The Winners of the Book Giveaway and an Introduction to the New and Improved Study Hacks

The Winners of the Book Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who sent me their thoughts on how to make Study Hacks better. Over 28 people answered my simple three questions, and, in doing so, have given me great insight into improving this site. Without further delay, I am happy to announce that the three winners of the free signed book contest are:

1. Julia Calagiovanni
2. Erica Brenny
3. Cynthia Galvez

Highlights from the Survey Results

Some interesting observations from this survey:

• By a three to one margin, people prefer five or fewer posts over more than five posts a week. The most popular single amount was three to five posts.
• The three most well-liked types of articles, in order, are: study tips, Q &A, and student productivity.
• The most requested thing people wanted to see more was real life case studies and examples of the advice being used in practice.

Introducing the New and Improved Study Hacks

Based on these survey results, I made some changes to the Study Hacks format. Starting next week, you can expect the following:

• Three Major Posts a Week.
  On Monday, as always, will be Monday Master Class. Wednesday will tend more toward productivity, deconstructing success, and Q & A. Friday is a grab bag. Expect interviews, College Chronicles, Dangerous Idea essays, experimental advice, and, sometimes, just more hardcore study tactics.
• Links on Fridays.
  Most Fridays I will also post a round-up of articles from around the web that are too good to miss.
• College Chronicles Gets Technical.
  Now that you’ve met the characters, College Chronicles will be shifting toward active intervention in the academic lives of Jake, Leena, and Welton. Expect future posts to include breakdowns of specific problems, my proposed solutions, and reports on how the advice is working in practice. Each post will end with a summary of the general advice provided.
• New, Exciting Series.
  Tomorrow, I am debuting a new semi-regular series titled Disruptive Thinkers. It features interviews with interesting people who have provocative ideas about college, studying, or the educational process in general. We also have, coming up, a fitness columnist from Conde Nast who will be offering a “dorm-room workout,” optimized to generate maximum energy in a minimum of time. He’ll also answer your questions about college health and fitness. And that’s not all. Expect to see a detailed new Deconstructing Success series in which I begin taking the real stories, of real people, doing real accomplishments, and break them down, piece by piece, to uncover some unexpected realities of the “rhythm of big scores.”

Your feedback is always welcome. Please don’t hesitate to keep me posted on what you like and what you don’t.