THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS PROGRAMS
WEEKLY STUDY TIPS FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 8th
Dr. Amy L. Jarmon, Assistant Dean for Academic Success Programs
Wow! Over six inches of rain yesterday on top of the rain earlier in the week – we
suddenly have our own Lake Lanier. So, how are you spending your unexpected day of
no classes? Here are some suggestions as to what you want to focus on as we finish
week four of the semester:
 This weekend would be a great time to get on a two-day-ahead reading schedule
if you are not already using this technique. You read on Saturday for Monday,
Sunday for Tuesday, Monday for Wednesday, Tuesday for Thursday, and
Wednesday for Friday. Why use this method?
o You are more likely to read for understanding instead of highlighting to
learn later if you are not rushing your reading.
o You use your most flexible days (the weekend) to start on the cycle.
o You start the week with two days of reading already completed.
o All of your reading is completed by Wednesday.
o If your professor gets more than 40 pages behind in class on the reading
assignments, you can wait on reading for the next class because you are
already caught up.
o You open up Thursday and Friday for outlines, review of outlines, practice
questions, writing of papers, class projects, study groups or other uses.
o Most students will have one other evening during the week open up as
well for these types of study tasks.
o You can budget ALL tasks during the week within 50 – 55 hours so that
you are “on top” of your work all semester.
o When you have free time in your schedule (for most students, over parts
of the weekend), you can actually enjoy the time instead of feeling guilty
that you are not studying.
 Now is a good time to begin your outlines for each class if you have not done so.
With four weeks of material, you have enough content to process the bigger
picture and to determine the essential parts that need to be included.
o If you have never outlined before or have trouble with outlines, Dean
Jarmon will be holding workshops this coming week to help you with the
process. Check the green handout from your mailbox or watch for the
listserv announcement.
o Educational research shows that you gain a deeper understanding and
retain more information if you make your own outlines rather than using
“hand-me-downs.”
o If the professor uses a topic-subtopic syllabus, you can use that structure
for your outline. If not, you can use the table of contents for your
casebook for the sections that your professor covers.
o Once you complete your outlines to your current point in the classes, plan
to outline every week so that the material will be fresh in your mind.
o By reviewing your completed outlines every week, you will retain more
material and not have to re-learn the information at the end of the
semester.
 Practice questions can be completed whenever you finish a topic. You can
sometimes find practice questions as well for discrete sub-topics. If you
complete many practice questions throughout the semester, you will be more
skilled at applying the material to new fact scenarios.
o Sources for practice questions can be: questions handed out by your
professor; questions provided in tutoring if you are a 1L; “spin-offs” that
you design from these questions to trade with study partners; questions
in practice question books; questions from our law school’s exam
database.
o Generally, start with shorter and less complex practice questions to apply
the concepts after you have reviewed the material. Choose longer and
harder questions as you feel more confident about a topic.
 For those students who may be behind in reading and briefing of cases for one
or more classes, there are some specific things to consider:
o Your first priority should be staying up with the current reading for
classes. Otherwise, you will be confused in your classes as well as
behind in your reading.
o Catch up on back reading in manageable increments. Depending on the
course, you may choose to catch up by a certain number of pages (5 or
10 pages) or number of cases (2 or 3 cases) at a time spread over
several days.
o Spending an entire weekend catching up on reading may be inefficient
because it will exclude time to read for the coming week.
 Evaluate whether you are using your time efficiently and effectively. Efficiency is
about good use of time. Effectiveness is about getting the results that are
needed from that time.
o Avoid frittering away time whenever possible. Have a structured time
management schedule with specific blocks of time for tasks in each
course.
o Use smaller blocks of time for “lighter tasks” such as reviewing class
notes, drilling with flash cards, or reviewing before class.
o Use larger blocks of time for reading, outlining, reviewing outlines, working
on projects, or writing papers.