Study Tips: Reading Comprehension

Devote some time to reading every day.
(Photo by Matt Katzenberger)

Succeed In College: Read To Understand

By Texas State SLAC

Love it or hate it, you have to get familiar with academic reading in college. Your exams may include questions about readings that professors assigned but never discussed in class, so learn to read to understand. The more active your reading, the better your chance for thorough comprehension. Use a structured reading method involving forethought, performance, and reflection.

Study Tips: Multiple-choice Exams

The decisive moment: Essential tips for taking multiple-choice exams

By Texas State SLAC

Use helpful strategies for taking multiple-choice exams.

When you get your exams back, do you hear yourself say, “Why did I mark that answer?” You might want to rethink how you take multiple-choice exams. Aside from studying to master the content being tested, here’s a step-by-step process to ensure that your test-taking skills are at their best when multiple choice gets tricky.

Study Tips: Plan Your Semester

It’s never too late to start
planning a great semester

The key to college success is good planning!

By Texas State SLAC

There’s so much pressure in getting an education: parents wanting the best for you, employers looking for top-of-the-line students, and your own expectations for excellence and success. It’s okay to want to make parents proud, find a good job, and be successful, but the grades that allow these things depend to a large extent on how you plan. Bring the following tips into your routine and seize control of your semester.

Study Tips: Spring Finals 2012

Are you a self-saboteur? When it comes to finals, avoid pitfalls.

By Texas State SLAC

As finals approach, prepare to pace yourself.

As finals approach, it’s important to have a sound strategy for finishing each course well. You can undermine a semester’s worth of work (and a good GPA) with bad study techniques. Follow these reminders of what not to do while preparing for crucial tests and last papers.

Study Tips: Use Your Professor

Got questions? Professors are
your best resource for answers

Professor Tom Grimes, author of the book Mentor: A Memoir, helps a Texas State student with her work.

By Texas State SLAC

It can be difficult to converse with professors before or after class. There may be too little time because the professor may have to go to another building, or another class may be waiting outside.

That’s why professors designate office hours to meet students outside of classes. Yet many professors say few students use this time. Take advantage of their willingness to help. Your professor may be formal in class but friendly and approachable one-to-one.

Study Tips: Plan Your Semester

Don’t let the semester get away:
Planning is the key to success

By Texas State SLAC

There’s so much pressure in the business of getting an education: parents who want the best for you, employers who are looking for top-of-the-line students, and your own expectations for yourself and your future. Being successful when the pressure is high depends, to a large extent, on how well you plan.

The start of the semester is the perfect time to develop a strategy for meeting your educational goals over the next few months. The Texas State University Student Learning Assistance Center (SLAC) has some tips to help you plan your semester:

Study Tips: Summer Time Management

Time: Friend or Foe?

By Texas State SLAC

It’s 1:30 a.m: You’re at your desk — a huge energy drink can precariously perched on the shortest stack of books and articles — with 456 words or 19 more algebra problems to go. Our advice? Go to bed, whether that’s a mattress, bunk or futon, and sleep. At this point your biological clock, the one that says you think better at night, is lying to you.

Study Tips: Summer School Success

Summer School: How To Get Ahead
Without Losing Yours

By Texas State SLAC

Taking summer classes at Texas State has its perks. Parking is easier. Traffic is lighter. Sewell Park is less crowded. Classrooms seem bigger. Campus is calmer. In short, the living is easy.

But while the atmosphere feels a bit slower, the pace of academics is almost three times faster than during regular semesters. A summer class packs a 14-week punch into less than five weeks. If you don’t get textbooks and the syllabus early, you might saunter unprepared into a lecture covering two chapters — or worse, an entire book.

Study Tips: Summer Time

Time: Friend or Foe?

By Texas State SLAC

It’s 1:30 a.m: You’re at your desk — a huge energy drink can precariously perched on the shortest stack of books and articles — with 456 words or 19 more algebra problems to go. Our advice? Go to bed, whether that’s a mattress, bunk or futon, and sleep. At this point your biological clock, the one that says you think better at night, is lying to you.

Study Tips: Summer School

Summer School: How To Get Ahead
Without Losing Yours

By Texas State SLAC

Taking summer classes at Texas State has its perks. Parking is easier. Traffic is lighter. Sewell Park is less crowded. Classrooms seem bigger. Campus is calmer. In short, the living is easy.

But while the atmosphere feels a bit slower, the pace of academics is almost three times faster than during regular semesters. A summer class packs a 14-week punch into less than five weeks. If you don’t get textbooks and the syllabus early, you might saunter unprepared into a lecture covering two chapters — or worse, an entire book.