I manage the intense studying for all of five minutes when something completely unexpected derails my thoughts.

-

I haven’t had any new story ideas – really new, not just regurgitated from old stories or revised from plots that I came up with as a teenager – in years. College absorbed my life. I lived, ate, drank, breathed college and music and performance. In that time, I learned to squish the creative juices. Distractions, they were distractions from what I needed to be doing. I couldn’t let myself indulge in something so entirely superfluous as story ideas, even the fleeting images that would occasionally pop into my brain while practicing or attempting to study. NO. I learned to shut them off, tune them out, crush them until nothing remained but single-minded focus.

And, after a while, I started to forget about those images.

-

At 11:05 at night, I had an idea. More of an image, but with a little background behind it – a what if this happened…? sort of image. It had absolutely nothing to do with music history, and it was the most vivid new idea I’d experienced in years. The short story I posted a week ago (or two?) was a little like that; it had been a quick image in my head, not very vivid, but vivid enough to distract me from everything else while I fleshed it out.

But this idea… after five minutes of studying, I had an vibrant, brilliant, practically breathing image. After struggling through another five minutes, of attempting to ignore the world unfolding in my head, I knew what introduction/prologue would be. Another five minutes, I had a name and a solid idea of the character.

Half an hour into my study session, and I had the workings of a very solid, entirely new (for me, that is) story.

And I’d started to remember. All those long practice sessions, so intense and brain-draining, had always induced this sort of thing. Any time I tried to dedicate myself to studying or writing a paper – my characters practically begged me to start writing, and they flooded my head with images and ideas about their stories. No other tasks have ever produced such instant, abrupt, almost violent distractions; but, without fail, whenever I tried to study or practice in that last-minute effort to pull my act together, a barrage of rampaging ideas would appear out of thin air.

So, now I’m wondering: what is it about cramming that induces the creatives juices to flow?

It’s definitely the cramming, not just the act of forcing myself to study, or to do something I want to do. It’s always in these specific situations, when I’m desperate and terrified and panicking, that the creative juices start flowing unbidden. The desperation is a key factor – it’s always when I’m trying to focus 100% on the task at hand, and when I know that I have to focus 100% on the task at hand. It’s when I’m kicking my brain into overdrive to get something learned.

I’m wondering if it isn’t the desperation itself that causes it. Maybe, when I’m so intent on cramming as much information into my brain as possible, it starts approaching the material a little differently. The standard learning style just doesn’t cut it, and so my brain automatically starts looking for new ways to learn, more effective ways to remember, creative associations and devices – anything to retain what I’m trying to force it to learn. And thus, with this new, creative, different approach, maybe it triggers the story-creativity that I enjoy so much but usually try to suppress.

I can almost hear you asking: So, why does it matter? If you’re like my dad, you’re rolling your eyes. It doesn’t matter, your brain works the way it does, why bother wasting time thinking about it when you could be doing something productive with your time?

There’s a very simple answer. Dissection, analysis – I like taking things apart and examining how they work, especially my thought processes, and here’s why:

If I understand how something works, I can manipulate it.

Consider it. If I understand how I learn, I know how to focus my studies and my practices. If I can understand how I approach creative writing vs. studying, I can study without distractions and write with more energy and creativity. It’s a situation from which I can only benefit. Knowing how I work is critical to doing the things I want to do, and doing them well. Maybe it’s a waste of time initially, but after observing and honing my own thought processes for weeks and months and years, I work more efficiently because I can tackle different tasks from the most effective approach – reflexively.

Hmmm. So, now to figure out how to approach writing from the cramming perspective on a regular basis.

And I suppose I should find a better way to study, too.

So, i have suddenly found myself COMPLETELY SWAMPED with revision!! AAHH!!

The problem is, i’m not really a revision timetable kind of person.. i’m a procrastinator and an eventual crammer XD

SO here goes…. How to revise… or not…

WARNING – PLEASE DO NOT FOLLOW ANY OF THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW OR YOU WILL HAVE RUINED ANY CHANCES YOU HAD OF A DECENT CAREER!!!!!

10 steps to revision success (AMENDED VERSION):

(originally from bbc webbie…)

Revision space:

BBC says: Find a good place to work. It should be quiet and uncluttered.

Reality: “Haha, what a joke… the BEST way to revise is totally lying in the midst of the absolute chaos which is my bedroom…!”

Revision timetable: Draw up a revision timetable – it’s crucial. It should be realistic, cover all subjects and allow you time off to relax.

Reality 1: “UM, seriously… who needs a REVISION TIMETABLE? Its not like i dont know when my exams are!! – wait i have a history exam tomorrow?!”

Reality 2: “Omigosh i feel so organised! LOOK, i know EXACTLY when i’m gonna revise everything!” *5 days later* “Hmm, history revision today… Nah….” FAIL.

