FRIENDS OR NON-FRIENDS?

You may be much more motivated to show up for your study group if it means hanging out with your favorite people. Be sure, however, that your group is able to stay on task. If your meetings are 90 percent socialization, something has to change.

HIGHER, EQUAL, OR LOWER?

Studying with higher-level students can inspire you to stretch yourself. But it can be discouraging if everyone in your group is learning faster and earning higher grades. Look for a group of students who are approximately at your level; for this purpose, it’s good to be average!

CLOSING CEREMONIES?

Many study groups conclude their sessions with dinner, hot chocolate, and so forth. Just make sure that your reward for studying is not canceling out the studying. I once worked with some students who reported putting in quite a few hours in their study group without getting the results they wanted. Eventually they revealed that they celebrated the end of each study session by smoking marijuana. Getting high immediately after studying complex scientific concepts was probably not a good way to retain the information!