Uni students lamenting their previous decisions and wondering “why did I leave myself this much to do?” is a story as old as university itself. Here are some tips to avoid that - let’s be honest - very nasty feeling near the end of the semester.

 

Don’t float through Week 1

We get it - Week 1 is often introductory and, in some respects, can be a bit of a transition from uni holidays back to the study grind. If you’re smart about it, however, you can use Week 1 to your advantage.

It’s pretty unlikely that you’ll have relevant assessment tasks straight away in Week 1; a lot of the time, it’s difficult to make a start on them until you’ve navigated your way through at least some of the subject content, and some assessment tasks aren’t even available until later in the teaching period. 

You can, however, often make study easier for yourself later in the semester in other ways. Here are some ideas for Week 1 further to your regular classes and commitments.

"You can... often make study easier for yourself later in the semester in other ways."

  • If you have the time, you can read ahead. Usually, assigned readings or other preparatory activities are available for each week from the start of the semester. You’ll sometimes need to wait until you have required knowledge to get the most out of your readings, but other readings can be done at any time. If you have time at the beginning of the semester, you can get through some of these to lighten your load later on.

  • Be clear on upcoming assessments and deadlines. Something a lot of students do is only look one week ahead. Unfortunately, this means assessments - and sometimes really big assessments - can creep up on you. You can counter this somewhat by laying it all out at the beginning of the semester. How are you being assessed for each unit? When are those assessments? How will you need to prepare? Adopt a broad lens at the start of the semester to ensure you don’t let assessment tasks creep up on you.

  • Make sure your ‘system’ is sorted. What we mean by this is knowing how you’re going to study. You don’t want to waste time during the semester on stuff like buying your materials, working out how you want to take notes, or re-organising your resources. Instead, you want to invest that time into stuff that will help improve your marks - so actually studying and completing assessments. To give yourself the best chance to do this, it’s important to get yourself ready before the semester even starts, including having everything you need (textbooks, lab materials etc. - this will vary from course to course), and knowing what works for you best in a study sense.

 

Chip away at revision and assessments

The funny thing with university assessments is that different subjects sometimes have assessments due at the same time. What that means is that you might have a few ‘blocks’ of assessments due in the same period. What that also means is that you might not have anything due for the first few weeks.

"... you might have a few 'blocks' of assessments due in the same period."

In those first few weeks, it’s really easy to play the “I’ll just do it later” game, because there’s nothing super time-sensitive, and perhaps you’re just easing your way back into uni life. But doing this causes a bit of a domino effect; you’ll have to cram your assessments into a shorter time period, meaning you might fall behind on your regular class material, meaning you’ll need to catch up and subsequently start the next assessments later, meaning you’ll have to cram those assessments into a shorter time period, and so on.

 

Keep SWOTVAC/STUVAC open for dedicated exam revision

One benefit of working consistently throughout the semester is that you keep a wider window open for dedicated exam revision. Often, this will include SWOTVAC/STUVAC.

If you don’t work consistently, often what happens is that you necessarily use SWOTVAC/STUVAC to catch up on overdue assessments or notes from earlier weeks. If you’re watching lectures for the first time just before exams start, you’re not giving yourself the best chance of absorbing that information, honing your understanding, and getting prepared for potential exam questions. You’re playing catch-up.

The old saying “it’s a marathon, not a sprint” sort of applies to the university semester. Putting in the hard yards early will ease your workload later on, and help you avoid late nights and early starts. It might be difficult to get motivated early in the semester, but working consistently will be in your best interest, rather than leaving yourself with too much to do in too little time.

Good luck!