Make notes: Don’t just read through your class work, make notes. 

Reality: “Can’t i just do that thing Derren Brown does?” *running finger down text book page* “Yep, i feel so much more intelligent”

Revision guides: Get a recommendation from your teacher as to which are most useful and then make sure you use them!

Reality: “Talk to the teacher about revision?! NO.”

Questions and answers: Write out some questions and answers to see how much you’re actually remembering.

Reality: “So now i know i remember nothing.”

Listen in: Try recording your notes and then play them walking down the street or whilst you’re in bed.

Reality: “Ok so revision notes or Muse… um…”

Prompts: Put key words and phrases on sticky notes around the house, so you’ll see them often.

Reality: “I actually tried but my mum went ballistic…”

Seek help!: Don’t go it alone. They say a problem shared is a problem halved. So, get friends and family on board to help you revise.

Reality: “WARNING: DO NOT GET YOUR MUM INVOLVED WITH YOUR REVISION. YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY BE FORCED INTO DOING  SOMETHING PRODUCTIVE… THE HORROR..!”

Past papers: Make sure you get hold of some past papers, they’re a really good way of knowing what to expect in the exam.

Reality: *Sitting down to do past paper* *5 seconds later* “Nope, too distracted.”

Relax: If you panic you’re lost! The exams are going to happen so you might as well give yourself the best chance of doing well by starting to revise early and keeping calm.

Reality: “Procrastinate… procrastinate…” *a week later* “STRESS! STRESS! STRESS! SRYS CRAMMING REQUIRED!!”

Ok, so i showed the same tips to becky and here was her reaction:

Revision? Yeah I agree… Who cares if their room is messy or not. I will revise anywhere!

Timetable? Seriously… Who follows a flippin’ timetable when it comes to mocks Sophia? Okay, I get it that you might follow the time table more when it’s your real GCSEs, but seriously? Mocks! That never happens for me! Ha!

Make notes? Yeah.. Agreed – I like to make note from official OCR – or whatever your exam board is – books…

Revision guides? Yup. That’s what I was talking about above ^

Question and Answers? Nope – that never works nor even happens for me!

Listen in? Reality – NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN! As soon as you flick on that little iPod of yours you will purposely avoid the recordings and turn your back on it, focusing on jamming out as you walk to school to your favorite band! What a life!

Prompts? If I did that, my dog would eat it!

Seek help? Yeah, I guess… Friends are very helpful

Past Papers? I rarely use this tool, but I guess it would come in handy if I had the guts to actually go ahead and use this ‘past paper’ advice.

Relax? Are you serious? I am the most un-relaxed freak you will ever meet when it comes to pressure and exams! ERGH!

Any one else feel this way, or is it just me on my jojo?

Yep, have fun cramming guys!!!!! xx

It’s going to be a hectic week, but hopefully things will look up after that. I have a concert and a field trip to look forward to in the coming weeks! I’m actually counting down the days (weeks and months) to summer. Not that I’ll get a vacation since we have summer classes, but that’s a lot less classes than usual and the benefit of being with my friends all summer. Maybe I can actually have a fun summer this year.

Today is just A M A Z I N G

I woke up late in the morning regretting why I didn’t finish my requirements for Comm and NatSci which should be passed today. Again, it was due to procrastination and the hunger for sleep that drove me to cram. I was already late to meet my friends and I was such in a hurry to finish the requirements. Fortunately, I was able to finish them and submit them on time. Yey for pro-cramming! HAHA

Anyhoo, after I submitted the requirements, I then went to KFC Taft to meet up with my friends. I sat there for about 5 minutes, ate french fries, then decided to leave and head to the GSP auditorium. We arrived there early so we had time to change to our formal wear. Wearing the new dress made me really feel good and confident.

The Culminating Program/Variety Show started at about 1 pm.  It was really really F.U.N! The fourth years swept the whole event and brought home all the major awards. The Batch I.D’s were really cool and the variety shows were entertaining. It was too sad though that we didn’t win the Batch ID. For me, our batch’s ID were the awesomest HAHA oh well!

