What are some good studying habits?

Question

I'm studying for a Viology regents this year. I want to do as well as possible, so I would like to know everything that would help me do well. (Like food, exercise, studying...the whole thing)

Answer 1

Two of the most impressive physics students I knew my freshman year had the following very important study habits: avoid pulling "all-nighters", be sparing with time chosen for socializing, come home from classes to do homework/studying, go to dinner, go back to library to do more homework/studying, return to dorm room to do a little more homework/studying and always go to bed promptly by midnight.

Their example showed me how foolish those other people were, who waited until too late and then spent all night studying. The latter group were always getting Ds and Fs, while the two I mention above always got A or A+ in _all_ their classes, both technical and humanities.

Unfortunately, I didn't get much insight into how they learned to really understand what they read, but I did also learn not to be shy about 1) taking reading notes 2) making your own outlines of what was read 3) reading teacher-recommended supplementary reading.

Finally, there is a great book about this topic, perhaps more applicable to humanities than to physics: "How to Read a Book" by Adler & Van Doren.