1. Value your Experience

Think of the significant lessons you’ve learned since you were last in school.

No doubt you’ve learned a great deal about human relationships through a broad range of interactions. You may have learned about health and medicine through the birth of a child or the illness or injury of someone dear to you.

Perhaps you’ve acquired technical skills through employment or home maintenance, repair and improvement. A love of travel could have exposed you to other languages and cultures. Certainly you’ve learned the value of academic credentials, something your younger classmates may not yet realize. Clearly, you don’t have to be in a classroom to learn.

Not only are your life and work experiences valid, they can sometimes give you an advantage over your less experienced classmates. Making connections between classroom studies and life experiences can enliven and enrich not only your own learning, but that of your teachers and classmates, too.

2. Get off on the right foot

Talk to your loved ones about your return to school, and the new commitments and responsibilities you will have. Work towards achieving understanding and support of the changes ahead. Sharon Daugherty offers advice for navigating this process in, “Helping them Help You”.

Getting off on the right foot also means managing your time effectively and establishing good study habits. One of the first steps to establishing good study habits is understanding your learning style. Do you learn by seeing? hearing? doing? Try some learning style self-assessment questionnaires to help you decide. Once equipped with an understanding of your learning style, brainstorm how to make the most of it. For example, if you are an audio learner, make sure to choose a seat where you will be able to hear clearly. Consider taping lectures and your own study notes for review purposes.

Practice good study habits from the outset. Invest in tabbed binders to keep your notes organized by subject. Maintain a calendar of homework, assignment and test descriptions and dates. Break big tasks (e.g., writing a term paper) down into smaller, more manageable targets (e.g., locate library and Internet resources; read and take notes; plan essay outline; write; proof-read; edit). Review materials regularly and consult a tutor or your teacher immediately when you encounter items you don’t understand.

3. See the directory of study tips on this site for advice and resources on note-taking, essay writing and preparing for tests and more.

4. Get Comfortable with Technology

Campuses have gotten increasingly wired in the past several years. Electronic student cards can be used for everything from making photocopies to signing books out of the library to buying lunch. Library reserves are catalogued and searched on computer databases.

Cell phones ring through the halls, and too often, unfortunately, in the classrooms. Teachers may send and receive assignments by e-mail. You may be taking some or all of your courses online.

Surrounded by younger, computer-savvy classmates, how can you narrow the “generation lap”? Look for free or low-cost computer orientation courses offered by your school. Most libraries help users learn to search their databases and Internet resources. Schools may also offer workshops in basic keyboarding and computer skills.

A great deal of information and support can also be found online. On this site, see “Essential Computer Skills: Getting Started” and “Succeeding with Technology: 5 Tips for Re-entry Students.”

5. Develop a Support Network

Sometimes it helps just to know that you’re not alone. Whether you are a career changer, single mother, domestic violence survivor, recovering alcoholic, widow/widower, “Baby Boomer” or septuagenarian, there ARE students like you, who share similar interests and concerns.

If your school doesn’t have an adult student support group, consider starting one up yourself or participating in an online community. Virtual communities for nontraditional students include the About Adult/Continuing Education discussion forum and the Association for Non-Traditional Students in Higher Education’s Listserv.

If the going gets tough, think of the reasons you decided to return to school, and keep your eye on the prize. Successfully managing the challenges of returning to school is a rewarding achievement. Good luck!

I tackled college after the birth of my third child. If that wasn’t bad enough, I was a high school drop out and only completed the 8th grade. I had my GED and thought this was impossible but I did it. I earned a BA degree with honors by following a few rules I set: – I only went part time, 2 classes per semester – Took a balance of online and face-to-face classes. This cut down on away from home time. – Kept a framed list of the quotes from those people who said I couldn’t do it. My motivation. – Surrounded myself with only those who supported me Other than all the normal “school success tips” you can look up, these little things really did help me. Good luck!

-time management

-figure out which hrs you’d work best (for school work). For ex, if u’d work better at night, then u might want to get the night classes and etc.

-plan ahead, put down all the test days n etc in ur planner

-waking up early to get all the other things done

-get help whenever possible

-get phone #’s from ur classmates

Pretty much, it’s about time management. Dont procrastinate.

Try to think outside the box a bit- ie. using the commute to work to listen to a cd related to study- getting a book on cd to review in the car, or bringing the book on the train to read or study.

Using lunch break at work to do homework.

Starting an online study group to help and get help from others, or just exchanging emails to make sure everyone is on track- ie. if your kid gets sick and you miss class, you can still get the notes from Sara and John via email.

Using time in a non-traditional way helps keep you on track.

Do you mean an adult as in “non-traditional” age?

i.e. 25 or older?