Lynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman, authors of The Secrets of College Success, offer ten tips for college success.

From UC Berkley, here are some tips to help you read critically.

Here are some outstanding tips on getting the most out of lectures, via the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

From Virginia Tech, here is an online workshop designed to help you analyze your study habits and improve performance on test day.

This article offers fourteen tips for parents of middle-school students, including helping children manage their homework time, knowing their friends, and having regular family meetings to encourage students to be disciplined and responsible.

With midterms approaching for many college students, here are some tips, courtesy of Johns Hopkins, to help you ace your exams.  The suggestions include keeping up with the material throughout the semester (as opposed to cramming), studying the hardest material first, and following your normal routine on the night and morning before a test to decrease anxiety.

If you’ve filled out the last chart we posted, you already have a good idea of how much time remains for study after you’ve completed school, chores, and other extracurricular activities.  Now use these time management worksheets from Cal Poly to plan your days, weeks, and semesters.

Start by creating a weekly schedule.  Include the time you spend in class and at after-school meetings.  Be sure to build in time for dinner and exercise.  Then use a highlighter to mark blocks during which you are willing to commit to study.  A two- to three-hour block is usually most efficient.

The daily schedule should be constructed each night before you go to bed.  On a small piece of paper, list the specific task you need to complete, along with the time, duration, and location.  Be realistic when building in time for study and make sure to leave time for leisure activities.  Plan to study the most difficult material first to get it out of the way.

Finally, create a master schedule to keep track of your entire semester.  Here is where you can note long-term projects.  Set small goals for yourself to break these long-term projects into smaller, manageable pieces (and to avoid leaving everything until the last minute).  If you have a paper due at the end of the month, for example, you might set a due date for choosing a topic, then another due date for completing research, then another due date for completing the first draft.  Be sure to update the master schedule throughout the semester, adding in new due dates and modifying existing ones as necessary.

Before you can start using your time efficiently, you need to know how many hours you have available each week to study for your classes and standardized tests. Begin by filling out this chart, tracking how much time you spend in class, traveling to and from school, and sleeping.  Don’t forget to include the hours you spend participating in extracurricular activities, performing chores, and socializing (using AIM counts!).  Add up the weekly totals, then subtract that number from 168, the total number of hours in a week.  The difference between the two numbers represents how many hours you have per week to study.

Being realistic about how much time you have to study and complete homework will help you to set realistic goals and eliminate time-wasting activities.

Many high school students take notes based only on what teachers write on the blackboard.  In college, however, some professors will lecture for the entire class without writing a single note on the board.  For this reason, you should practice taking legible, efficient notes as early in your academic career as possible.  Developing strong note-taking techniques will not only prepare you for your college coursework, but will also ensure that you remain alert and focused while providing you with a record of the most important topics your teacher has covered in class.

The Cornell system of note-taking involves dividing your paper into two sections: a two-inch “cue column” and a six-inch “note-taking column.”

During the lecture, use the six-inch column to record, in shorthand, the facts discussed during the lecture.  Use the smaller section as a highlighting system, writing questions or “cues” that will help you recall the main points of the lecture.   Write a question for each new idea in your notes.  At the bottom of each page, leave an additional two inches blank.  After class, you should use this space to summarize the main points on that page.

When you return to your notes to study, cover up the note-taking column and use the questions in the cue column to quiz yourself: can you recall the facts that were discussed during the lecture?