What really made me super excited and happy were the performances of the DPSM profs. The faculty really have some talents! They danced and sang and it was just pure awesome beyond words. What made this day the best starter ever was that I found a new interest in oor Prof in a particular subject. HAHA gaaaaaawd! He’s so talented. He’s a genius, a very good actor, an superb dancer and an amazing musician who sings and play the guitar at the same time in a pro manner. MY HORMONES WERE RAGING! I kept screaming like a fangirl every time he dances, every time he moves his arms and strum the guitar and most especially every time he sings with his moving voice. (I SOUND SO OBSESSED DON’T I? HAHAHA) My personal favorite was when he danced to Hate that I love You and when he sang and played his guitar. I kept on drooling over him. HAHA

After the program, when people were leaving I grabbed the opportunity to take a picture of and with him! HAHA His smile is soooo aaaaah! haha

The ironic part is, I really really found him to be monotonous and plain the first time he went inside the class. He’s too serious and he always keeps a straight face. But after I saw his talent in acting in their movie, after I heard him sing, and after I watched him dance on stage, all of that changed. I found him so attractive which is really really weird. I found myself thinking that I should work hard and study more to ace exams and top his class! HAHA Wishful thinkings though. Well for sure, when we meet in the class room, the aura will never be the same ever! Instead of looking forward to going home every Tuesdays and Fridays, I will now be looking forward to seeing him and hearing his voice and imagining that he’s still dancing and singing. oh well!

We then went to CAS to have some snacks since we were told that there’s be food served in the department. We grabbed our share and then we talked near the LT. My friends and I talked about how this day was awesome and it made me realize that I am really having fun being a part of the DPSM family. Although today was awesome, it also made decision-making whether to shift or not very difficult. I really know that I’m having a difficult time with my course and I do want to shift because of that but I don’t really want to leave DPSM. I want to be a DPSM baby forever! <3 huhuhu HELP!

This day certainly spiced up my life again! It made me doubt my sureness to shift and I found a new happy crush that I would certainly use as inspiration to do well in my acads. That subject will totally never be the same <3 I really really do hope that the whole February would be as amazing as this day—like how it started. I hope that the rest of the year would be this awesome. Hopefully looking forward. peace out!

1. Many Filipinos still want to migrate in the hope of searching for greener pastures.

From my dealings with some of my clients, it’s very evident that some of them will apply for a Schengen visa, even US/Canadian visa, for the purpose of staying there for good only to be denied because they do not have enough proof to show that they will come back. Many who come to me are jobless, or even sponsored by partners, even relatives.But it doesn’t follow that their visa application will be successful as I’ve seen it.

I dream of the day when our country will be able to provide stable, good paying jobs or better, even provide good business opportunities so that the “modern Josephs” will no longer have to leave the country for this purpose.

2. Filipinos love to cram.

I don’t know about the other nationalities but from experience, many Filipinos love to get something at the last minute. I have clients, out of desperation, will text, email or even call me, at the last hour because they have an interview with a schengen embassy the following morning.

I will never forget this particular client who had to fill up the application form for a family of five before emailing it to me and I had to wait until they have completed the requirements before I issue the travel policy online. We started around 11pm and we finished around past 2am! Talk about being a 24/7 service provider! LOL. Lest I be misunderstood, it’s all good. I love this kind of opportunities. And I just have to recover some sleep the next day for staying up late the night before.

I do not know when this kind of culture can be eradicated. I believe it is only through the renewing of the mindset before I can expect a zero incident of this kind of behavior.

3. More Filipinos are now open to purchase online via credit or debit card.

When the company I represent for this online travel insurance business, Chartis Philippines, announced 2 years ago that the travel insurance payment will have to be purchased via credit card, I thought my business will decline. In fact,  I still have some clients who are uncomfortable with this idea. And I have to make ways for them so i can still service their travel insurance requirements.

But majority of my clients whom I have never met at all trusted me with their credit card info and I only have to thank God for leading these clients to me.

4. Filipinos are one closely-knit families in this side of the world.

I’ve seen some of my clients sponsoring their families – parents, siblings, to spend some time with them in their new homeland. Some even sponsor just a mother who will stay with a daughter for six months, some a sister or a brother for 90 days. Some clients even sponsor the whole family every Christmas season, New Year celebration and it is heartening to know this whenever I encounter one.

Filipinos just love to travel – touring the country (via domestic travel insurance) and the world (global and schengen) and I love hearing from my clients how happy they were when they get their travel policies on  time because that completes their visa application requirements.

5. There are still many foreigners who prefer Filipino women as their partner or wife.

I vaguely recall what era was that, 70s or 80s, when the mail-order bride was a very popular term back then. This term simply means that there are foreigners looking for Filipino women to marry or just take care of them and through this process, they are able to find out to meet their need.  I thought this is no longer the case in the 90s and to this day. I was wrong. There are still many foreigners longing for a Filipina partner. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve even met some of them. You won’t believe it but the age discrepancy even beats the age difference of the late comedy king Dolphy and Zsa-Zsa by a mile. Nothing wrong with that. Just stating a fact. One foreigner client whom I’ve met even boasted Filipino women are the best in the world.

And only recently, I recently got a picture from a client, in his 70s, who was happy to inform me that he is now married to his girlfriend, in her 20s. He even emailed a picture of them. And they both look good and happy together.

