It's 2 a.m. and you have a history midterm tomorrow morning. Your roommate is playing air guitar along to a deafening Rage Against the Machine song (as if there's any other kind), and the weird kid from down the hall has organized a makeshift séance on your bed. You're doing leg lifts on the floor with your notebook in front of you, when suddenly, one of the séance participants spills bargain beer all over your meager, already-illegible notes. The lesson here? Never tone your thighs near cheap beer.

Well, there is actually another lesson: your study skills bite ass. Everything from the illegibility of your notes to your study environment screams disaster. You might not care about your GPA, but we do, so this SYW will provide you with the information you need to learn how to study. We won't raise your IQ, but we'll at least help you use what you've got.

Before we begin to sermonize, go take this test to see where your main studying problems lie. Once you figure out why you're such a slacker that has been a lifelong disappointment to your parents, we can continue on our journey to turning you into a dork.

1. SET UP A CONDUCTIVE STUDY SPACE

Choose the place and assemble your materials

A library is ideal. Yes, we know that you shudder at the thought of going to a library, but that's what makes it so perfect. What could be more boring (translation: less distracting) than a library? However, if you're the type who can't focus amid that deafening silence, you should at least pick a place where you know you will be able to focus. Here are some suggestions:

A quiet coffee shop
A study hall
A student lounge
An empty classroom

A bedroom is NOT a good place, since you'll be near a phone, a bed, a TV, and other distractions. After 30 minutes, you'll start reasoning with yourself that a Dawson's break is essential for your sanity.

Make sure you have all the materials with you that you might need - you don't want to waste time looking for your lucky pen (or hunting someone down to borrow one that's inferior). It's also best to have a table or large desk where you can spread your stuff so it will all be within easy reach.

Here's a quick inventory you can do to determine if you've found the right study environment for you.

Make sure you're comfortable

Whatever area you choose, make sure it's relatively pleasant and comfortable. Some people need silence to study, while others can't study without some background music. (Researchers have found that listening to music can improve mental focus, though not necessarily while you're studying.) It's probably best to avoid high-energy music like hip hop or hardcore rock, though - if you find yourself singing along to the music or even tapping your foot, chances are your attention is lagging. The mellower, the better.

2. SET UP A REGULAR STUDY SCHEDULE

There's nothing more frustrating than spending a day "studying" only to find that you've accomplished very little. The trick to avoiding this is not to study longer (though this may also help), but to be more focused during the time that you do study. So keep track of everything; carry a day planner or personal digital assistant with you everywhere so you can write down new tasks that come your way.

Be specific

Make your schedule as specific as possible - decide not only when you'll study, but also what subjects you'll tackle at that given time. Be sure to set aside blocks of time specifically devoted to each course. And take note of which courses require more hours of studying and preparation so that you can keep your priorities in check.

Keep it flexible

Take into account your own limitations and preferences, and keep your schedule relatively flexible. The "two hours of study for one hour of classtime" rule is not always true. How much you study for each class will be determined by how efficiently you can comprehend the material.

If you are able to trudge through several hours of studying without taking a break, then go for it. But if you can only study for short periods and need to take breaks, go ahead and take them - either at set periods of time or, even better, as a reward when you've accomplished set goals. Just make sure that your breaks don't end up lasting longer than your study periods. Also, remember that some subjects require more time to "get back into" once you return, so try to limit the number of breaks you take when working on assignments that require a special mindset.

Choose an optimal time of day to study

If you're a night person, don't schedule your study time over breakfast - you'll be too tired and grumpy to study effectively. Choose a time of day when you feel alert and at your best.

We know, we know… between school, work and porn, it's nearly impossible for you to set out large blocks of premium study time during the day. Well, you'll either have to develop the skills to study for short periods of time, or try to readjust your ability to focus during off hours. If there is never a time that you're not tired, then you have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. If you consistently feel that you're lacking energy - and if you can only study at the expense of sleep - you may have to reconsider what your ultimate goals are. For instance, cutting back on your work hours may cost you a few CDs now, but if it means you perform better in school, then it's likely to pay off in the future.

Studies show that most people study best in the morning. So if you think that you can do it, then try to readjust your sleep schedule so that you can do the bulk of your studying before noon, then you'll not only be happier (for getting your studying out of the way), but you'll also remember stuff better. Besides, most (though by all means not all) exams will take place during the day, so it's best to simulate that by studying at the same time as when the exam will take place.

Maintain a social life

Before you can effectively schedule your study time you may first have to prioritize your life. Being a good student does not mean you have to close yourself off from your friends and family. Just be very clear to them that your study time is off-limits. If you do receive calls while you're hitting the books, tell whomever it is that you'll talk to them later, when you can give them your full attention.

