The notion of success, in fact, has a number of components, which are different for people of different age, nation and background. If you care about your academic success you should be aware, which skills are necessary to acquire. We have prepared a range of the things, which you have to know and to do in order for your grades to be excellent.
- Taking notes.
If you have never thought of note taking as of a useful skill you were mistaking. Factually, we take notes really often: during lectures, while preparing for exams, during reading books etc. The main rule here is to take the notes, which you will have a possibilty to use. It is a common problem of students that their notes are often impossible to read. Your task is to take the notes, which not only are useful but also interesting. Think of your own abbreviations and icons, which you might write instead of the words, that are often met. You should point out only the features, which are key in the context and are associated with the concepts that are important, but not try to write down everything. - Learn to set goals.
You might have heard a lot about goal orientation. If one is willing to be academically successful it is time learn what goals are and why you need them. According to the statistics, people which have fixed their goals tend to be more successful that those who do not. If you manage to write your aims down the probability if their achievement is twice higher.
- Extract ideas.
All information around us is a kind of a stream, which is never ending. However, you do not need it all. Thus, when you are listening to the lecture or read a book try to extract the paragraphs or sentences which are the most important. After you did it find the core concepts of them. This will let you avoid remembering too much information and make your studies more effective. - Be attentive.
We are asked to be attentive really often: when crossing a road, driving, learning, completing a test etc. If we define this skill it would mean the ability to notice details, be observant and be able to listen carefully. All of this you will find necessary in order to get all the materials that you need to learn fully. Once you manage to be attentive during the lecture or any class you will have less to learn at home and during exam preparation.
- Effective test preparing.
Test and exams are, surely, stressful for students. However, it is not the reason to panic around them. One of the mistakes, which are common, is spending more time panicking instead of learning. To use your days of preparation really effectively you should, first of all, find out which questions you are going to have during it. This is how you will be able to revise only those topics, which are necessary. You may contact your professor and ask the questions, which should be paid attention. Check the lecture notes, additional readings and home assignment and you will definitely be ready to take the test.