Does this tell something about those seeking greener pastures via intermarriages?

These are but bits and pieces, gleanings I have learned in the course of time while doing travel insurance business with my clients.

I hope to add more as I continue this business that the Lord has bestowed on me by His grace.

How would you like a way to save BIG money on college costs and graduate early WITHOUT having to be a genius? The only way ever to make news is through AP classes to skip units and financial aid to save money. While good, it requires you to be a exceptionally smart. I for one am not and my financial aid doesn’t cover as much as I’d like it to be. Heck, I probably gained some form of dyslexia inbetween high school and college. Yet I’m on my way to graduating early with a minor and saving at least Quarter’s worth of tuition without applying for any aid or getting any smarter as I go. How do you think THAT was possible? So, you ever open for ways to screw with the system and leave without anyone suspecting a thing? What I’m about to write is probably one of the dumbest things you’ll ever read, but apparently that’s what makes this plan possible and it’s the way no one suspects a thing unless you blow the lid off on your on operation. There are two keys in this trick; skipping quarters/semesters, and (this is counterintuitive) carefully analyzing your General Eds. What’s required here is a working calculator, a working academic counselor/adviser, a flowchart of the required classes to graduate, and a working head with time to spare.

Remember above you read that I was on my way to save a Quarter’s worth of tuition? The trick is built into the wording; skip Quarters. This is NOT taking a break and returning to school later. This is akin to that smart kid skipping class levels (like those 7th graders in 11th grade math), you’re actually just bypassing a Quarter or more by taking the required number of classes another time. It may seem like I’m just telling you to overload your schedule, but there is a method to the madness. Get it right and you’ll be having free Financial Aid without the hassle of begging from the taxpayer.

How this is done is directly related to how you do the next step with your General Education. Contrary to intuition, you should never start by cramming your major courses since that’s what contains the difficult junior and senior level class, aka “upper division.” Arrange an appointment with your adviser and find out on your major’s graduation flowchart (free at your Department’s office) which classes are required. With your adviser, give all the information on your academic history (AP, exemptions, minors…) – it’ll make a difference in calculations. Take as much time as possible to identify which of the required major courses will be the most difficult and gives the most workload. Units given are deceptive and don’t tell how hard a class is, for example my school’s Physics 340 is a 2 unit class and its workload is effectively 6 units, so we treat it as a 6 unit class.

Once you’ve pinpointed those difficult classes, place them in allowable spots in your schedule plan (I say allowable because in my school, some junior and senior level classes are only offered certain Quarters and sometimes certain years, so be extra careful here). How do you create an effective course mapping? First start by placing, 1 or 2 required major courses per quarter so you’ll be setting yourself effectively for a good variety, I call this the “spreading method.” After you’re comfortable with your “spread,” find out which GE sections you need to fulfill, and fill the rest of the slots with your GEs. Don’t just fill any GE though, pick ones that’ll be most easy for you to pass, namely go by schoolmate’s testimony and by courses you took in high school, fill your schedule so you have 5 classes a Quarter (4 is normal for other students). Filling your spots with GEs is easier since they have MUCH less restriction than major courses. This I call “filling with bs.” Once you have no more GEs to fulfill and some blank spots, then you may cram the rest of your upper division and major courses together and see how many Quarters you can empty up. This is what I coined, “collapsing a Quarter.”

After I went through my process of “spreading, bs filling, and quarter collapsing,” I started with being able to graduate a Quarter early which is close to a year’s financial aid. KEY common sense: You don’t pay for whenever you don’t attend. My current course load this Winter look like this

MATH 304 (required, but I count this as a bs class for now since we don’t turn in anything)

MATH 248 (weird class, but have to take it)

CHEM 128 +lab (easy GE, required, and I took this in high school)

BIO 111 + lab (took this in high school)

PHYS 206 + lab (required)

Mindful Marketing Bootcamp (Not a college course, but it was because of the content that I decided to make this Quarter effectively 6 courses with 3 labs totaling ~24 units, and 2 labs and 20 units is borderline insanity. This should be its own blog post probably.)

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What if you are late in registration and end up with a disadvantageous course load? A: In this case, DON’T add any more courses. Last quarter I ended up with MATH 344, PHYS 211, PHYS 322, + MATH 418 and only PHYS 211 was normally manageable. I lost some sleep last quarter trying to maintain straight Bs, but I passed all of them and that arrangement was one of the ways I utilized my AP Credit so I can get all my MATH done. As a matter of fact, I’ll be done with my MATH minor this year because of that setup. So you never know what weird situation can work in your favor at a second look.

Q: What if you got labs? Multiple?!? A: I know how you feel, but the thing with labs is that you can get out early. If it’s a major course then you probably will end up staying the full 3 hours each time, but for the entry level classes like my BIO and CHEM class this Quarter, you can usually figure a way to bs the work. A good calculator is recommended.

