Academic Resources for Students: The Summer Edition

Most college students share the same struggles of finding helpful study tips, time management, and productivity. Now that you are checked out for the summer, it can be even more difficult to keep up with these skills.

At BCC Research, we want to help students achieve their fullest potential. Today’s blog will give students key study and productivity tips—to succeed in summer classes and preparation for the fall semester, grad school and more.

Study Hacks:

1) Read, Recite, Review, Repeat

Textbooks can be dense and overwhelming—but this trick will help you retain heavy information.

• Before even reading the text, it can be helpful to look at the heading and ask yourself “what is the main takeaway?” This is important because as you’re reading, you will not only be constantly reminding yourself what to look out for, but it will help you recognize key content.
• After identifying the main questions, as you read, it will be helpful to annotate the text by jotting down notes in the margins or highlighting important parts. This is helpful because if you need to reference a specific part of reading in the future, you can pinpoint it easily.
• Reciting out loud and talking yourself through what you just read will also help retain information because answering your questions in your own words will help you determine what you know or what you need to review.
• Finally, when you finish the reading, review key components to make sure that you understand everything that you just read. Quickly reviewing your notes before and after class will also be helpful so you are not cramming before an exam.

2) Old-fashioned note taking—is it true physically writing will boost your memory?

• Handwriting notes versus typing results in higher quality learning, as it helps internalize ideas and boosts memory. Although typing is much easier and time-efficient, it is mindless and in fact makes it more difficult to retain information.
• As silly as it sounds, the movements of handwriting help to identify letters and create a connection between reading and writing.
  • It might even be helpful if you grabbed some flashcards to jot down key terms and important concepts. Flashcards are also super easy to study whenever you have a free chunk of time!

3) Study at your peak time—are you a morning or night person?

• In order to avoid wasting time with mindless studying, study at your personal peak time, when you are most attentive and ready to ingest new knowledge.

Need more study help? Check out these popular websites and apps for students*

1) Khan Academy

• If you’re falling behind a little bit in class or need a quick review, check out Khan Academy.
• Khan Academy is also an app and it contains a variety of educational videos on science, history, economics, math and much more at all levels.
  • This is a great resource for homework help or test prep; it can be an addition to classroom discussion.
• Keep in mind that these videos tend to be more procedural rather than conceptual.

2) Quizlet

• Are you having trouble memorizing key facts or vocabulary terms? Quizlet allows you to make your own set of online flashcards— you can manually flip through the cards or play review games to help you learn.
• Along with the review, there are Quizlet Live competitions where students work with their team and pool their knowledge to get the right answer. This helps students apply and analyze what you have learned.

3) Brainly.com

• If you are struggling and desperate to find an answer to any type of problem, visit Brainly.com to collaborate with other students, teachers and PhD’s to find the answer.
• Students can seek help in a variety of subjects including History, English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Social Studies.
• It is much easier to put your heads together and ask/answer questions in order to tackle a problem.

*BCC Research does not receive compensation for mentioning these websites.

Don’t tune out too much over the summer!

It’s natural that once you leave school you’re completely checked-out and in summer mode, but it’s important to stay productive and prepare for the upcoming fall semester.

1) Get organized and prepare

• Purchase a planner and get yourself organized. Start flipping through it and write down important fall semester deadlines so you are aware when they are approaching.
• If you are a rising senior in college and you are required to write a thesis, a capstone, or any other type of semester/year-long project— it might be helpful to get ahead on some research to gather a few sources and solidify your topic.

2) Think about your future

Graduation is going to sneak up on you, so it is important to be productive during the summer in order to open the door for a successful future.

• Revise your resume and cover letter
  • Make sure that your resume is formatted correctly and visually appealing.
  • Double-check to make sure that you are highlighting the most important parts on your resume to catches the employer’s eye.
  • Lastly, review your resume one more time to make sure that you replace old jobs or activities with others that are more relevant.
• Get on LinkedIn
  • It’s 2019, it’s time to get online and create a profile for professional networking. Your LinkedIn profile serves as an online visual resume. It allows employers to quickly skim through a profile to get an idea of what a person’s professional life is or how they can contribute to their company.
• Graduate School?
  • If you are thinking about attending Medical, Law, or Business School, it will be helpful to get a kickstart on your application. Senior year is going to be busy enough, so take the time during the summer to do thorough research on what program suits you. Start to gather your transcript, recommendations, application fee money and other components for your application.