Strategies for the Classroom for Freshmen Students

Sit in the front of the lecture hall or classroom.
Ask questions during Q&A if you are able or leave a blank space in your notes and follow up after class.
Within an hour or two after class, review the material; review the material again immediately prior to the next lecture.
Always take lecture and reading notes in your own words; that guarantees that you understand it.
Keep a lecture and reading glossary so that you become familiar with the technical terms in your field.
When you are taking reading notes, do not take notes by copying verbatim from the book.
Your brain retains information more completely when it is reviewed several times over the course of the quarter rather the night before a test or assignment.

Make yourself a schedule that includes class time, study time and leisure time, then learn to say No when someone wants you to change it.
Plan your study time in two to three hour blocks, but no more. After that, your brain stops absorbing the information.
Use the time while you are waiting for the shuttle or for your ride home to go over the day’s notes. That 15 minutes may be some of the most valuable study time you spend all day.
How much should you study? The rule of thumb is 2 to 3 hours of studying for every class hour. When you look at your weekly schedule, are there twice as many study hours as class hours?
Once you have your time blocked out, remember to plan study breaks. Work for 30-45 minutes, then get up and walk around.
Study the hard subjects first and the easy or fun subjects last. As your brain gets fatigued, it will find it harder to process the more demanding material- you will learn less and forget more if you put it off to the end.
The best study strategy is repetition. You can never go over material too many times; the more you look at it, the more your brain absorbs permanently.

Turn off your cell phone, PDA, CD or MP3 player or IPOD. These will distract you, the people sitting around you and really irritate a professor.
Do not read other material or do work for another class in lecture.
Try to come on time. If you are late, enter the lecture hall quietly and find a seat quickly without saying hello to everyone on the way in.
If you are late, get missing material after class.

Sit in the front of the lecture hall where eye contact is possible.
If you have a question, ask it. Think about what you want to say before you raise your hand and be ready to follow-up.
If you have a question about the material, someone else is wondering the same thing. There really aren’t any dumb questions.
Go to office hours. Professors hold office hours so that students can discuss the course material. Be prepared when you get there.
If going to office hours seems a bit daunting, get a class mate to go with you. Ask the professor if you may meet with him/her together.
Remember why you came to UCSD -- its reputation comes from its faculty. You should see them as a resource for yourself.
If you plan on going to graduate or professional school, you will need letters of recommendation. Faculty will write better letters if they know you. So introduce yourself.
You were admitted to UCSD because you are talented. Remember that so that walking into someone’s office hours will be less intimidating.

Commit you goals to paper. What do you want to get done this week? This quarter?
Look at your list of goals at the end of the week or month and make an assessment of your progress. You will know if you if you made an honest effort.
Plan ahead. Talk with departmental advisers, professors and college academic advisers about your schedule for the year. Making sure you are in the right classes will make it possible to take advantage of the unexpected opportunities when they arise.
Think beyond UCSD. Are you doing what you need to do now to get where you want to go?
Make sure that when you get to be a senior, you do not have the opportunity to say “I wish I had known that I could do that at UCSD.”
Ask questions.