Take control -
Getting to class, doing the homework, getting your papers in on time—all of these are things you're going to have to do without a parent or teacher to beat on you.
Audition your professors -
Many entering students think they should just take the "standard first-year program" their adviser hands them, and be done with it.
Get to class -
Most students have a "cutting budget": the number of classes they think they can miss and still do pretty well in the course. This can do major damage to your GPA come the tests.
Adjust your attention span -
But your professor is thinking in terms of a 50-minute lecture, divided into perhaps two or three segments. Retrain your attention span to process long—very long, it will seem—units of content.
Study -
As the semester begins, find yourself a quiet place to study and block out the time of the week you are going to study.
Always answer exactly the question asked -
Professors go to great lengths to craft appropriate questions (and sub-questions) and expect head-on answers to exactly what they asked—rather than general surveys of an area.
Take each test three times -
At the actual exam, write full answers that draw on all the course materials (lectures, readings, and discussions) and that would be clear to any intelligent reader.
Connect with your professor -
You might not have realized it, but professors are required to be in their office two to four hours a week to meet with students and help them with the course.
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