Q: How do you keep your sanity like that? A: I know how that feels, I felt shocked as well when I talked to my friends taking 5 courses a Quarter, but those stories assume one thing; attendance is required and you don’t know anything. Let me break down 2 of my GEs specifically; BIO and CHEM. Both of these I took in high school, so I know a good chunk of the course. What I didn’t mention before is that you should try to get a course outline from your professor. How did I keep my sanity with 6 classes? I keep some sleep by skipping classes that are going over review, and what I understand from a class that doesn’t collect homework like my CHEM 128 and MATH 304 class is that I do minimal to no work from the book. Heck, I just glance at my Chemistry book and work the simple parts in my head, for that math class, I just do a few problems at max.

Keep in mind though, this strategy doesn’t work as well if you find yourself struggling. In that case, just bug your professor during office hours, things are much clearer one on one even if the lecture sucked. It helped me get by MATH 416 last Quarter. This is why I recommend you taking GEs you know are easy; either you took it in high school or you know a schoolmate thought it was easy.

Also, if you have prior knowledge that some courses will be fun, then you should treat it like play if you can. I know I went into this Quarter knowing I’d enjoy my Mindful Marketing course and how I could troll my Biology course. Hey, it’s only work if it’s boring and or painful. XD

Q: I tried and still can’t graduate early. A: In this case, you end up with Quarters that have little classes in them, I call these “almost empty Quarters or AEQs.” For those I’d say you’re still in for a treat if my method couldn’t work something out for you. Keep in mind, those quarters give you LOTS more fun and freedom in your time. What you can do for those can be things like: picking an elective that you actually like, find more time for a hobby, learn some extra life skills in your home, join one of my various campaigns (shown later), etc. In these AEQs, this where school gets less and less in the way of a truly meaningful education.

Anyways, feel free to give me feedback on whatever; content, practicality, length, etc. I’d like to know how to make your experience on my blog a lot less painful and more helpful. If you enjoyed this and would like more free information, let me know and I may choose your topic one day.

You can find this on my tumblr page dhmanga.tumblr.com .

Thanks for reading!

It should not be “busy work” because this wastes valuable student time.  It should not create a protracted grading burden on the professor, because immediate feedback is best for the student when learning new material.

Therefore, I am exploring the following with positive initial results.  I use multiple choice homework problems, because these are automatically graded online by the Blackboard learning system.  These assignments fullfil the purposes of forshadowing the exam, and guide the student through the appropriate material.

The negative aspect of this is the natural focus of the student on “which letter is the correct answer”.  I do NOT care about which letter they check.  I want them struggling with the problems, building their body of knowledge, and internalizing the concepts and theories.

Therefore, I have changed the grading rubric to punish simply getting the correct letters in one setting.  The only way to achieve a perfect score on the homework is to do the following:

1. Take the homework exam multiple times over several days showing improvement towards the eventual score of 100%.

One can EASILY fake this, which is why it will only be 5 to 10% of the weighted average of a given course.  But instead of faking this apparent activity, consider actively using the process that I am encouraging.

So to my students, I give the following advice:

• As soon as the homework test is made available, log in and take it cold.  Give your best guess on the vocabulary.  Estimate the numerical answers.  Do your best to ace the test “cold” without knowing the material.
• Then, download the pdf version of the homework test. Over the next few days, work the problems in your “problems composition book” (hint, make one of these).  Work similar problems from the back of the text.  Work similar problems from the Internet.  Evaluate why the right answers are right.
• Log back into Blackboard.  Take the homework test again.  If you do not make 100%, then work the ones that confuse you.  Ask about them in class.  Get with your study group.  If you are convinced your answers are right, perhaps there is an error in the homework test.  Ask about it in class.
• Finally, you should be able to achieve a 100% on the homework test, AND THE RECORD OF YOUR MULTIPLE TESTS ON BLACKBOARD will be evidence that you deserve a 100% for PARTICIPATING in the homework assignment.

I welcome your constructive input.

Tomorrow is SCHOOL day! Woohoo ._.” -Note the sarcasm…- And I am PANICKING! I havent studied ANYTHING for the exam which starts on Jan 9 btw…

Uggh! This is the death of me x-( Ps. My hair is stuck w/ goo D:

——————-

That was a sneak peak of my diary… Excuse me for the hand writing…

It’s finals time! These time-tested tips for studying for, and taking, your final exams can make a huge difference in your results, and send you off happy to your holiday break:

1. Count your way forward. Many students, when starting to think about preparing for finals, look at the dates of their finals, then count their way back. “Biology final on Wednesday? That’s two or three studying days needed. I guess I’ll start hitting the books on Sunday.” A far better idea is to count up from the day the study questions are handed out (or if your prof doesn’t bother with such niceties, a week before the exam) to the day the exam will take place. “Seven days? Then I’ll divide the course into sevenths and study two weeks’ worth of lectures each day.”

