Study inspiration & tips @excelispo - Tumblr Blog

12.05.20 / happy tuesday! i’ve had a very productive day today. i’m feeling really great after a sluggish weekend. anyway, i’ve gotten a lot of asks and replies about my desk clock and where it’s from so i thought i’d link it here (not an ad, not sponsored or anything). hope you’re doing ok! –p.s.: spot the cat ♡

whexever

Sometimes, carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement.

Albert Camus (via whexever)

gracelesstars

oh how the tables have turned

exceli

Jupiter in infrared vs visible light.

exceli

Planet moodboard: Jupiter

Named after Roman God Jupiter (counterpart of Greek’s Zeus), who was called a god of thunder, lightning, light, storms and sky.

Jupiter is ~1326 times bigger in volume than the Earth, meaning that ~1326 Earths could fit into Jupiter.

However, it is only 318 more massive than the Earth, meaning that Earth’s density is significantly higher - 5.514 g/cm³ compared to 1.326 g/cm³. That is because Earth is a terrestrial planet, whereas Jupiter’s a gas giant - composed primarily of gaseous and liquid matter.

Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. Its diameter - 5,268 km - makes it larger than the planet Mercury (4,879 km) or Pluto ( 2,376 km).

Jupiter’s day (time it takes to turn on its axis) is the shortest of all the planets in the Solar System - 9 h 55 min.

This quick rotation causes the “flattening effect” - making Jupiter bulge at the equator.

Jupiter’s stripes are caused by the chemical and temperature differences between the bands. The stark contrast is even better seen through infrared photography.

Photo sources: I, II

#astronomy #science

undr

Robert Blomfield, Coffee Morning, Student Union, University of Edinburgh, 1964

exceli

Figure out your priorities. Think about who you want to be, what you want to do in life, what you want to achieve, etc… This will serve you as a guide for your future actions. Once you are able to see the big picture, divide your tasks into smaller chunks, like monthly or daily goals…

Write it down. Get a piece of paper, a notebook, or a napkin (whatever is your preference) and write down a list of all the goals you thought of. Keep the list accessible, so you can refer to it at any time.

Quality > Quantity. Nowadays, everyone’s so focused on doing as much as possible, working/studying as long as they can. However, that is not the best way. 3h of productive work will yield you more than a sleep-deprived all-nighter. There’s an exception to this rule, though.

Quality < Quantity. Procrastination is real. And most of the time it is powered by perfectionism (which is powered by anxiety, but that’s a story for next time). We delay doing things, because we are scared they’re not gonna be perfect. In this case, if you’re a massive procrastinator, remember that doing something poorly is way more better than doing nothing at all. After all, you can always edit your first drafts, but you cannot edit not-written drafts. And once you start, it becomes much easier to keep on going. Things at rest tend to stay at rest, and things at motion and to stay at motion.

Take Breaks. It will help you to re-energise, refocus, and break your tasks into more manageable chunks.

Prioritise. Our time is limited. You need to accept that you will never be able to do everything that you want to do, and that’s okay. Though, in order to do anything at all, you need to prioritise your tasks, by dividing them into 4 categories: 1. urgent & important 2. not urgent but important 3. urgent but not important 4. not urgent & not important People with good time-management skills focus on “not urgent but important” tasks, because that lowers the possibility of tasks becoming “urgent & important” and such tasks are very stressful and far harder to handle.

exceli

There’s 104 days of self-isolation

and everything’s closed just to end it

So, the only one problem of our generation

Is finding a good way to spend it

Like maybe:

Building a rocket Rewatching the mummy Or improving your willpower Catching up with tv shows that you have missed Or learning the benefits of a cold shower Exploring ancient caves Ditching twisted thoughts Or learning major parts of your brain Recognising sounds of birds Learning about the drift of the continents Or solving riddles that’ll drive you insane

Becoming good at interviews Making a cake in a mug Or maybe increasing you reading speed Taking advice from 100-year-olds Starting a journal Or donating all the things that you don’t need

Finding all of the constellations Exploring other dimensions Or procrastinating with some TED talks Becoming Media literate Learning music theory Or learning to draw how the horse walks

Learning to handle having too much to do Becoming a yogi Or finding an online course to enlist Getting a penpal Seeing a hundred films Or maybe becoming a nutritionist

Improving your study skills Learning Graphic Design Or making coffee in new way Learning the piano Trying different sleep schedules Or painting a landscape with only shades of grey

Meditating in the morning Trying tutoring Or discovering a new TED talk Understanding Special Relativity Write a short poem or song Or maybe learn how to do a moonwalk

Starting a conversation when you have nothing to talk about Learning to play chess Or discovering new music Understanding your emotions Trying new hairstyles or cutting your hair Or watching all videos from MinutePhysics

Reading a free science book Creating a playlist of your lifetime Or maybe learning how to knit Making and hanging up a 100 origami cranes Becoming vegetarian for at least a week Or finally learning how to do a backflip

