A study investigated the test study habits of college students in the context of Effort Management theory, which describes metacognitive and self-regulatory activities. The subjects, 20 upper-division education majors enrolled in a required Educational Psychology course, were interviewed to discover their study activities for the course final at each of 4 levels of the Effort Management hierarchy monitoring, regulating, planning, and evaluating. Questions were open-ended. Responses were categorized first according to activity level, then according to whether they referred to concentration, time, or learning effectiveness components. These data were analyzed for patterns or differences between higher- and lower-achieving students. Results showed no differences in response patterns between the groups for monitoring or regulating activities, but some differences in planning and evaluating. Most students showed some difficulty in monitoring their effort. Self-regulating activities were found useful to sustain concentration, control persistence and momentum, correct or repair comprehension errors, and focus on test-relevant information. Many students engaged in self-instructional sequences as part of planning activities, and some form of self-appraisal, with qualitative differences found between performance groups. Criteria used to score study activities are appended. (Contains 40 references.) (MSE)