2. Shed some commitments. You’ll find you have a lot easier time studying if you make extra time for it. Put off any unnecessary social obligations or family commitments. And, if you’re working, try if at all possible to take 10 days off for final exam period (or at least trim your work schedule). Even a few strategically placed extra hours can make the difference between doing just OK on finals and doing a really great job.

Best-Kept Secret. If you can finish your term papers the week before the last week of classes, it’ll free loads of extra time to study for finals.

3. “Triage” your study time. Some students think they should spend equal amounts of time preparing for each of their finals. Instead, proportion your study time to how hard the final is likely to be and how well you already know the material.

[Read how colleges are trying to take the stress out of exam time.]

4. Figure out what’s covered. One of the most important things you need to be clear about is what materials are going to be tested on the final. Are readings and discussion sections included, or is the final going to focus almost exclusively on material from the lectures? Is the final going to concentrate on materials since the midterm or is it going to be a comprehensive or cumulative final? Knowing the extent—and the limits—of the exam will make it much easier to organize and structure your studying.

5. Decide if it’s going to be a grand tour or lots of local attractions. Professors have two strategies in making up finals. Some profs design a single, big question or two; other professors give a series of more focused questions, each covering some single issue in the course. Before you start studying, make sure you’ve figured out your professor’s test-construction strategy.

[Learn how to relax and ace your exams .]

6. Torture the samples. In the typical college course, there are many resources available that give you specific information about what questions will appear on the final. Sometimes, the professor or TA simply drops hints about what “would make for a good final exam question.” But other times, the questions are right there in the open. A study guide, sample final, or set of review questions can often furnish questions amazingly close to the actual exam questions.

7. Study with a group only if it makes sense. Many students believe (mistakenly) that a study group always affords an advantage: more brain power plus peer pressure to crack the books. This works well when your study buddies are at least as smart as you. Exam time isn’t charity time.

8. Cram with the professor (or TA). One of the best—and at some colleges, most under-used—resources is the review session. Here the professor (or sometimes the TA) will give you a window into the final. He or she might sum up the high points of the course, do sample questions or problems, give study tips, or sometimes just divulge about how he or she was thinking about the topics of the course. In any event, it’s the single biggest help in studying for the final.

9. Leverage your notes (when allowed). Increasingly, professors are allowing students to bring their notes and books to the exam. Rather than the trick question, “gotcha!” kind of exam, these professors want to see how well you can express your ideas, given the data. Be sure your notes are in tip-top shape if you’re given this chance.

10. Read the instructions—and make a plan. When you get to the exam and get your test sheet, take the time to carefully survey the format of the test. How many questions are you being asked to answer? Is there a choice? How much does each part count? Then make a (tentative) plan—right up front, before you start working—of how much time you’re going to devote to each question.

4-Star Tip. Don’t waste too much time outlining your answers, writing down formulas you’ve memorized, or (when given a choice) starting a question and then stopping and starting another question. You’re being graded on the quality of your answer, not on notes to yourself or false starts.

11. Be sure to develop your answers fully. Many students don’t realize that, on essay exams, part of what’s being graded is how well you develop and explain your answer, not just how correct it is. Consider explaining your points in more detail so that someone unfamiliar with the answer would know, just from what you say, what the answer is.

12. Make it easy on the grader. In many courses, the professor or other person grading will have 70 finals to read in a space of two or three days, which means about 10 or 15 minutes per exam. You’re more likely to get a good grade if you: make clear which question you’re answering; begin to give your answer in the very first sentence of your essay; show all work in a problem-based exam; and, above all, write neatly.

13. Pace yourself. Two or three hours is a long time. Think of the final exam as a work session, divided into a number of sub-sessions. Take a few-minute break between each question or part. Approach each question separately from the rest.

14. Don’t panic too soon. In three hours, confronted with a number of questions of varying degrees of difficulty, there are bound to be ups and downs—times you’re feeling better, and worse, about how the test is going. Ignore such instantaneous feedback. Most tests are designed to have some harder questions, and in any case, such self evaluation is often wrong.

15. Stay ’til the bitter end. It’s amazing to see, but many students leave before the exam is over. That’s never a good thing to do, since there are always problems to be checked over or essays to be added to or proofread. Even making a single correction to a problem, or adding a single point to an essay (don’t be afraid to pencil a paragraph into the margin or on top of the page), can spell the difference between a good grade and a not-so-good grade.

Want To Ace Your Final, Click Here!

Best of luck on your finals!

