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@study2nite
a frantic cram session with a friend before our exam
studyblr community request: more pics of notes with pets
There he is
Floki likes to pose while I try to see the screen!
AP U.S. HISTORY
If anyone has any questions about the course or the AP exam, I would be happy to indulge you!
-Nivs
This past year, I took AP World History, and when I first started out, I had absolutely no idea how to manage it. As the year went on, it got harder, but I found what worked so my grades improved! So I would like to pass my wisdom on to you all.
I’m going to divide everything into two parts: studying for the class and studying for the exam!
Studying for the Class:
DO your homework and do it the day it’s assigned
I have a block schedule so we had 4 classes (out of 8) per day, so I could do the homework that day and study it the next day before I had the class again
If you don’t have a block schedule like I did, do the homework before any other class’s so you can review again before you go to sleep
Study everything your teacher provides for you
ie. study the reading provided, study handouts they provide, study any terms or guiding questions they provide
Our sheets for taking notes had important terms and guiding questions at the top of them, so I would make sure I knew what they all meant and that I could answer those questions. If I couldn’t, I’d read through them again
Don’t procrastinate
I know how hard this is, because I wanted to a lot, but you’re going to have to do this homework and study eventually if you want a good grade, so use that to motivate yourself to just get it over with
Just force yourself to sit down and start
Don’t have any distractions whatsoever, stay off the internet using either a blocker, self control, or going in another room
Use a timer to pace yourself
My notes would often take me 1.5 to 2 hours, so I would use the pomodoro timer to pace myself so I didn’t go insane, and it really helped me.
Study by reading over past notes, looking at old quizzes, and quizzing yourself
Try formatting your notes into questions. If your notes say “The attack on Pearl Harbor was on December 7, 1941″ write on a different piece of paper “When was the attack on Pearl Harbor?” and do this for everything. This really helps you to be able to quiz yourself, because it shows how well you know the material.
Study by explaining to others
What really helps me is either talking to myself or someone else while reading my notes. What I mean is going through my notes and reading them aloud in a way that explains them. If you can do this a few times, you’ll find that it sticks into your mind much more, because you got someone else to understand as well.
Take advantage of youtube resources
There are a TON of youtube videos about World History topics. Before every test in my class, I would watch youtube videos reviewing the AP World History period we were studying.
I also really took advantage of (and so did my teacher!) the Crash Course World History series when reviewing before tests and also for the AP Exam.
If your class has essays, and you’re provided the prompt ahead of time, write an outline of the topics you’ll use and what examples you’ll use
Know what you’ll use to get each point on your essay
If there’s any extra credit, DO IT!
My teacher gave us huge packets before each test, and if we completed the majority of it, we’d get a huge curve on the exam which was sooo amazing.
It’s easy to be lazy, but if you end up with an 89.4 and you need that extra boost, your teacher is going to be more likely to help you if you did all of the extra credit possible.
If you’re feeling burnout kicking in, relax a little
This means you’re studying way too much, give yourself more time to do other things like extracurriculars and to just relax.
Tone down your studying, because I was burnt out sometimes, and if you force yourself to keep over-studying, it will make you miserable.
You don’t have to go crazy, this class is not as big a deal as it seems right now so relax. Of course studying is important, but it’s more important that you’re happy while studying.
Studying for the AP Exam!
Review all of your notes from the past year
If your teacher gave you reviews before tests, review those even more because they usually show the most important information to know about that time period.
Review old tests
Go into tutoring and ask your teacher if you can look at your old tests, to review questions that could show up on the AP exam, and to see where you struggled and areas you need to improve in.
Predict the essay prompts!
Look up the old essay prompts over the years and look at the trends to see what hasn’t been asked about in a while in terms of geographic location and theme. eg. Latin America and economy, or Western Europe and culture.
Start studying second semester while you’re learning the newer material
Don’t go crazy, just slowly look over your notes and reviews, quiz yourself, make sure you can explain the topics to someone else.
Review the essay rubrics and how the points are distributed
It’s important to know where the points come from so you can be obvious that you’re aiming for a certain point
Essay tip: be painfully obvious you want a point, don’t leave it to the grader to interpret, say “this caused this because,” or “this was a continuity of this because,” etc.
Don’t stress
As long as you’ve been reviewing the material and the essay formats, you WILL pass! You WILL do well! It’s not as scary as it seems. I was terrified before and afterwards I felt a lot better.
I hope this has helped anyone needing help studying AP World History, I know you’ll all do wonderfully so don’t stress and be confident in yourselves! <3
How to start again ✨
delete apps and social media that lowers your mood
wear a new scent, throw away things you don’t need, delete contacts of people who make you feel unworthy, unfollow social media that makes you feel bad in any way
make a new playlist that makes you feel confident and happy
in a journal, write down why you want to change, the traits of the person you truly want to be, the places you want to go and people that make you feel inspired
write down the things that stop you and bad habits you have, and replace those with new mindsets and habits
before you sleep, make a detailed, achievable routine for the next day, that includes everything you want to do, including activities that genuinely make you happy
try new hobbies, like baking/cooking, playing a musical instrument, making art, learning a new skill, a sport, or a new language. you can easily get free resources online
think about the ideal version of yourself. you can be like that, if you try your best and work hard.