If you don't try to maintain some semblance of a personal life, you'll burn yourself out. Besides, is studying really the most important thing in life? All work and no play make Jack a big dope who stays home with his cat on Friday nights.

3. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR TEACHERS EXPECT

Performing well in school often has less to do with how hard you work than with how well you meet your instructor's expectations. Before you even sign up for a class, ask around to see what past students think of the instructor and how they prepared for the class. If more than one reliable source tells you an instructor is unreasonable, avoid that class if possible.

Pay attention and take good notes

Sit near the front - not necessarily in the front, if you don't want to count the instructor's nose hairs - so that you'll be able to hear and won't be distracted by the goings-on around the room. Write down as much as you can of what is said (even the stuff your classmates say... unless it's completely moronic and irrelevant... which is often the case).

If you can't write quickly or clearly, you may want to purchase a notebook computer and bring it to class. That way, all the information you'll need for an exam will already be typed up-which will save you a step when you assemble your outline. But we'll get into that later. If you do use a laptop, sit toward the side of the room so that your constant clicking on the keyboard won't distract your professor.

Your professor will often let you know what topics are important as he or she lectures, so make sure you pay attention. For example, anything written on the board should go in your notebook. You may also be able to tell just by your professor's body language how important the information is. And don't be afraid to ask "stupid" questions, like "what's going to be on the test?" Your instructor just might tell you. But if this makes you nervous, as the kid next to you to ask the professor what'll be on the test. The stooge!

Take advantage of your instructor's office hours

You should go to your professor's office hours at least once... just so that he or she knows that you care about the class. Before you drop by, write down any questions you have from your class notes or from the reading. Even if you don't have specific questions, it may be useful to meet with the professor simply to get a sense of what might be on the test. Remember, even if your instructors act like they're busy, helping you is their job; don't accept anything less for your tuition dollar than their full attention during office hours.

Find out what went wrong

If for some reason you still do poorly on an exam or paper, don't panic. Go to the instructor and politely ask to discuss what was unsatisfactory. You may learn how to do better in the future, and you'll also show you care about your performance (which in turn could affect how you're graded next time). The instructor may even occasionally give you the chance to redo the assignment (*sigh* - so much for Spring Break in Daytona).

4. LEARN A FEW STUDY TIPS

Read intelligently

In general, you'll find that textbooks are designed to emphasize the points you'll need to know - oftentimes there's a summary, recap, or question section at the end of each chapter. Knowing this area well will be far more useful than trying to memorize every word. Also, focus on whatever's said about that chapter in the table of contents: this will reflect the chapter's main function and highlight its important concepts.

When reading an assignment, first skim the chapter, keeping your eyes peeled for the subheadings and terms in bold type. Then reread the entire chapter, taking notes as you go. Check back to your class notes to see what areas your instructor emphasized, and any sections he or she may have told you to read extra carefully. You might even want to write a short summary of each chapter when you finish, to see how well you understand (and can explain) the material. Then go back and quiz yourself on all the terms in bold.

And what about the ever-popular highlighter? Feel free to highlight liberally, but don't turn the whole book yellow. Also, highlighting is only useful if you go back and read what you highlighted. Reading over your highlighted sentences is a breezy way to study during lunch without getting your notes all greasy.

Use outlines

An outline can be extremely handy because it allows you to boil down the all the material you're dealing with into a manageable, organized list. Actually, outlines are more effective if you don't think of them as lists at all, but instead as groupings of facts and concepts based on their relationships.

Here's an example:

I. Internet pioneers

A. Hackers - programmers
1. Vint Cerf

a. helped build one of the first Net protocols and interfaces in late 1960s

b. Now VP at MCI Worldcom

2. Tim Berners-Lee

a. Developed the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s

B. Crackers - users who break into others' systems to look around or make mischief (often called "hackers," though the original hackers hate this)

1. Kevin Mitnick

a. legendary for cracking into Defense Dept. and other systems

b. Just finished serving sentence in federal prison

You'll find that many of the topics you study can be grouped into such arrangements. Rather than trying to memorize lists, you'll be connecting concepts together on paper that you'll want to associate together later when you take the exam. If you look again at the table of contents in your textbooks, and even the breakdowns of the chapters themselves, you'll notice that they're arranged in this manner.

Sometimes your instructor may draw an outline on the board. While you should copy this down into your notes, you'll still want to fit the facts into your own outline, which may differ from that of your instructor (though it shouldn't differ too much). By putting together your outline yourself, you'll be better able to remember all the items and how they relate to each other.

Rewrite your notes by hand

You have five senses, as we all know (well, except for Haley Joel Osment). The more senses you use while studying, the stronger the information gets stored into your brain. Think about it: do you remember something better if you just read it, or if you read it AND copy it?

