StatePoint

With seemingly endless reading, lengthy term papers and make-or-break exams, the academic life of a college student can be nothing short of demanding. What’s more, many students hold down part-time jobs and participate in extracurriculars during the semester.

While there are only so many hours in a day, students can make more of the time they do have by studying smarter, not harder. Here are a few tips to keep your head above water.

• Take smarter notes. Gone are the days of taking furious notes in class by hand. However, merely typing up class notes is also an antiquated notion for today’s tech-savvy students. There are many note-taking apps on the market that can help you organize, sort and share multimedia notes. The good news is that some of these are free. While each app has its own set of features, all of this tech can make the lecture hall a friendlier place and make study time more convenient.

• Find your sweet spot. Whether it’s a study carrel in the library, the student lounge of your dormitory or a shady spot in the quad, finding locations that inspire you to buckle down is crucial. Knowing your own study habits and needs can help you situate yourself wisely.

• Leverage campus assistance. Most colleges offer a wealth of student resources that can help you make the grade, from tutors to writing centers that offer helpful feedback on papers. At the very least, students should visit advisors and professors during their office hours, as well as be sure to visit the reference librarian’s desk when lost or overwhelmed in the stacks.

• Use new resources. New resources are helping students succeed in their courses. For example, every student who takes out a Sallie Mae Smart Option Student Loan or Graduate Student Loan gets free, exclusive access to Study Starter, an online tutoring and studying portal from the experts at Chegg, a leading provider of textbooks and student services. Available 24/7, it can quickly provide help to students when they need it most, whether it’s 2 a.m. or 2 p.m.

Students can select between 120 minutes of free online access to tutors or four months of free online access to step-by-step solutions to problems and study questions and answers. There is also a combination option as well. The results are proven — 88 percent of students who use Chegg Tutors say it helps them feel less stressed about schoolwork and 94 percent of Chegg Study users say it helped them get homework done with less stress.

“Making college affordable so students can enroll is only the first step. Up-front, in-school benefits can help them succeed in classes and graduate on time,” says Martha Holler, senior vice president at Sallie Mae.

For more information, visit SallieMae.com/StudyStarter.

If academic performance weights heavily on your mind, use all the available resources you have at your disposal, from on-campus advisors to online tutors and study aids, and add them to your own resolve to succeed.