At Boston University, like many other colleges and universities, summer sessions fly by! You are literally handed the syllabus and five minutes later you are in middle of the final. But really, six-week intensive courses are a great way to wipe out requirements but can easily get overwhelming if you do not stay on top of your work. Here are my top five tips to acing your summer classes:

The Syllabus Is Your Guide to an A

The syllabus outlines the required material for each class or week, when the exam(s) will be, and all of the components being factored to give you the grade. The second the syllabus comes out, I add all the exams and assignment due dates into the iCal with a reminder a week before (to make sure that it didn’t fall off my radar).

I then look at the amount of reading material required and how much time I think I will need to dedicate to studying each week and weekend. I try to schedule in the study sessions on iCal using the notes section to outline what I would be able to get done in each session. As a tip, underestimate your speed when planning out study sessions to give you leeway so that you are not cramming. Unrealistic study goals add undo stress and can be harmful to your overall performance.

Space out Your Study Session

I literally can’t stress this enough! You are not built to study intensely for 8 hours per day and how much do you really retain when you do that? I’m guessing not much!

I try to schedule about 45 minutes every day for review or reading new material. As the exams get closer, I ramp up my studying on the weekends to 2-3 hour blocks with a workout break placed strategically to alleviate stress and assist in memory.

As a side note, when you are stressed and studying, sometimes you are so worried to walk away from your books because you might lose your mojo. I totally get this! The thing is, taking a break to get some food and exercise will assist in stress relief making your study session more productive.  Also, exercise assists with memory retention!

Study Hard and then Modify Technique to Study Smart

This was one of the hardest things for me to learn and I still struggle with this today. If your class has more than one exam, use the first exam as an indicator of what to value and what to scrap. I do all of the requirements (readings, notes, supplemental readings) until the first exam and then evaluate what components were useful to studying and which just added more information and used brain power less effectively.

In my most recent summer class, each exam was based off of two weeks of  lecture and five chapters in the text book. For the first exam, I thoroughly read the textbook and combined both the textbook notes and the course notes into one huge study guide. After my first exam, I realized 95% of the material was from lecture. I switched from reading the textbook and taking a ton of notes, to skimming the textbook after each lecture and using it to better understand things that didn’t quite click in lecture. This saved time and valuable brain power that I could not use learning exactly what was going to be on each exam.

Office Hours are KEYYYY

This is so crucial that I wish I could require all college students to attend office hours! Professors are there to help you learn, to explain things to you, and also to give you advice on their areas of expertise. Professors and teaching assistants (teaching fellows) are an underutilized resource that can help you review your exams or talk though key concepts and will eventually be able to write you letters of recommendations for internships, jobs, and applications for further academic study, should you decide to go that route.

I know that it can be intimidating to talk to professors and you may not to want to ask a question at the risk of sounding stupid. To make talking to them easier, I often say, “Hi Professor, I really enjoyed the lecture on X. I was looking over my notes on Y and was wondering if I could try explaining the concept to you so that I can make sure I fully understand it?” or “I found Z incredibly interesting! Can we talk more about that?” I know they can be intimidating but I can promise you, talking to them will help you and your grade because they see that you are trying and working on the material!

Make a Study Guide for Each Exam!

I use Google Docs to take notes during class and while reading the textbook and other required reading materials. When I create my study guide, I use the professors notes as an outline and add in supplemental material from the textbook and readings. There is often material covered in the textbook that was not covered in lecture. I add a short section summarizing this material at end of the outline for each chapter/topic.

Using Google Docs is great because then I can share these notes with friends I am studying with and they can add in any information I forgot to add or may be able to help clarify some points that were not clear to me.

After gathering and reviewing all the material, I like to make a list of topics that need further clarification, that I may want to review, or that I just flat out do not understand. I bring these to office hours and make sure I understand them prior to the exam. As stated above, you can go to office hours and use it to not only get clarity but also to make sure that you are learning the material correctly.

Do you have any other tips when taking a summer class? If yes, share them in the comments below.