Ace
Short answer: surveys of university students find that higher achievers are more likely to test themselves, plan their study schedule ahead, cram less, and avoid late-night study, and less likely to be driven by deadlines. These are correlations, not proof that the habits cause better grades, but experiments on the same techniques (practice testing and spacing) show they work. None of it requires a 5am alarm.
Where this evidence comes from
Social media is full of "elite student" routines, and our own feed is no exception. Here we look at a different source: surveys that asked real students how they study and compared that with their grades, backed up by experiments on the techniques involved.
A caution first. Surveys show which habits go together with higher grades. They can't prove the habit caused the grade; strong students might simply find these habits easier. That's why the experimental evidence for each habit matters, and we include it.
Habit 1: they test themselves
Hartwig and Dunlosky (2012) surveyed 324 undergraduates about their study habits and grade point average. Self-testing was positively associated with GPA. (So was rereading, a reminder that survey links are not the whole story.) A later study with a large biology class, Geller and colleagues (2018), used the same survey and found that high-performing students were more likely to endorse self-testing than low-performing ones.
Most students don't do it much. When Karpicke, Butler and Roediger (2009) asked 177 students to list their study strategies, a majority said they repeatedly read their notes or textbook and relatively few practised retrieval. The authors argued that rereading creates an "illusion of competence": the material feels familiar, so it feels learned.
The experiments back the habit. Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) reviewed ten common study techniques and rated practice testing as high utility, while rereading and highlighting were rated low utility. Our guide to active recall techniques has practical ways to start.
Habit 2: they plan and space their study
In Geller and colleagues' study, high performers were more likely to plan a study schedule ahead of time. In Hartwig and Dunlosky's, scheduling mattered too: students who massed their study rather than spacing it used fewer study strategies overall.
Spacing is one of the most reliable effects in learning research; Dunlosky's review rated it high utility alongside testing. It is also counterintuitive. In Kornell's (2009) flashcard experiments, spacing beat cramming for 90% of participants, yet after the first session 72% believed cramming had worked better. Top students' advantage may be partly that they trust the method that feels worse in the moment.
Habit 3: they cram less and study earlier
Geller and colleagues found high performers were less likely to cram. Hartwig and Dunlosky found that lower performers were more likely to study late at night, and that all students, but especially lower performers, were driven by impending deadlines.
Geller's study adds a useful twist. Students who were driven by avoidance goals (for example, fear of failure) were more likely to cram and to be pushed by deadlines, regardless of their grades. In other words, cramming is often a stress response, not a strategy. A plan made in advance takes some of that pressure off. Our guide to stopping procrastination goes into this.
How to copy these habits this week
- Swap one reread for one quiz. Next time you'd reread a lecture, close the notes and answer ten questions on it instead, then check.
- Plan the week on Sunday. Put specific study sessions into your calendar, including reviews of older topics. Our Sunday reset routine takes 45 minutes.
- Review each topic three times. The day after you learn it, a few days later, and a week later.
- Move one late-night session earlier. Studying earlier also means you stop being driven by the deadline.
- Find a test partner. Quizzing a friend makes self-testing social, and harder to skip. See studying with friends.
The common thread is practice from your own course material, little and often. Ace is built for that: it turns your slides, PDFs and lecture videos into practice questions, checks every answer against your material, and keeps a streak and study calendar so the "little and often" part is visible. You can also duel a friend on the same questions.
Frequently asked questions
What study habits do top students have?
Surveys find higher achievers are more likely to test themselves, plan their study in advance, cram less and avoid late-night studying.
Do top students study more hours?
The research we cite focuses on how and when students study rather than total hours. How you use the time, especially testing yourself and spacing, is what these studies link to higher grades.
Do I need to wake up at 5am to be a good student?
No study we found links waking time itself to grades. The habits that show up are self-testing, planning and spacing, which work at any time of day. Late-night studying, though, was linked to lower performance.
Is rereading notes a bad habit?
Rereading has a place, especially the first time through. As a main revision method it is rated low utility; testing yourself is much more effective.
Sources
- Hartwig, M. K., & Dunlosky, J. (2012). Study strategies of college students: Are self-testing and scheduling related to achievement? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19(1), 126–134.
- Geller, J., Toftness, A. R., Armstrong, P. I., Carpenter, S. K., Manz, C. L., Coffman, C. R., & Lamm, M. H. (2018). Study strategies and beliefs about learning as a function of academic achievement and achievement goals. Memory, 26(5), 683–690.
- Karpicke, J. D., Butler, A. C., & Roediger, H. L. (2009). Metacognitive strategies in student learning: Do students practise retrieval when they study on their own? Memory, 17(4), 471–479.
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58.
- Kornell, N. (2009). Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more effective than cramming. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(9), 1297–1317.