As you can see

There’s a whole lot of stuff to do

After you make that sick call

So stay inside ‘cause covid-19

Is gonna end us all

So stick in house and click here for an update 'cause I’m gonna add some more

#coronavirus

exceli

Notes aesthetics of some great minds

In order from the top, notes of: Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Roger Penrose, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton, Richard Feynman, Galileo Galilei

#notes #notespo #studyspo #studyblr

tantararantan

{While most are dreamers of success, winners wake up and work hard to achieve it.}

gracelesstars

*people complaining about feeling lonely and bored during the quarantine*

Me:

excelispo

honestly, i have an endless list of stuff i can/need to do at all times

biopsychs

physics doesn’t have to suck: how to enjoy and do well in your required physics classes

As someone who doesn’t intend to take a physics class ever again, I was relieved when I walked out of my second semester physics final. That said, physics doesn’t have to suck or drag your average down.

(1) How to enjoy physics: Adjust your attitude. Physics is so cool if you actually think about it. Your attitude will dictate your experience. (2) But physics is so hard: Change the way you study and don’t give up. I did better in university physics than in high school. The content was way more difficult but it was my studying methods that made the difference.

This post is split into 3 parts: Introductory physics (very basic physics, that unit of physics you had to do in a lower level science class), high school physics (physics from an algebra-based perspective), and university physics (calculus-based physics and labs). (Obviously these overlap a lot but I needed to organize this somehow)

INFO IS UNDER THE CUT B/C THIS POST IS RIDICULOUSLY LONG

Keep reading

#physics #study tips #studying

joolshallie

Applying to Oxbridge

As schools go back and people start sending in applications to uni I thought I’d write a post about applying to Oxbridge:

The deadline for UCAS applications for Oxbridge is 18:00 (6pm) 15th October.

Your personal statement will have to be very academically focused. Oxbridge will expect details on books you’ve read, extra academic research or activities you’ve done. Its important to have read widely around your course and have a real interest that can come across in your personal statement.

Here’s my post on writing a bomb ass personal statement

Admission tests - most courses require an admissions test. These are generally taken after you have sent your application off, so you don’t know how you’ve done before applying.

Oxford information about admissions tests

Cambridge admission test information by subject

Cambridge require you to fill out the SAQ (supplementary application questionnaire). A part of this is an additional personal statement (1200 characters max). Here you can add details about why you like the Cambridge course specifically (your general personal statement is sent to all unis you apply to, so you should not include uni-specific info there as this will deter the other unis you apply to!) You don’t have to fill the additional statement - so don’t panic - but it’s worth putting something here.

Cambridge entrance requirements - most courses offer A*AA or A*A*A as their A-level requirements (but check specifically for your course)

Oxford entrance requirements - offers range from A*A*A to AAA (check the website for your specific course)

Oxford admission requirements by subject

Both unis do take into account contextual information. This means they will consider candidates who don’t meet admission requirements if they perform exceptionally for their school, or live in certain postcodes for example.

Choosing a college is not hugely important. I don’t think there are ‘easier’ colleges to get into, as both Oxford and Cambridge have central pooling systems that shuffle candidates about to try and get the best suited people into the uni.

Visit a range of colleges on open days and talk to students to get a feel about where you might want to apply - if not then you can always do an open application (and be assigned to a college).

The uni may ask for submitted work to be sent to them as part of the selection process - this varies from subject to subject (for med I didn’t have to send anything - it’s more for humanities I think).

A key difference with oxbridge is that in December they invite candidates for interview. Cambridge does interviews in a day but Oxford candidates stay over in college. Medicine students are in and out in about 24 hours, but some humanities students stay for ~4/5 days! I really enjoyed the experience of staying in college - I think it gives you a feel for what being there would actually be like studying and living there.

Interview prep will vary hugely depending on your school etc. If your school is not used to getting people into Oxford then I suggest nagging teachers (in subjects related to the course you’re applying to) for mock interviews. Use any contacts you have - if your mum’s uncle’s friend has a daughter at Oxbridge then contact them and quiz them about interviews and what to expect.

Interviews vary massively depending on college and course, so I can’t give advice that applies to everyone. You just have to go in, be yourself and work through anything they throw at you. Do not give up or fail to give some form of answer, even if you’re just thinking aloud generally about the topic. There may be no right answer to what they’ve asked. Tutors just want to see how you think and see if you’re suited to the tutorial/supervision method of teaching.

Here’s a link to the Complete University Guide to applying to Oxbridge

If you’re in doubt about applying then, provided you have the basic academic requirements and want to apply, just go for it! Thinking you won’t fit in, or there’s no point because your school never gets people are not proper reasons not to apply! If you don’t try you have a 0% chance of getting in, but if you give it a go then what’s to lose? Send anymore questions about this my way :)