For this reason, one of the best study tips we can give you is that you should rewrite ALL of your notes by hand starting two weeks before the exam, and as you recopy, say the words out loud. This way, you're reinforcing the information on many levels: you're reading the notes, processing them to physically copy them down, speaking the words, and hearing yourself speak the words. With all of these paths going, it makes it much more likely that you'll remember the information.

Use mnemonic devices

In spite of your efforts to organize your information, you may still find that you have a big list of stuff to remember. While rote memorization may work for you-simply reading the list over and over and repeating it to yourself-you may have better luck using mnemonic devices.

Mnemonic devices are used to associate a sound with a concept, so that you only have to remember the sound. If, for example, the first letters of each item in the list can be assembled to form a word, even a nonsense word, you will have to only remember that one word in order to recall each item of the list. "ROY G. BIV" and "HOMES" are two of the most famous mnemonic study aids, representing the colors of the visible spectrum and the Great Lakes, respectively.

Mnemonics can work for long lists, too. "Howard Hughes Liked Being a Billionaire, but he Could Not Often Fly Near Nebraska, so he Made an Amazing Super Plane Sturdy enough to Carry him Across Kentucky and Connecticut," may sound like nonsense, but it happens to contain the first letter of the first twenty elements of the periodic table, arranged in order. But you recognized that immediately. Plus, it only took us about two minutes to make up. Easier to memorize that sentence than Hydrogen, Helium, blah blah blah.

Why is such a sentence helpful? Because you use more of your brain to remember visual and active images (such as Howard Hughes and Nebraska) than you do to remember just a list of items (what does argon look like?!). And as we said earlier, more brain means better memory. Think about it. (Or should we say, "Picture it"?)

Try study groups

Study groups aren't for everyone, but they can be a great way to motivate yourself to work and to get feedback. Here's our advice about creating and maintaining a study group:

  • Find a group of three to five other students, preferably ones who are in all or most of your classes. You'll want students as smart or smarter than you, but not too smart. If your understanding is on a higher level than that of your study buddies, you'll be wasting your time (though you'll feel like a genius). If your partners are too much smarter than you, you'll get confused, feel stupid, and become even more discouraged.

  • Pick a study group plan that works. For example, you could all do the same work, and then meet to discuss and compare notes. Or you could assign each member to take the most detailed notes for each class and do any supplemental reading, then share his or her knowledge with the group. Everyone should still go to the class and do the assignments, but each member will be able to focus most of his or her attention on the assigned class.

  • Even only one study partner can create a little added incentive for you to work (since someone else is depending on you). Just make sure it's not your girlfriend or boyfriend.

  • Choose members who are as committed as you are, and set some ground rules for remaining in the group: showing up (on time), coming prepared, and using the time to discuss coursework, not as social time. If you don't enforce these rules, you'll find that your study group eats up even more of your valuable time, without making your work any easier.

  • For more useful study tips, check out this web page on "Study Skills Self-help Information."

Flash cards

Flash cards don't work for everyone, but at least you'll reinforce the information through the process of writing all of the information down again. The more that you write the stuff down, the better you'll do. Just be sure to not go flash card crazy: keep it to less than 100 or you'll spend more time making pretty flash cards than using them.

Cramming

We know that everybody does it, but it doesn't make it right. Cramming the night before a big test will increase your anxiety and take away precious hours of sleep that you'll need to think straight. So start studying at least a week before an exam and be sure to get to sleep at a reasonable hour the night before it. In case we were too subtle, then allow us to be blatant: DON'T CRAM.

Practice exams and review sessions

Many schools offer the possibility of getting access to previous exams that the professor gave. Our advice: USE THEM. What better way to figure out what to expect than to see what the professor has asked previously. It's even better to get a bunch of old exams because then you can see if the teacher asks the same questions every year (letting you know what to expect) or if he/she asks different questions every year (again, letting you know what to expect). But be sure to use the practice exam toward the very end of your studying. Treat it as if it were the actual exam, and see how you do. If you have to pay for the practice exam, then get some friends in the class to split the cost with you and make copies. It's not illegal or wrong to use old exams if they're available - that's what they're there for!

Many teachers also hold review sessions before an exam. You should prepare at least 3 questions for a review session, just in case others are scared to ask first. You should go to the review session because a lot of professors will accidentally slip and give a hint about what's on the exam. So even if it's incredibly boring, suck it up and go. You can always quietly test yourself with your pretty flash cards until something you need to know comes up.

Subject-specific advice

While we can't take the test for you, we can offer some subject-specific advice. Here are the main ones:

History: Timelines are invaluable. Write out timelines for each major event so that you can get a sense of cause and effect. You can test yourself by later rewriting that timeline from memory. Highlight the different people involved in different colors.

