This is a sponsored post on behalf of Cengage Unlimited. The opinions and text are all mine.

It’s a little bit insane that I’m saying this, but it’s that time of year again…back to school time! Honestly, it feels like I graduated from UCLA just last week, but no, we are almost to the start of a new school year. In honor of the end of summer break, I wanted to share some study tips that helped me get through my years at UCLA and how I maintained and graduated with a high GPA. Despite what you think, it’s not all about locking yourself in a room and cramming the night before your tests. Stay tuned, because I’ve got some awesome study tips that will keep you on top of your classes with less stress.

College Study Tips, #1: Write your notes!

I know. I literally am hating this tip as I’m writing it, it’s something that I disliked doing while in school, but a professor of mine once told us that handwritten notes help you learn the material better, and its true for a couple of reasons. First, if you start to get bored in lecture and you’re on your laptop, it’s easy to click over to your social media, which does not help with retaining the info you’re hearing! Also, because people can type much faster than they can write, taking notes on your device will encourage you to take nearly verbatim notes, which is not always a good thing. Writing your notes forces you to be more focused on the lecture and also to write what is more important rather than the professor’s word for word lecture. As an added bonus, take your handwritten notes and type them up later after class if you really want to help retain the information.

College Study Tips, #2: Study a little bit each week.

            Instead of waiting until the week of midterms or finals, challenge yourself to go over the material each week from your classes and do a little memorization. This will help you not to feel so overwhelmed when it comes time for those exams and you will be lightyears ahead of the rest of your classmates if you do this.

College Study Tips, #3: Use study aids to help quiz yourself.

            Flashcards are a great way to quiz yourself on the go! You can either make them the old fashioned way, or there are tons of websites that allow you to make digital ones that you can carry easily in your smartphone wherever you go. I like to quiz myself when I’m waiting in line or while watching TV, during the commercial breaks of my favorite show.

College Study Tips, #4: Study smarter, not harder.

            There are so many resources online to help you achieve the grades you want and be successful in college. College Study Tips, #5: Buy your textbooks and READ them!

            This one seems obvious to some (hopefully) but I can’t tell you how many people I went to class with that just did not buy the textbooks for the class. To me, that is doing yourself the greatest disservice because your professors assigned you these books for a reason, and more than likely you will need to read the material to get a good grade in the class. A lot of times, the reasons why my classmates didn’t buy the textbooks was because they were too expensive. I totally get it, because college textbooks are usually ridiculously priced, especially after you’ve paid tuition and other fees. I recently discovered Cengage Unlimited, which is a subscription that helps you save money on your course materials by letting you access your Cengage courses, their library of ebooks and more online for a low price of $119.99 per semester. If you consider the fact that some books can cost you upwards of $100 each that is truly an amazing deal! If you prefer a hard textbook to eBooks, Cengage Unlimited has you covered there too. You can find and rent a copy of your textbook instead for $7.99 per book. On top of all that, you also get so many other benefits included in your subscription to Cengage Unlimited:

• EBooks
• Study Guides
• Course Materials
• Access to their Digital Learning Platforms
• Customizable Dashboard for Your Needs

This service is such a game changer! I used to drop classes that required expensive textbooks, but now you don’t have to go through that struggle thanks to Cengage Unlimited. All this goodness launched on August 1st, right in time for the new school year, so make sure to check it out. Now go back to school, kick ass in your classes and make me proud!

Want more college/education related content? Check out these posts for more!

Confessions of a Non-Traditional Student + Tips on Returning to College

Back to School Style: How to Have School Spirit and Still Look Chic

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