Opening Thoughts

We all want some tips and tricks to see how college is. Because to most people college is a new experience for most people. You may get advice from siblings and their insights on their experiences, but sometimes, it’s better to get those experiences from people outside your social circle. I’ve got many tips and tricks from trying things out, asking friends, and diving into the deep end of college head-on. These are just some of the tricks I went to college with and some I learned along the way.

Tips & Tricks

Here are some tips and tricks I wish I had known when I started college. During my first year of college, I was always scared that people around the campus would be judging me, but then, as I was on campus for a couple of weeks, I realized that everyone was just worried about how they appeared to everyone else as well. I just decided to do what I wanted, along with being scared to ask for help. I struggled with that a lot during high school, which carried into my first semester of college. I slowly started going to office hours for my professors and TAs, and it gradually became less scary. This is one of the things that students sometimes struggle with when thinking about starting college. I needed to get over that hill to feel okay to ask people for help. These helped me a lot with my major-related classes because that’s where connections happen. My major is Psychology and English and Creative Writing (Publishing Track), and connecting with professors in the field I want to go into has opened up some doors for me. I’m more than likely going into research in the psychology department and eventually going to graduate school after graduation. Getting recommendation letters from my professors and TAs will help me in the long run into graduate school. Another tip is to ensure you know how to successfully study in each class. Everybody studies differently in different classes. I have other study methods for my psychology, reading, writing, math, and science classes. Figuring out how you study for each class will help you succeed. When I first got to college, I had an idea of how I learn things, but that was only for specific subjects. I did trial and error for different study methods that helped me in various courses. Trying out different study techniques like Feynman technique, Activite recall, Blurting, Mind maps, Flashcards, Pomodoro technique, and others will help you in the long run.

How I Study for Certain Classes

I study for each class differently, which means different study methods. A lot of the time, when it comes to natural science courses, I find myself using a lot of Mind maps. Mind maps are something you can do to connect different concepts about a natural thing that happens in science. This makes you see the facts that are right in front of you. With psychology courses, I often use the Feynman technique, which is basically like teaching a concept you’re learning to someone who doesn’t understand anything about that concept. You use clear language, almost like you’re teaching a child. This helps me out a lot when explaining concepts within psychology. Most of these concepts are hard to understand, making you think and analyze things within your life. This has helped me when going through the world on campus and in other places to see different psychological processes within the world itself. With creative writing and reading classes, I make a lot of summaries of the different materials I read. This helps me refer back to it without having to waste extra time trying to search for something. I do this often with my workshop classes because sometimes you don’t want to go back and skim over the text. This helps when making discussion points within the course, so you don’t have to keep referring back to the piece you read. Everybody studies differently, so learning how you study best for different subjects will help you in the long run.

Closing Thoughts

Some tips and tricks can be picked up along the way at college. Figuring out study methods, going to office hours, and forming study groups are just some tips and tricks you can learn before and during college. Thank you guys so much for reading this post. I hope you learned some tips and tricks to help you prepare for college. Have a wonderful day, week, month, and year!