Doing well on your college exams can be crucial, especially in test-based classes where most of your grade depends on how you do on exams and quizzes. Of course, you need to study. But doing well on tests isn’t just about how much information you can cram from the textbook into your head. You’ll need to be involved in class, stay on top of deadlines and manage your time.

 

Get to Know Your Professor

 

The first thing you should do during the first week of classes is introduce yourself to your professors. Go up to them after class, or make a point of dropping in during office hours.

Whether you’re in a hundred-student survey course or a 30-person seminar, this is the easiest way to get your professor to notice you and more quickly attach a face to a name. In an auditorium of faces, yours will be one of the recognizable ones. In a smaller class, the professor will have an early impression of you as someone who takes the initiative and is engaged in their class.

 

Don’t suck up, but make a sincere effort at conversation. Introduce yourself, ask questions about something the prof has covered that interests you, or comment on something on the syllabus you’re looking forward to. If you don’t usually talk to teachers, you might be surprised to find that your professors have actual personalities. They might listen to the same underground indie rock band as you, or share your habit of dirt-biking on the weekends.

 

Once you’ve had a face-to-face with your professors, you’ll usually be more comfortable asking questions in class or for help with an assignment. Being on that one-on-one level with your teachers can also help you feel more involved with school, which can really be an anchor on those days when you feel lost and overwhelmed, and everything seems foreign.

 

Keep visiting your profs occasionally during office hours throughout the semester. They provide that time for you, so take advantage of it. Stay on their radar. Professors like students who get involved and express a genuine interest in the material. Especially in classes where grades are more subjective, based on essays and class discussions instead of on tests where there’s always one right answer, just being on your prof’s good side could mean the difference between a B+ and an A–.

 

 

Take Notes in Every Class

 

Most professors will pull test questions from their lectures, not just the reading. So if you never take notes, you could be missing a lot of crucial test material come exam time. Making yourself take notes is also a good way to force yourself to pay attention, especially when you’re tired or when the topic isn’t that interesting to you.

 

Keep a separate notebook for each and every class, color-coded if that makes it easier for you to keep track. Half-inch binders with loose-leaf paper also work really well, and unlike notebooks, they allow you to rearrange your notes in any order you want.

 

Tape recorders and digital recorders are a great way to catch everything that gets said in a class if you have a hard time pay attention and writing things down at the same time. It’s also a good way to make sure you don’t miss anything—you can compare your notes to your recording after class and write down anything important you may have overlooked.

 

Bringing a laptop to class is also becoming more and more common, and many laptops have built-in microphones and cameras, so recording a whole class couldn’t be easier. Make sure you ask your professors if it’s OK before recording a lecture. Some campuses or instructors may frown upon this.

 

 

Do Your Reading Assignments—and Not All at the Last Minute

 

If you have daily reading assignments on your syllabus, do them on the dates they’re assigned; don’t wait until the night before the test. Your professors assign the reading for a reason: The assigned pages are usually what they’re going to lecture on in class. Even if you don’t understand everything you’re reading, push yourself through it. Then when your professor lectures on the reading, that could clear everything up for you, and the lecture itself will make more sense because it’s not the first time you’re seeing the material.

 

If you do the reading beforehand, you’ll also have the advantage of knowing whether your teachers are covering material that’s already in the textbook or material that’s new. If your professor takes the time to cover something in class that’s also in the reading, you know it’s really important and will probably be on the test. On the other hand, if your professors introduce new concepts that aren’t in the reading, then you know you’ll need to write it down if you want to be able to review it later.

 

After class, read the assignment again. Now that you’ve heard the professor’s explanation and have a context for the reading, you’ll read the material with a new understanding. Doing a second run-through will also help solidify the concepts in your head and move them from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. And when it comes time to study for your midterms and finals, you should be able to skim through the readings more quickly. You won’t need to cram because you’ve already absorbed the information throughout the semester.

 

 

Get a Planner

 

Before classes start, head down to an office supply store and pick up a daily planner or notebook-sized calendar. Or if you prefer to do your planning on computer instead of on paper, use a free application like Google calendar or Mozilla Sunbird.

 

When you get your syllabus for each class, transfer every single deadline into your calendar—reading assignments, quizzes, term papers, study group meetings and exams. Being able to look at one book or screen instead of four or five different stapled packets of information (each organized differently) will give you a better overview and idea of when your busy days and weeks will be, and you’ll be a lot less likely to miss a deadline.

 

Keeping a calendar can help you with maintaining a personal life too. If you know exactly when your roommate’s party is going to be (and you actually want to go), having it on your calendar can help you plan some study time around it. Or at the very least, you’ll know that if you go to the party, you won’t be able to finish your anthropology project.

 

 

No All-Nighters

 

Staying up late throws off your internal clock, and all-nighters are never good for you. Sleep deprivation can make it harder for you to process information, shutting down the higher-level thinking processes in your brain, and it can run down your immune system, which is the last thing you want if you’re living on campus, in cramped quarters, where students are always getting sick.

 

If you absolutely need more time to finish studying or to complete all your assignments, go to sleep early and wake up before the sun rises. By the time you have to get to your first class, you’ll be at least somewhat refreshed and have your assignments complete.

 

Studying, especially in extended blocks of time, taxes your brain, so make sure you keep a clear mind and take plenty of breaks. Make sure you don’t have any caffeine before bedtime, and try not to drink alcohol during the week. Even though a glass of wine might relax you and help you fall asleep more easily, alcohol actually interferes with sleep cycles—you tend to wake up more often, get less sleep during the night, and feel more tired in the morning.

 

If you need a caffeine kick to get going in the morning, coffee or tea can be a great way to get started. Buy yourself a coffee pot with an automatic timer, and you’ll be able to wake up to the smell of freshly brewed java.

 

 

Self-Discipline

 

There’s no way you’ll be able to get by if you don’t study, complete your reading assignments, or go to your classes. And without someone standing over your shoulder, telling you when to get things done or making you go to class, doing well is going to require a lot of self-discipline.

 

But being disciplined isn’t just all about studying and going to class, it’s also about balance. When you’re swamped with work around finals and midterms, it doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your personal life. Find ways to prepare for your tests without going into social isolation: Study in the library with your boyfriend or girlfriend, so you two can spend time together even if you don’t really have time to talk a whole lot. Review test questions with flash cards while hanging with your buddies at the pub or the coffeehouse. If you’ve got friends in the same classes, turn studying into a game—quiz each other, give points for right answers, and the losers have to chip in to buy the high scorer dinner.

 

College is a time for learning and a lot of studying, but it’s also a time for having fun with friends and enjoying your freedom. Make time to get out or relax every once in a while, or you’ll get burned out. And when you’re happy and having fun, you’ll find it a lot easier to deal with your classes, and acing your tests won’t seem nearly as hard.