You don’t have to make a science of your semester preparation and plan every detail extensively. That wouldn’t work anyway. You should only try to keep an eye on the most important building blocks for your success.
Just stick to these seven points:
#1 Class Schedule
Never start your semester without having prepared an exact timetable beforehand. You need to know which subjects are waiting for you and which courses you will take part in.
Draw up a precise weekly plan and note the lecture hall as well as the name of the course and the time. Important: Do a little research on your modules beforehand: What content is covered? Is there an official module description? How is the lecturer? Where exactly is the lecture hall on campus?
The better you plan these organizational things beforehand, the less you have to deal with them at the start of the semester and you can concentrate fully on your studies instead. You can also react more quickly to changes in your study plan if you change or bring forward modules.
Don’t have a study plan yet? Then make one – like this:
How to create a study plan quickly and easily (advice here)
#2 Important Deadlines and Dates
As a student, you need to learn to manage your calendar. If you don’t have it, he has you under control – and you don’t want that. Therefore, get an overview of the most important deadlines and dates at your university as early as possible.
The most important are: registration deadlines for courses, registration deadlines for exams, exam dates, start and end of lectures.
Collect these and other dates in your calendar and set multiple reminders for particularly important deadlines so that you never forget them.
#3 Exam Schedule
In addition to your timetable and the most important individual dates, you have to keep one thing in mind during your semester: your exam phase. Many students are regularly surprised by their exams and then wonder why there is so little time for preparation. The problem is: You don’t have an exam schedule.
Therefore, not only collect your exam dates but also calculate the respective preparation time directly at the beginning of the semester. Enter each exam preparation in your calendar and reserve the appropriate days or weeks directly so that you are informed early on of any overlapping or impending conflicts.
This exam schedule will have your back in the hot phase of the semester and ensure that you don’t run out of time.
I’ll show you here how to get your time management in order during your studies:
Book: Bachelor of Time – Time Management in Studies
#4 Examination Regulations
The most annoying, but also one of the most important items on your checklist is to check your current exam regulations. Check right at the start of the semester whether there have been any changes to your examination regulations or whether a new version has been released.
Your examination regulations are the most important document in your entire course of study. It sets the general conditions according to which you study; it determines the rules of the game, so to speak. And you have to know these rules if you want to play successfully.
During my work as a study advisor, I have seen many students who did not pay attention to their examination regulations and were therefore suddenly faced with major problems in their studies. Avoid these (homemade) problems at all costs!
#5 Books and Materials
Even before the first lecture, but at the latest before your semester really picks up speed, you should find out which teaching materials and books you will need in the coming weeks and months. If you take care of this point right at the start of the semester, you can later concentrate fully on learning and don’t have to worry about organizing your study documents.
This way you also ensure that rare textbooks are not out of print or already on loan when you need them urgently. A nice side effect: If you look through the scripts, books, exercises, and collection of materials from your lecturers early on, you can better estimate the learning effort and speculate less often.
And that can still prove to be valuable as the semester progresses, for example when you write your summaries and create your study materials for exam preparation.
# 6 Semester Goals
After you have clarified the most important formalities at your university for the start of the new semester, it is now getting more personal. Next, you need to determine what your own goals are for the new semester.
What do you want to achieve this semester? How would you like to study this semester? Which test results do you want to aim for? And how do you want to achieve that? What should your student life look like? What do you have to change to be happier? And who can help you?
Many students think they have goals. In reality, however, they only have a few dreams and wishful thinking running through their heads. And that’s exactly the problem. Without goals, you will always fall short of your potential and never reach your full potential. Not setting goals is one of the most powerful ways to remain unproductive and unsuccessful throughout life. There’s no better way to slow yourself down.
#7 Mindset
Once you’ve got your goals clearly defined, there’s only one last question left to answer – and that’s your why. why are you studying what is your motivation What do you expect of yourself and why will you make it? Why is this semester going to be really good?
I know many students who fall into a small hole after the lecture-free period and lose their motivation. At the start of the semester, they lack the energy and positive attitude to be fully involved right from the start. And that’s the beginning of the end.
So, get in the mood for your new semester in a positive way. Work on your mindset and talk yourself into it. Even if the last semester didn’t go perfectly. Now is your chance to start over and make things right again. You just have to be ready and believe in yourself hard.
In the End
Remember that you can deal with your studies: numerous people before you have already done it, and so will you! Just, don’t be afraid to buy letters of recommendation or delegate assignments when you really need to.