Selecting Your Courses Part 2

The following subjects & classes are standard fare for success in and beyond, whether you plan to attend a 4-year or 2-year college.

English (Language Arts)

Take English every year. Traditional courses, such as American & English Literature, help you improve you writing skills, reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Math

You need algebra and geometry to succeed on college entrance exams & in college math classes - & in many careers. Take them early on. That way, you’ll be able to enroll in advance science & math in high school, & show colleges you’re ready for higher-level work.

Most colleges look for students who have taken 3 yrs. of math in high school. The more competitive one requires or recommend 4 years. Each school has its own program, but some of the courses typically offered are

v  Algebra 1

v  Algebra 2

v  Geometry

v  Trigonometry

v  Calculus 

Successful Students part 9

9 . . . Don’t care for exams. Successful students know that divided periods of study are more often effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.

If there is one thing that study skills specialist agree on it is that distributed study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch effort known as cramming. You’ll learn more, remember more and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-a-night session on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more affected and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fall to learn this session and end up repeating it all over again until it becomes a wasteful habit.  Not too clever, huh?

                When you cram, taking a short cut, and short cuts never produce any real worthwhile results. Also, when you take shortcuts, you fell rather rotten knowing that you could have done better but didn't Shortcut cut you short. You can’t plant watermelons seeds and harvest fresh watermelons the next day. It takes time. Cramming for a test or project and expecting them to harvest the next day. Plus cramming for a test or project doesn’t help you academically, so why even do it. Plan ahead, prepare ahead. Give yourself plenty of days and weeks to prepare for upcoming accountability opportunities.

Study for Multiple Exams Part 1

How I study for multiple exams, deal with multiple projects: Really it is my time management that I explained above. If I see I have multiple things due or to study for all at the same time I spread out my time beforehand. For example, if I have a test Monday, and 2 test Tuesday then I will study for my Monday test Thursday and part of Friday. Start studying for my next test on the second half of Friday and part of Saturday, then my second Tuesday test on Saturday as well and part of Sunday. Then Sunday night I can review for my Monday test because I already studied for it. When that test is over I can begin reviewing for other tests. My overall study method: I try to break it up over all several days or at least two. I get bogged down if I try to pull an all nighter. How I’ve overcome an initial bad grade: If I received a low grade I probably knew it was coming because I didn’t prepare properly or I didn’t use the right study habits for that I class. I usually try to go over what I did wrong and sometimes discuss with the teacher what I can do differently on the next exam or what they suggest I do for studying for the next exam.