Science: Flash cards are your friends. You have so many confusing terms to learn, that sheer memorization is going to be your biggest hurdle. Mnemonic devices tend to work particularly well with science terms.

Math: Practice is key. Do as many practice problems as you can (especially the hard ones) until you feel like you can breeze through the questions. Math is not the kind of subject that mere reading will help you with; you must invest the time to practice.

English: Read over your notes and become extremely familiar with the different literary terms and techniques that your teacher reviewed. Plot summaries are also useful. Finally, create a list of examples from each book that you are very familiar with so that you always have some material to write about.

Foreign language: If it's a vocab test, then you're back to the flash cards. But if it's an essay or grammar test of some sort, then it's much more important to become familiar with the various verb tenses and conjugations. If it's an oral test, then grab someone else from the class and spend a couple hours only talking in the foreign language. It'll improve your fluency and comfort, and you'll learn from each other.

5. CHECK OUT SOME "BRAIN FOODS"

So maybe all this advice sounds a little too obvious for you and you want something a bit more exotic. Allow us to offer a few dietary suggestions, also known as "brain foods." They may or may not work for you, but we figured we'd let you know about them in case you're desperate enough to try anything.

A proper diet is obviously important to give you the energy and focus you need to study. And though it might be tempting to scarf down Extra Value Meals and Ding Dongs all day long, it's probably a much better idea to eat a balanced, healthy diet full of essential vitamins and nutrients. Some of these nutrients have been directly linked with mental focus and even intelligence. For example, a British study recently found a correlation between dieting and intelligence, concluding that one in four British schoolgirls involved in the study was damaging her IQ by dieting and depriving herself of iron. The study's authors conclude that because of the frequency of dieting among young women, poor iron status is common among British adolescent girls, and that diet and iron levels play an important role in determining IQ.

"The Four Gs"--ginkgo, ginseng, Siberian ginseng and gotu kola

In their book Herbs for Health and Healing, Kathi Keville and Peter Korn discuss clinical studies which have shown that the "four Gs" - ginkgo, ginseng, Siberian ginseng, and gotu kola, enhance mental abilities, including "concentration, aptitude, behavior, alertness and even intelligence." This may be due to an increase in oxygen flow to the brain when these herbs are taken. While these effects are particularly notable in older people who have begun to show a decline in their mental faculties, many college students especially have relied on the four Gs for memory enhancement.

The best-known herb for improving memory is ginkgo, and almost all the "memory enhancing" supplements you come across will contain this herb. As Keville and Korn report in this excerpt from their book, when students are given ginkgo before a study session, "usually at least half the students say they can really tell the difference," and the effect is even more pronounced when it is combined with ginseng or Siberian ginseng.

By the way, the "smart drinks" you may find at your local club or rave are likely also a mixture of these herbs and amino acids, though you may want to be sure you know what's in your smart drink before drinking it. And no, this does not mean you should head to the nearest rave to prepare for your midterm. Save those tranced-out dance moves for after the test.

Vitamin E

A number of vitamins are useful in improving the functioning of the body, including the brain. In particular, researchers have linked a lack of Vitamin E with memory loss.
However, these studies tend to involve older people who are more likely to suffer brain degeneration due to aging. So while you should have sufficient Vitamin E in your diet to protect your mental faculties, it is not proven that a megadose of Vitamin E is going to help you out on the big exam (although you may find vitamin supplements that appear to make this claim).

While wheat germ, corn oil and peanut oil all have high levels of Vitamin E, and while meats are also a good source, supplements may be the best way to increase your intake. Make sure you talk to your doctor first, however: Vitamin E thins your blood, so don't take it if you use anticoagulants or are going to have surgery soon.

Lecithin

Medical studies have shown that lecithin (which is a "phospholipid" - don't ask), and its most significant component, choline, are beneficial in treating neurological disorders, memory loss, and depression. Lecithin may be involved in the transport of lipids and cholesterol (the good kind) from the liver to the blood, and this may also help account for lecithin's role in circulatory system health and enhanced brain function.

Natural sources of lecithin are usually high in fat and cholesterol, such as eggs, dairy products, and meats, although lecithin itself contains no cholesterol. Fruits and vegetables are generally very low in lecithin, with the exceptions of avocados (a "brain food," though high in fat) and soybeans (which are good for you, so eat up). Again, we must stress that although you should have plenty of lecithin in your diet, the relationship between this substance and the brain is not well understood.

So there you have it. Whether through herbs, organization or plain old commitment, it's possible to break the cycle of sub-standard studying - no matter how much of an underachieving slacker you currently are.