Study Tips

Success in college courses requires more advanced study skills.  While most students already have some study skills from their high school education, college is a time to add to and improve upon those skills.  (To quickly assess your own study skills, take The Discovery Wheel assessment.)

One of the most important things that students can learn from college is learning how to learn. Most college graduates are prepared to succeed in their everyday lives because they have learned to do the following:

• They know how to ask the right questions
• They know where to find answers to these questions
• They know how to get the work done even when it is difficult (e.g., complex, time-consuming, boring)
• They know how to use their newly learned information in a variety of ways.

Clearly, these skills are useful not only in school, but also at work and in other situations.

College is a time where people have the opportunity to learn and practice these skills.  Thus it is no wonder why many employers look for college graduates, often regardless of major, because they know that the most successful employees possess the skills necessary to solve problems and perform. They have learned how to learn.

Counseling Services offers many options to help you improve your study skills:

• You can meet one-on-one with a counselor to focus on improving your study skills.
• We offer CPD 150: Strategies for College Success. This 3-credit class can help you assess your own strengths and weakness and then learn and apply new study skills. This course transfers directly to all of three Arizona state universities (they all offer the same class).
• We have a resource room with books and pamphlets on a variety of study skills for your perusal.

The following websites have a wealth of information to help you succeed:

• Study Guides and Strategies available in up to 23 different languages
• Learn how to improve your studying at Chemeketa Community College's Study Skills page
• Improve your learning skills at George Washington University's Academic Success Center
• Check out self-help brochures on study skills at Virginia Tech University's Cook Counseling Center
• Assess and improve your motivation at the U. of Victoria's Learning Skills Program
• Improve your grammar and writing style at Ask Miss Grammar
• Improve your writing skills at Purdue University's Online Writing Lab
• Click on the Virtual Pamphlets link to the left and look under "Study Skills," "Test Taking," "Time Management," or "Writing"