Source

Fast forward to a few minutes later and me sitting on my bed and looking at stuff around the room. I spot this:

ACID FREE Colored Paper. Take note of the angle from which I am looking at the paper.

I guess my still sleepy and quite dazed brain decided on seeing things entirely different. After staring at it for some time, my brain came up with this conclusion about what was written on the paper container:

Scumbag brain at its finest.

I knew I was reading it wrong, but I couldn’t stop think it. I had to shake my head a few times before laughing at my stupidity. I then started writing a letter to myself about body image and all that jazz (it was my Psychology class homework) and I think the sleepiness also affected my letter because there are some really silly things in it. I wrote it like I was talking to a really close friend, a bit funny with little doses of seriousness. For example, my brain kind of coughed up a reason for wanting to live until I’m 100 years old and the reason was that I knew so many awesome people who never got to live to be that old and I should make it as close as I can get to a hundred for them. I actually had a tiny list of people to go with it too and it kind of put things into perspective for me. At the same time there are things written in a childish tone and warnings written in ALL CAPS TO GET THE POINT ACROSS.

I have to write to my parents next, and I’m still a bit drowzy so this should be interesting. At least I didn’t take any of that FREE ACID

Some students are more effective writers of essay samples when they cram especially during the due or submission date.
Are you one of them?

“What does that have to do with “Twilight”?” you might ask, and I am getting there. As I’ve said in my previous post, I have certain college related things that need to be done over the break and one of them is to read a considerably lengthy book (for me at least) that is also quite boring. Fortunately, the other night while I was watching TV I happened upon the trailer for a movie called “Beautiful Creatures” that is set to be released in February:

Needless to say I got very intrigued so I looked the movie up and as it so happens it was adapted from a series of 4 books by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I immediately obtained a copy of all 4 books for me to read on my computer. I’ll save you my take on the books, but I will tell you it is an interesting read and definitely higher on my ranking than those silly Twilight novels already.

As I powered through the first book in less than a day I wished I could have read my reading assignments with the same determination. An idea suddenly came to me, after finishing the first book in the series I calculated how many pages my reading assignment was and divided it by 4. After that I persuaded myself to finish the 1st of 4 parts of my reading assignment  before moving onto the 2nd book of the series. Now I’m reading the 2nd part of my reading assignment so that I can  start on the 3rd book in the morning.

I guess the point of it all is that maybe I’m starting to grow out of being such a procrastinator. I used to always wait until the very last minute to do things. I mean to the point of typing a 10-page paper the day it’s due or making up a supposedly written speech during class while others are delivering their speeches. I’m starting to find ways to motivate myself, maybe I’m finally growing up (HAHA! NEVER!).  I’m looking at it as a very good thing, I want to make improvements to a lot of things about me in the coming year and this is a nice place to start.

never have i ever truly ‘crammed’ for a test, simply because school has always come easily to me. 

Well, not anymore. 

tried to study tuesday night for chem, realized i completely didn’t understand it, crammed wednesday night from 3-5, then again from 10-1. i actually went to the after-school study sessions. and the test went ok.

history, i planned to space it out a bit more, but chem just sucked out all the time. so i crammed for history the morning of, from 1-3. that test went….suckish…

needless to say, i was completely dead from this week. i have hideous bags under my eyes and i kept falling asleep in class…..like i would be looking at the teacher, then i would sort of fall forward and realized i almost fell asleep… hoodies and leggings all the way

crime and punishment was over and done, so we had a party.

math test was today, it went ok. 

That’s not ALL of it, though. i mean, last saturday my uncle stopped by (in between business meetings…he’s an important guy, with places to go. but always makes time for family. i sometimes wish my dad was more like him). He took us out to coffee, and I ordered a pina MOOlada shake from starbucks and i drank the whole thing, yup, all of it and i did not feel guilty. this is what water polo does to you.

speaking of water polo, it’s going a little better. last week was annoying because that girl H still hates me, but she wasn’t there yesterday or today so it was way fun. can you believe it, i was just talking to her and some other girls and she cuts me off and goes ‘just stop talking, everything you say is stupid anyway. keep saying stupid things, because it’s funny to see how dumb you are.’ i am not exaggerating, she actually said that, and i just stood there, ilke, who the heck do you think you are?

whatever.

i’ve got a sort-of group going on. and i’m starting to get better. we were doing 100 m sprints, and she put me on a frikin’ 1:20 clock…i can’t do that! i died…i know that’s probably not very fast, but it’s fast for me. but i did make every time, so that’s something i’m proud of.

