appear in a controlled environment, in which if you do not know them you can go to the sources. Those that have been a challenge you will learn well simply because they will have made you go through a moment of tension and uncertainty, with which you will remember them in the future. The emotional memory it is very powerful.

7. Create breaks to rest

No study session of more than an hour is bearable. The idea, to perform well, is that you go proposing small breaks of about ten minutes every three quarters of an hour, approximately. In this way you will rest in an adequate way, preparing yourself to face the next study session with full faculties.