2 answers
Dylan
Student
Oxford, Mississippi
1
Question
Asked
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What does studying in college look like for a computer science major enrolling at a big tech university What are the best study habits to develop while in college??
I'm a relatively good student when it comes to maintaining my grades in high school, and I have developed some study habits. However, none of my classes have pushed me to study hard yet. I'm just looking for some honest advice on managing the huge adjustment to college so I can stay on top of things.
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2 answers
Leanne Hayes
Field Marketing
10
Answers
Basingstoke, England, United Kingdom
Updated
Leanne’s Answer
Hey Dylan, love your proactive approach here!
I didn’t go to university, but I did return to adult study later on, and I know how big the adjustment can be when you’re suddenly responsible for managing your own learning. Whether it’s college, uni, or any kind of further education, the key difference is that no one’s there to keep you on track — it’s all about self-discipline.
What helped me was developing a routine and staying consistent, even when deadlines felt far away. Starting work early and breaking it into smaller tasks really helped avoid that last-minute panic. I also learned that it’s important to ask for help when you need it — whether that’s tutors, peers, or study groups.
Time management is definitely one of the most valuable skills to develop, along with making sure you balance study with rest so you don’t burn out.
If you’re already thinking about how to stay on top of things, you’re ahead of the game — being proactive is half the battle!
I didn’t go to university, but I did return to adult study later on, and I know how big the adjustment can be when you’re suddenly responsible for managing your own learning. Whether it’s college, uni, or any kind of further education, the key difference is that no one’s there to keep you on track — it’s all about self-discipline.
What helped me was developing a routine and staying consistent, even when deadlines felt far away. Starting work early and breaking it into smaller tasks really helped avoid that last-minute panic. I also learned that it’s important to ask for help when you need it — whether that’s tutors, peers, or study groups.
Time management is definitely one of the most valuable skills to develop, along with making sure you balance study with rest so you don’t burn out.
If you’re already thinking about how to stay on top of things, you’re ahead of the game — being proactive is half the battle!
Thank you so much — this really helped to reassure me about some of my concerns. I’m definitely going to take your advice and work on developing a routine (and sticking to it), hopefully before college, so I can better manage fatigue and burnout as much as possible. Usually, in high school, I didn’t ask for help very often, but this opened my eyes that in college, the coursework, load, and pace will be very different, and I need to stay on top of things. I can already see that I will be making many trips to help resources by the sound of things; but, it's nice to hear that things I struggle with, like time management, will get easier with practice.
Thanks again — your advice really stuck with me, I’m feeling a lot more confident about college and the hardships to come.
Dylan
I am so pleased it has helped. Your proactive approach already means you're on the right track....my last little snippet of advice. Try not to think of it as hardships - try to think of your time and effort at college as an investment into your future. Something tells me you're gonna do great. I wish you all the best :-)
Leanne Hayes
Michael Neward
Software Engineer
3
Answers
Renton, Washington
Updated
Michael’s Answer
Having graduated from a smaller college, I can state in my experience, that it's all about keeping track of time.
Even if the study material and tests are not particularly difficult, there will still be projects one will need to get done, typically over long periods of time, and there will be no one to really enforce progress on that project. Programming colleges are even more so about this, with several courses that are just "build this application in this timeframe", and sessions being more time spent to learn and get questions figured out. Rarely will the teacher be that on your case if you are lagging behind.
Being able to accurately budget how much time a project will take, and spend that much time each week will be crucial in those sort of classes.
Some courses also have the possibility to be online only in certain colleges. In those classes, the "class" is spent entirely on the lecture, which can be viewed whenever if one doesn't mind losing the ability to ask questions on the material on the spot. In those, the homework and exams are entirely on your prerogative, and the teacher will rarely ask in class about doing work like this at all.
With the added potential timesinks of part time jobs or figuring out when and how much to unwind with friends/family (which one should absolutely do, lest one go crazy), and one gets the ultimate skill that college teaches, determining ones capacity to work/errands/schooling/relaxation, and how much time is required for each field.
From the sound of things, one should be perfectly fine, especially considering one took the time to set up an account here. That alone speaks for alot.
Even if the study material and tests are not particularly difficult, there will still be projects one will need to get done, typically over long periods of time, and there will be no one to really enforce progress on that project. Programming colleges are even more so about this, with several courses that are just "build this application in this timeframe", and sessions being more time spent to learn and get questions figured out. Rarely will the teacher be that on your case if you are lagging behind.
Being able to accurately budget how much time a project will take, and spend that much time each week will be crucial in those sort of classes.
Some courses also have the possibility to be online only in certain colleges. In those classes, the "class" is spent entirely on the lecture, which can be viewed whenever if one doesn't mind losing the ability to ask questions on the material on the spot. In those, the homework and exams are entirely on your prerogative, and the teacher will rarely ask in class about doing work like this at all.
With the added potential timesinks of part time jobs or figuring out when and how much to unwind with friends/family (which one should absolutely do, lest one go crazy), and one gets the ultimate skill that college teaches, determining ones capacity to work/errands/schooling/relaxation, and how much time is required for each field.
From the sound of things, one should be perfectly fine, especially considering one took the time to set up an account here. That alone speaks for alot.