AND FRIEND MB CAME BAAAAAAAACK

i was in line for the bathroom and i see her walk out and i was in shock and i just ran out from the line and hugged her for like 5 minutes straight. i miss her so much.

she’s definitely changed, she’s put on some weight but that’s good. she was so skinny before. you notice it in her cheeks, they’re more full and she’s not so bluish now. definitely more energetic. and she ate a cookie….she asked someone to formal, can you believe it? it was weird though, because we knew him from XC and they didn’t really talk all that much, but who cares?

now, cheerleader KC. she and i are sort of becoming friends. we are in the library together cuz of mutual friends, and she’s opened up in class. i exchanged numbers, so that’s a good thing.

i was supposed to go to a party tonight, but no one i knew was going so i just skipped. i had practice, and i was worn out from all that cramming, and i would have gotten there at like 10:30 anyway so i just didn’t see the point.

oh yeah, and happy end of the world.

so gooooood week altogether.

It seems everyone has their own ways of studying. Gunners, for the most part, are notorious for studying solely on past exams. Typically, you’ll find freshmen gunners registered to sites like studyblue, cramster, and course hero. Fortunately, the pre-medical core requirements only require basic physics, basic biology, basic chemistry, and carbon chemistry.

The ways gunners study for these course are quite remarkable. Let’s take the typical gunner in the lecture environment. Gray Apple Macbook pro- check. Grande redeye- check. The list goes on, and its a scary list, to say the least. Here I will unpack the equipment and the different study techniques applied by several gunners. I and my team have trekked 20 miles to Princeton University and 2 miles to our local lecture hall at Rutgers University. What we discovered was more or less what we already experienced as undergrads.

Equipment

In general, most of our fellow premeds, pharmacists, and competitive business majors confess to having owned at least one of the following in their personal endeavors to success:

• TheNorthFace brand everything
• Audio recorder
• Adderall connects
• Macbook Pro
• iPad
• Insert Apple Product Here
• Binders of women
• “MCAT” Books
• Oversized headphones

What was even more surprising was the notable fashion sported by these gunners. Men were often seen dressed in khaki’s and a generic plaid button down. Showers not required.

Pedagogical Study Techniques, Strategies, Hacks, and Cheats

minus the grass and the outdoors

College, in the slightest possibility, may be contorted into a metaphor for warfare. Of course many metaphors and analogies today are related to war. Here are a few techniques and strategies we’ve observed and taken into account in our field notes.

Study-Methods

• The Crammer
• The Spacer
• The scoliosis-waiting-to-happen / face-planted-in-desk studier (applies to women only)
• The study groupie

Subsistence Strategies

• making notecards
• making studyguides
• downloading study guides (let’s face it, gunners are cheap. Sorry kaplan and examkrackers, but we’ve illegally downloaded a shit ton of your products, mass reproduced them and circulated them in our campuses… A friend of mine had the entire EK MCAT collection downloaded, printed, and bound at Staples- now that’s what I call being frugal as fuck.)

• note copying
• going to office hours and letting the TA do my work
• pretending not to know how to do the work to later impress my TA by figuring out how to do the work
• exam and note hoarding (the absolute worst of the gunner breed)

Related articles

• How NYU Students Get Down to Business (medschoolgunner.com)
• StudyBlue raises $9M to equip students with digital backpacks (venturebeat.com)
• The 7 Things I Hate About Being a [gunner] (medschoolgunner.com)

1) Have a Buddy: Try studying with a  group friends for finals. A friend can help another friend in certain subjects they may be weak in. Also studying in a group can relieve stress, but be sure to stay on task.

2) Utilize your study Guides:  Students should receive study guides from the teachers of the exam they plan to take. Having study guides help students study without over studying. At times, students study material that is not even on the test.If your teacher is not giving out study guides ask questions about exactly what will be on the test or what you should study from.

3) Gather and Organize material: Students should gather any notes, old quizzes, or homework they recently had. If students did not understand it then, than they should definitely go over everything.

4)  Ask Questions: This is a common mistake in many students. Always ask questions from your teachers. If students do not understand information they should ask their teacher rather it be from their study guide or old material. Never be scared to ask the teacher questions. Most of the time they are happy for students to have questions and will gladly answer them.

5) Prepare in advance: Students should always study ahead of time. Never wait two days before you study for an exam. If the teacher passes out a study guide start on it that night. If students do their study guide or just study a little every night they will be fine with learning that material.

Sandy Creek students also have other study tips that help them with finals. Miles Johnson said, “I recommend going back over old homework assignments.” Austin Morse said, “I never cram and I do study guides a little every night.” You can even add your own ways to study that best fits you.  For example, you can use flashcards to memorize topics or even create a game to study material.

Everyone knows that there are some procrastinators who wait until the last minute to do their work. This isn’t good especially studying for a final exam. There are also options for these types of people. For example, while watching your favorite TV show study during the commercial breaks.

Studying for exams are difficult but with these tips students can accomplish a lot!