Statistically almost 50 per cent of students who commence a program don't complete their program.

There are many factors to look at when considering this statistic — the student may have chosen a program they're not interested in or they may have had to leave because of personal reasons. Fanshawe's student success facilitator Cheryl Mills clarified that "More often they are dropping out after midterms when they get grades back that say they're not doing well and that's a really strong wakeup call."

So how can you beat the odds? Whether it's your first year at Fanshawe or you're a returning student, here are some tips for success.

Why do students get behind with their studies during the month of September? "I think it's because students have had this opportunity to be unscheduled, and there's also good weather and lots of freedom," Mills said. Remaining focused and avoiding all those first-month distractions is one part of the key to success.

Mills stressed that organization and time management are the most essential tools for success. She suggested three tools to help you stay on track with your work. Firstly, she recommended mapping out all of your due dates and posting them above your desk — "This will help you to see the big picture," she noted. Secondly, you need a daily to-do list. "Not only will it help you get a quality sleep at night, but I also suggest you look at the list in the morning so you know exactly what you have to accomplish that day." Thirdly, get a planner, whether it's an app on your smartphone or a paper agenda. "Put everything into a planner — include your whole life: a dentist appointment, coaching appointment, a placement — whatever it might be. Your life is reflected into that schedule so you can start looking for gaps to put in study times and plan ahead."

Another challenging problem students encounter is timing and project management. Thinking twice about booking a full weekend of social activities when so many events are available is not easy to turn down. "Students often underestimate how much time it will take them to complete a task," Mills said. "The rule of thumb is that for every hour you spend in class, we recommend that you spend two hours of independent study."

Most midterms or big papers aren't due until October, though, so what's the rush? "There's a misnomer about studying that it's something we do only before a midterm, quiz or final," Mills said. "Studying is something we do each and every day." Keeping up with your work and making notes after each class can make a big difference. Mills said that, theoretically, the best way to learn information is repetition. "What they suggest is that we need a minimum of three repetitions with the same context." There's a catch, though — these repetitions must happen within a 24-hour window.

Mills clarified "The first repetition is reading the textbook before class — all of the words, definitions, theories and formulas that are going to be discussed in class. This will allow students to go to class and not be a secretary taking diction; it allows them to put the pen down and use their brains to process the information and then write notes (the second repetition). The third repetition would be reviewing the notes and creating study notes for the exam that same day."

Studying techniques in high school and studying in college can be very different. The material can become increasingly difficult and you'll be expected to learn at a faster pace. We all know that studying in advance is a must, but what else should we know about study habits? According to Mills, most students are nighthawks, so for them, she recommended studying at night when their brains are awake. In terms of what to study, "I'm going to encourage them to start with subject matter that they either find most difficult, overwhelmingly challenging or the most boring, uninteresting material. You want to work on these first when your brain is most alert." Getting the hardest information out of the way first will help you feel less stressed and more accomplished.

We all choose different tactics for studying. Some of us are verbal learners, some are visual and some are auditory. Maybe you make cue cards, record audio in class and listen to it at night or write out information a million times until it's stuck in your mind. But, if pure memorization is your regular go-to strategy, Mills said you may want to think twice.

"The other thing I really encourage students to do is not to memorize. If you are looking at a theorist, for example, truly understand what this theorist believes in rather than citing word-for-word what your textbook says. If making cue cards, resist the urge to write wordfor- word because the way the textbook is written is not remotely similar to the way you think, speak or write, yourself. Comprehend, truly understand the material and this will make the shift to the longterm memory."

The other problem with memorization is that most courses have final exams many months after you first learn the information. If you are not truly grasping the information that you're reading, you will likely experience difficulties recalling the details four months down the road. Mills warned, "You're essentially looking back at all 14 weeks of material trying to learn it ... it's just not worth it."