College and high school are not the same. Turns out, college is not even playing the same game as high school.

In high school, most of the time you could scrape by on tests by just paying attention in class and doing the assignments. That is not the case in college. Here, it is not so simple.

Your professors aren’t going to hand you a piece of paper and say do your best. They’re going to assign a test, tell you what to study and set you out on your own. It’s up to you to have everything you need.

This is where classes and notes come in handy. It is not always ideal to take notes in class. Especially when your attention span is that of a squirrel. So get the notes online and copy them into a notebook after class.

Writing them down outside of a noisy class can help you better understand what you are learning. Then, if the professor lets you use your notes for a test, you’ll have them ready.

Pay attention during class. Group discussions and information that isn’t on the notes is just as important. All of the other ideas that get thrown around may be something you need to know and remember.

It is also important to test prep outside of class. You can’t expect that you learned and remembered everything that happened inside that classroom.

Add studying to your daily routine. If you can’t do it daily, fit it in wherever you can. At least once a week. Not just before a test.

If you only study the information before a test, you’ll get caught up in the most recent work. When you constantly study, you will be able to work on each set of assignments at a time. So you don’t forget about what you learned in the earlier classes.

Use your friends as study sources. Making friends with the people in your classes can benefit you when test time comes around. You’ll be able to study and learn from them, while also helping them as well.

It is more important to understand what you are learning than to just memorize all of the facts. When you get to a question that asks you to explain why, you may find that you can’t answer it. So don’t just memorize everything in your notes, learn more about it.

Don’t cram everything into your brain at once. Work on one subject at a time and don’t spend eight hours studying one thing. Space out your time so you don’t have to do it all at once.

Sticky notes and highlighters will be your best friends. Use highlighters to mark up your notes. Mark what may be more important, so you study it multiple times. Make notes or add more information with sticky notes or note cards.

Flashcards are a great way to work on vital information. You can keep going over them until you memorize them.

If all else fails, teach it to someone else. My high school teachers always made us help each other before they would help us. Teaching the information to your classmates can help it stick in your mind better.

Your professors aren’t going to give you a better grade than you earned. It’s up to you to get the grade you want because you will always get the grade you deserved.

Waiting until the exams hit for you to start studying is only going to make it harder to learn. Continuously review your information so you remember it. If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask your professors and classmates. Don’t wait until it’s too late.