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How to Study in College

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This best-selling text has helped over a million students transform adequate work into academic success. The Ninth Edition maintains the straightforward and traditional academic format that have made it the leading study skills text in the market. Based on widely tested educational and learning theories, How to Study in College teaches study techniques such as visual thinking, active listening, concentration, note taking, and test taking, while also incorporating material on life skills. Questions in the Margin, introduced in the previous edition and based on the Cornell Note Taking System, places key questions about content in the margins of the text to provide students with a means for reviewing and reciting the book's main ideas. Students then use this concept--the Q-System--to formulate their own questions. The Ninth Edition has been revised to include fewer questions in later chapters to encourage students to practice the Q System and provide their own questions so that they can learn to apply these concepts in subsequent academic courses. Marginal "It's Your Q" icons alert students when they should develop a question.

392 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

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About the author

Walter Pauk

103 books13 followers
Walter Pauk, Cornell University's reading and study center director, is author of the best-selling How To Study In College. Pauk has been lauded as "one of the most influential professors in the field of developmental education and study skills". He created Cornell Notes. In 1997, Pauk was recognized for his work with the Pearl Anniversary Award by The College Reading and Learning Association.

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5 stars
44 (38%)
4 stars
35 (30%)
3 stars
25 (21%)
2 stars
6 (5%)
1 star
4 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
Profile Image for Yousif Al Zeera.
277 reviews94 followers
December 13, 2015
This book is just great. Forget the title, it is actually more than just "studying in college". It gives you impressive science into things like memory, handwriting, data collecting, health, nutrition, etc even things like your room lightning and posture and enhanced sleeping.

So it is sort of looking "comprehensively" into your studying ways/techniques AND lifestyle to convey in a scientific way how you can excel in your studies so this book is beneficial even to post-college life.
Profile Image for Barrie Evans.
57 reviews7 followers
April 15, 2009
I have a previous edition of this book. I had to add my rating to it because it gave me a direction to go in when I was in grad school. I thought that being a good student depended upon talent. Pauk teaches usable skills, not gimmicks. I wish I had had this book when I went to college for my undergrad. It would have saved me a lot of anxiety and wasted hours.
Profile Image for Sarezh kamla.
102 reviews96 followers
October 3, 2013
how to study in college ! this was a question i needed it is answer ..
i found the book with more than 400 pages , and i started before college will be open ..
so this book was talked in very wide rang that doesn't leave any any points you need during full year of studying , i gave 2 stars ( it was ok ) yes it was ok for me , .
i am not blaming the writers this is fault of our system and my college that some rules and in some point the book say some thing that you can apply or follow up here in , half of this book was only words and useless but other pars at beginning about ( building foundation : skill and concepts , stress , focus and concentration .. ) .
Profile Image for Anna.
5 reviews
July 16, 2019
This was a very helpful book, particularly addressing study and note-taking habits. I also benefited from the sections on scheduling and foreign language study. The author's writes clearly and concisely with a humorous tone.
Profile Image for Mehul Sheth.
157 reviews9 followers
May 10, 2022
Actually a summary of various different techniques used to help learn. It includes things as mundane as speed reading to formal techniques for notetaking as well as eliminating stress and test taking skills. This is a great book not only for college students, but any student including those of informal studies.
Profile Image for Barrett.
73 reviews1 follower
October 18, 2023
I brought this home from the library the other day and my wife looked at me like I had literally lost my mind. But it is absolutely worth spending an hour or two to at least skim it.

I found the chapters on Listening to Take Good Notes and Learning from Your Textbooks to be really useful. I'm applying what I learned about Cornell notes and the Notes in the Margin system for learning from textbooks currently in preparation I'm doing for an upcoming certification exam.
Profile Image for Xialin.
64 reviews
Read
May 4, 2020
I wish I have read this book when I was in uni, and I would probably give it a 4 or 5 stars. Good for freshmen who have no clue when starting university.

Now I have graduated for many years, I only pick chapters that are generally useful for learning and personal development, e.g. planning, note taking, effective discussion etc.
448 reviews2 followers
April 7, 2025
How To Study Seventh Edition by Thomas F. Staton was an informative and useful read.

I am better equipped to study, retain, and communicate effectively after having absorbed the knowledge within the book.

I highly recommend How To Study to every person seeking greater comprehension skills for memory retention and test taking.

Reading this book was time well spent.
Profile Image for Ama.
47 reviews1 follower
April 27, 2012
Was seriously one of the most helpful books I ever read in college!
Profile Image for Llorón De icamole.
1 review
January 13, 2014
as other people said, this book gives you a direction to go when you're a student, i wish to have it before...
Profile Image for alex.
152 reviews35 followers
Read
July 22, 2016
i actually have the 2nd edition of this book, printed in 1974. my mom found it at her friends garage sale and it's actually still pretty useful.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews

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