How to Cope with all the reading

The simple way is to not do it. Most degree courses require some reading, so don’t expect to get away with it by picking Performance Art.

Don’t expect to get away with watching the film of the book either, when you’re asked about a chapter cut from the film version or asked which page that scene is on your floundering will give you away to an alert lecturer.

You will be expected to read at least some of the material. Know the rules, in some unis you’re expected to attend all lectures and other classes, in some you’re expected to attend most. Find out how many classes you’re allowed to miss, and then miss them when there’s a lot of homework or a massive book to read. Don’t waste them on the first week, you’re unlikely to do anything this week so take it easy, go to class and save that day off for the last week of term and go home early.

There is no way of getting out of reading for exams, which is why I would suggest checking out how the course is evaluated: some are completely coursework, others all exams. Find one you’re comfortable with, coursework is easier to cheat on obviously but the work is more spread out. Exams are very pressurized but you are unlikely to have too many.

Secondary reading: this is the reading you do to compliment the topic of the essay and to back-up your ideas. If you’re doing an essay on Dickens then Thomas Paine might be someone to look at for secondary reading. Ask for a secondary reading list from the lecturer and get the books out early, they’ll all be gone if you wait too long. Look up the subject of your essay (on your Dickens essay this could be the working class) in the index and then scan the pages for specific words to do with your essay. You can probably do about ten books in a couple of hours, may be less, and then you’ve got all your secondary reading done while your friends are reading the whole book, or whole chapters to find a single paragraph you picked out in minutes. You learn these sorts of time-saving gems after you’ve been at uni for a few years.

Learn your lecturers, some will let you sit at the back and make no noise if you haven’t read the book, others will actually shout at you and kick you out of the room. Sometimes it's easier to just do the damn work…

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