Study Skills and Other Helpful Resources for College Students
Attending college for the first time is an exciting, yet daunting, prospect. College students have a lot more freedom than high school students, which means they can make their own decisions. This is a double-edged sword, as many new college students are not used to taking responsibility for their daily schedules and their academic achievements. Developing good study skills is one of the best ways to achieve success in college and create a bright outlook for the future. Developing good writing skills and learning how to take tests will help college students get the best grades possible, improving their chances of winning scholarships or getting hired for good jobs immediately after graduation. Success in college also depends on good time management. When a college student manages his or her time well, there is enough time for studying and socializing. Poor time management makes it difficult to balance the academic demands of college with the desire to have a social life.
These resources offer practical information and tips on developing good study skills. Some of the resources include templates to help students plan their schedules or record their study time. This list of resources also includes articles on giving presentations, conducting research, and preparing for life after college. All of this information can help college students succeed in school and after graduation.
Note-Taking
- Taking Lecture and Class Notes: This resource from the Dartmouth Academic Skills Center offers tips for taking notes in class. This page also offers handouts for students to download.
- Sharpen Your Note-Taking Skills (PDF): This guide explains how to take notes effectively. One of the tips offered is to use a three-ring binder instead of a spiral notebook, as this makes it easier to add or delete notes.
- Five Note-Taking Methods (PDF): This resource outlines the five different note-taking methods typically used by college students.
- The Cornell Note-Taking System (PDF): This guide explains how to use the Cornell note-taking system to take notes effectively.
- Note-Taking Overview: This resource explains why note-taking is important.
Reading/Research
- Developing Research Skills: This article discusses the research process and offers tips for developing a research strategy.
- Increasing the Speed and Effectiveness of Reading (PDF): This resource contains tips for improving reading speed and retaining more information from reading.
- How to Improve College Reading Skills in 10 Steps (PDF): This article discusses 10 ways in which college students can improve their reading skills.
- Evaluating Sources of Information: This resource from Purdue University explains how to evaluate different sources of information.
- Reading Better and Faster: This article discusses several ways in which students can improve their reading skills.
Study Skills
- Study Skills Self-Help Information: This page links to several articles on developing good study skills in college.
- How to Study: This article by Robert A. Hatch offers practical tips for developing good study skills.
- How to Develop Good Study Skills: This resource discusses the importance of studying.
- Tips for Effective Study: This guide discusses the importance of good study habits and offers tips for studying effectively.
- Study Tips: This resource offers 25 tips for studying and includes links to information on studying math and science.
Writing Skills
- Guide to Grammar and Writing: This site contains information about developing good writing skills. It also offers interactive grammar quizzes for students who need to improve their writing skills.
- Writing Tips: This article includes 10 tips for good writing in college.
- Writing in College: This in-depth guide contains information to help college students develop their writing strategies.
- How to Write an Abstract: This article explains how to write an abstract for a research paper.
- Collection of Writing Tips: This page links to dozens of tips for writing college papers.
Time Management
- Basic Time Management Principles: This article discusses the seven principles of time management.
- Time Management Self-Evaluation: This resource offers two surveys to help students evaluate their time management skills.
- Tips for Managing Your Time: This resource lists seven ways to improve time management skills.
- Personal Time Survey (PDF): This resource contains a blank personal survey to help students determine how much time they have for attending classes, studying, sleeping, and socializing.
- Managing Your Time and Study Environment: This resource from Bucks County Community College explains how study environment affects time management.
Test-Taking
- Recognizing and Decoding Questions: This article discusses a popular test-taking strategy.
- Test-Taking Strategies: This resource offers strategies for taking multiple choice, matching, fill-in, matching, and essay tests.
- Memory Tips for Test-Taking: This article offers information about using mnemonic devices to remember information for a test.
- Test-Taking Strategies for Multiple Choice Tests (PDF): This resource is a detailed guide to taking multiple choice tests.
- Taking Essay Tests: This resource discusses strategies for taking essay tests.
Presentation Skills
- PowerPoint Presentation Tips: This resource explains how to use PowerPoint to enhance a presentation.
- Tips for Effective Presentations: This article discusses the importance of testing visual aids before a presentation.
- Public Speaking Tips: This guide explains how to prepare for a presentation.
- Some Rules for Making a Presentation: This resource from Carnegie Mellon University explains how to organize an effective presentation.
Preparing for the Future
- Networking Key to Finding a Job After Graduation (PDF): This article discusses the importance of professional networking in finding a job after college.
- Frequently-Asked Interview Questions: This resource contains a list of 54 common interview questions so students can review them and prepare their answers ahead of time.
I wanted to list this URL on my college’s website as a resource for our students, however, when you click on some of your links they do not go to the information listed. For example, under Presentation Skills the Poster Presentation tips URL does not link to the appropriate information and under Preparing for the Future, 3 out of the 5 URLs don’t work/link to anything. As you can see, I started at the bottom of the page, which means there are probably others. Please go through the page and correct the errors because it looks like this website could be a great resource for students. Thank you.
response: Thanks for the feedback Brooke! It seems like a few of those pages went away in the 18 months since we published this post. We fixed those issues.
Hi, thanks for all the resources! The only thing was that most of them are not available anymore, but I will be utilizing the ones still available.