3 Simple Strategies for Academic Success

School can be really hard to manage especially when you’re trying to manage your social life simultaneously. Although I received decent grades in first year, I was able to drastically improved my GPA over my four years due to a few simple strategies and habits. By implementing these three strategies into my life, I was able to improve my academic performance immensely.

It’s important to note before we get into the strategies, about setting short term and long-term goals and fulfilling them on a varying time basis. All the strategies listed below involve commitment on a daily as well as a semester-long basis to ensure consistency, which will likely act as the turning point for your academic success.

1. Use an Agenda

My calendar/agenda is my best friend in university because of so many reasons. Being a student means juggling what seems to be a million things at once; therefore, forgetfulness is usually a common side-effect. To ensure I never forget when things are due, I constantly update my calendar with daily tasks as well as term-long projects and important events. Centennial College notes that agendas are a critical tool that can change students’ ability to perform better academically. With the calendaring technology available now, you are able to sync all of your important tasks and to-dos on your phone, tablet and laptop. Here is an article for a simple Google sync: http://ow.ly/MzcY30nQJIG. This agenda and syncing technology means that the likelihood of you forgetting an assignment or important date is near to none, provided you’re committed to filling the thing in constantly. I recommend updating your calendar immediately after receiving an important date, this will help you avoid having to remember later and it usually requires very minimal effort!

2. Ask Questions and Participate

Asking questions sounds too easy right? That’s because it really is that easy. Many first, second, and even third year students can be afraid to ask questions during or after class due to a variety of reasons which mainly circle around anxiety to fail or looking stupid. I’m here to tell you that professors and TA’s enjoy questions, at least the good ones do. There is really no such thing as a stupid question in terms of you’re learning. The teaching staff is there to help you succeed and grow as an academic, and the student’s around usually have the same question or are on Facebook during the class anyway! Myself and many of my friends used to be so scared to ask questions and participate in class, but after my third year I realized what I was missing out on. Not only do you get to have better discussions in class which aids in everyone’s understanding of the content, you’re able to get answers to specific questions which could have puzzled you for hours had you not asked. Are you still scared to speak up? Don’t worry, feeling nervous speaking out is common, but having an understanding that the chance of everyone getting up and calling you out for your unfathomable idiocy is a pure fantasy! Your question is most likely valid, and most professors are willing to even answer questions outside of class or through email if you are truly nervous. The main thing I tell my friends when they’re nervous to speak up is, ‘in ten years, will you look back and remember a single question you asked in a single course? Heck no! So ask away!’ It’s not the end of the world to ask a question, and your professor and student’s will likely be thankful you asked.

3. Don’t Cram!

Exams. The bane of students' existence, or at least mine. Although exams can be tough, they are just a part of student life. You’re going to hear this time and time again, and I will repeat it for dramatic effect, do not cram the night before for a big exam! BBC notes that cramming for tests often results in failure, and from personal experience, I can vouch that this is true. Time management is a critical part of being a successful student, academically, which means that managing a study schedule is vital. Although cramming can work for smaller tests and evaluations, I recommend that you avoid cramming for larger tests like final exams. Writing out a study schedule with clearly written notes and exam outlines saved my life more than once in terms of academic performance. In addition, by practicing days before the exam, your brain will have time to fully process the information and you will be able to understand the content much more clearly. Watch this great video with helpful study tips for more information:

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