Invest in “Academic Disaster Insurance”

‌Eliminate Your Question Marks

• Ask questions during class.

• Develop the habit of talking to your professor briefly after class.

• Ask classmates.

• Come prepared to exam review sessions (if offered).

Step 1

Take Smart Notes

‌Gather the Right Materials

‌Take Smart Notes in Nontechnical Courses (What’s the Big Idea?)

**Nontechnical course” refers to any course outside of math, science, economics, and engineering.

‌Format Your Notes Aggressively

‌Capture Big...

‌In a course with no favored sources, readings that directly address the specific topic of the lecture act as the favored sources for the day.

‌Don’t Work Alone on Problem Sets

‌Solve Problems on the Go

‌Write Solutions Right the First Time

‌Prepare Memorization Aids

using flash cards

‌Schedule Your Organization WiselyD

on’t try to organize and study in the same day

Demote Your Assignments

‌Work Constantly

‌every Sunday night and plan out the week

‌complete one problem a day, one hour at a time.

‌reading assignments—knock off a chapter a day

‌Don’t Read Everything

‌It’s important to triage your assignments: What do you nee...

Provide “A+” Answers

The potential pitfalls during an exam are numerous, but the most common are:

(1) running out of time and

(2) providing answers that, although detailed, don’t fully answer all parts of the question being asked.

• Is the exam open note or open book?

• For a technical class, will formulas be provided or do they need to be memorized?

• How much time will be available? Does the professor expect the exam to be easy to complete during the test period or a challenge?

‌Build a Study Guide (Org...

Marshal Your Resources

‌Define the Challenge

• Which lectures and reading assignments (or problem sets) are fair game?

• What type of questions will there be, and how many of each? “It’s helpful to know in advance what kind of knowledge will be asked for on the exam—IDs, dates,...

Strategy #1: Review First, Answer Questions Later

‌Always read through the entire exam first

Strategy #2: Build a Time Budget

lay down very strict time limits for myself on each question

‌First, take the time allotted for the exam and subtract ten minutes.

‌Next, di...

Take Smart Notes in Technical Courses (Where’s the Problem?)

‌The key to taking notes in a technical course is to record as many sample problems as possible.

‌Don’t Read Your Assignments, but Do Keep Them Handy

Prioritize Your Note-taking

‌First priority: Record the proble...

1. Match the lecture to the problem set that covers the same material.

2. Copy sample problems from these lecture notes onto a blank sheet of paper. You don’t have to copy the steps or the answers, just the questions.

3. Label the blank sheet of paper with the date of the lecture. Thi...