I have been asked so many times how I manage to maintain a 3.4 GPA in nursing school while I work 30+ hours/week, run an online business, blog, make videos, keep up with social media, workout and meal prep. I have no idea why I have waited so long to share my tips but alas, here they are!
Right before I started nursing school I invested in a book called How to Become a Straight A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport and it was the BEST $9 I ever spent. It literally cut down the amount of time I spent studying, reading and taking notes by half and my grades were better than ever.
Most, actually ALL of the study strategies I use in nursing school come from this book. I wish I would have known about it during my first Bachelor’s degree because it would have made my life so much easier and my GPA would have been A LOT higher.
#1: Plan your time! It is so important to understand how much time you really have in a day to get your reading, note taking and studying done. What I suggest is to buy yourself a planner and a small note pad. On the note pad right down your To Do’s and in your planner make note of any tests, assignment due dates, class schedule, work schedule, on campus or school activities. This will let you know exactly how much of your to do list you can actually get done any given day. I have a great HOW TO video on this you can watch here.
#2: Go to class and take good notes! I don’t care how much the professor sucks or how early your class meets or how far you have to walk or drive, go to class. It cuts out so much study time. Professors often will let you know what is and isn’t important to know and what will or will not be on the test. I can’t tell you how many times I have skipped class read a whole chapter only to find out half the things I read and took notes on we wouldn’t be tested on even though it was on the syllabus. Talk about a waste of time. Professors ultimately DO NOT want you to fail. So they will give you everything you need know to do to well on the exams.
When you do take notes in class take them in a Question, Evidence, Conclusion format for non science and math courses. Read more on it here.
If you are in a science or math course the best format for me is to answer the class objectives and to write down as many examples with detailed steps as possible.
#3: Find out what is fair game! On the first day of class one of the first things I usually ask my professor is what text book they consider the main text book for the class. Then I make sure to do all the reading assignments in that book and forget all the other “supplemental” material unless I am told there WILL be question on the test from that particular course.
Make sure to ask 2 weeks before the exam what type of questions you can expect. Will it be essay, multiple choice, fill in the blanks, what material will be on the exam. For science and math courses ask if you will be expected to memorize the formulas or will they be provided to you. Also ask if you can use calculators. All of this will help know exactly how to study when it comes down to it.
#4 Create a Study Guide/Use the Quiz + Recall Method/Study Groups should be last! If you used the Question/Evidence/Conclusion format or answered the class objectives and wrote down all practice questions from class you already have the material you need to create a study guide. 1 week before the exam take all the questions/problems and group them together by subject or class topic. Then type or write out all the questions with out the answers. This will be your study guide.
When it comes to actually studying, you want to use the Quiz and Recall Method. You can read up on it here. But basically you will ask your self a question out loud and recite the answer with out looking at your notes. For math or science problems you will try solve the problems with out looking at your notes.
Make a note next to any question you didn’t know the answer to and look up or figure out the answer. Then you will repeat the Quiz and Recall Method only for the questions you could not answer. You will repeat this process until you are able to answer every questions/objective or solve any problem on your own.
Once you have studied on your own. Anything you don’t know or need help on you can discuss with your study group. During your studying group you should be firing off questions/answers to each other. Don’t waste time chit chatting.
Make sure you are done studying 1 day before the exam. Use that time to relax, hang out, go to bed early.
#5 Don’t stress the day of the test! If you did everything listed above you will be ready and prepared to tackle this exam and Ace it.
Take a deep breath and accept that what you know you know and what you don’t know, you don’t know. Take it one question at a time. Answer the ones you know for sure and those you don’t, leave them blank and skip over them, come back to them at the end. Go with your first instinct, your gut will not lie to you but your mind will trick you if you think about a question for too long. TRUST ME! So many times I selected the answer that came to my mind instantly, only to second guess myself and change it….I ALWAYS GET IT WRONG WHEN I CHANGE MY ANSWER!!! If its a math or science problem, double check your work and ask yourself, does this answer make sense based on what the problem asked.
I promise you that all of these tips will save you so much time and improve your grades dramatically. You just have to make sure you put in good focused work and time. Get the book, it really gives some great examples.
If you have any other study methods that you have used throughout school share them below in the comments.