Recommendations for success in college:

1 - Before class, read all assigned material.

2 - Unless you are sick or have some pressing responsibility, always go to class. Getting someone else's notes can never replace being there.

3 - When in class, become a secretary. Write down as much of the discussion/lecture as you can. Don't worry about how well they are organized.

4 - As soon after class as you can, rewrite your notes into an organized study guide. When doing so, combine the material from your notes with relevant material from readings. Note areas that are confusing to you, or where you may have missed something important. Also note areas in which there are discrepancies between notes and readings - these could be honest disagreements between different viewpoints or they could be errors.

5 - Try to get clarifications as soon as possible about confusing areas or discrepancies. (I once had a student in a large lecture course who e-mailed questions to me after almost every class).

6 - Use these rewritten notes as the basis for studying for exams. Try to study with other people in the class who have prepared in ways similar to you. See if there are any important differences between your and their notes. Try to guess what sort of questions you may get on exams (this is easier after the first exam, when you have experienced the professor's style). Make up possible exam questions and ask them of one another. Make sure you can answer your own exam questions.

7 - Be prepared to put in an average of about eight hours per course per week outside of class. Clearly the exact amount will vary depending on the class schedule - you will spend more before exams and paper due dates. The point is that if you have excess time, try to get ahead; in particular, start working on any papers if you can.