do not overwork yourself or set overly lofty daily goals and forget to do things like drink water. make your sleep and health your number one priority.
spend less time on your phone scrolling through social media. have a method of focusing on other things, like Pomodoro method or using the Forest app.
if you can’t concentrate, commit yourself to doing it for 5 minutes. once you get into the flow it’s much easier to concentrate.
be patient and kind with yourself. it’s hard to change overnight. you’re the only one who can help change you, so be a friend to yourself.
once you start something, promise yourself you will finish it.
have new weekly routines, like going to a cafe every Wednesday afternoon or indulging in your favourite tv show every Friday night.
do not deny yourself of good things; there needs to be a balance. similarly, do not be too generous and overdo it too much.
dedicate a day to clean your room and organize your things if you feel stressed out.
it may feel scary to change, as you may feel like it’s not the real you. but you’re still you, just the best version of yourself.
have a relaxing morning routine to look forward to, like making a nice breakfast, having a skin care routine, stretches, journalling, or thinking about nothing for a few minutes
have a mental image that makes you excited to do something. visualize yourself completing the goal and concentrate on it every morning.
however, learn not to rely on motivation because your brain will often turn off motivation, especially when you first begin something. have a routine, a specific time to do something, and do it.
notice the places and people that drain your energy, and try to avoid them. find people who make you feel energized and places that calm you.
think about an enjoyable part of something. for example, when studying you can look forward to learning new things and when exercising, listening to calming music or using nice stationery. it’s actually more fun than you think.
even though it’s hard, don’t compare yourself. you’re on your own path, and it doesn’t matter if people are better than you, because there will always be someone better than everyone. don’t be afraid to suck. so draw badly, write bad poems, run slowly, make embarrassing mistakes and fail everything. you can’t be good at something unless you’re terrible at something first. and doing anything badly is so much better than doing nothing.
don’t tell anyone about your new beginning, just start and let the results speak for themselves.
you can change and be your ideal self. but it will be hard to do that if you don’t believe in yourself. so make sure you challenge negative thoughts telling you can’t do something. tell yourself firmly that you can do it and then prove your negative thoughts wrong.
Enjoying the beginning of summer holidays by sitting in cafes and reading the beast that is A Little Life.
I couldn’t focus so I spend most of the day on tumblr and reading… Hopefully I’ll be able to study a bit better tomorrow!
me: say it— i need to hear those three words
library database: Full Text Online
me, shedding tears: i love you too
A Stash of Tiny Study Tips
STAYING MOTIVATED
Create realistic goals: get ___ grade on next ____
Manageable let down; get back on track
Keep track of grades: focused, know where stand, no surprises
Start small
Low risk confidence builders
Take time to relax/give self rewards
Days off, breaks, rewards
All work & no play =/= living
Little organization goes a long way
Reward achievements!
Keep balance with exercise, clubs, friends
2h/d: friends and exercise
Remember that hard work pays off
Isn’t a breeze to try to get a 4.0 GPA; but it’s possible
You’re smart enough and can achieve it
90% there with these tips, 10% is just pure hard work
Only chill on weekends
Monday-Friday: school mode
Have time for some fun
If work as hard as should during week, will need weekends to blow off steam
Be self-motivated
Grades can matter, not everything, but follow through on what needs to be done
Not most important part of college but underperform? You will regret it
GPA cutoffs exist and matter to employers
College is full of distractions and opportunities
Nobody will hold hand and the work will suck but all the prouder of yourself to be
Suck it up, buckle down, get it done
If think need break, probably don’t
Turn off the little voice
Realize not alone in questioning ability
Avoid people who tend to burst bubbles no matter what
Physical triggers to stop
Incentive to get something done when know have something else during the day
Don’t have a gaping abyss of study time
Work has to get done, in the end
Books, examiners, and especially your future self isn’t going to care about your excuses for not doing the work
Take the first step
It will almost be fictional how hard you thought the task was going to be
Just keep going because you simply can’t afford NOT to do anything today, nonzero days
Leeway, don’t give your perfectionism control over your life
MUNDANE HABITS
Sleep! Think and function, mind & body
CAN sleep if keep up with coursework instead of procrastinating
Will miss out on some fun stuff
Need to stay awake in class
Figure out what need for full speed
Stay relaxed
Stay physically healthy
Diet and exercise
1 hour exercise during week
Weekends off
Traditional breakfast not necessary if value extra sleep
Systematic habits: neat, prepared
Master material
Look for real world applications
Learning is a process: be patient, don’t expect to master off the bat
Designate study area and study times
Do trial runs
Practice tests
Ask a TA to listen to your oral performance
Study groups
Don’t copy other people’s psets and solutions
BEFORE SEMESTER
Spiral bound notebook, can color code with folders/etc if need be
Lecture notes: front to back
Reading notes: back to front (if fall behind on)
Seminar notes: mixed in with lecture notes, different pen color/labeled
Outline format
Bullet points for everything
Same NB for one set of class notes, separate notebooks for all classes
5-subject notebook
Midterm and exam material in it
Mesh sources, study guide
All study material from week/month in one place
Pick the right major
Indulge in favorite hobby feeling
Pick professors & classes wisely
Take a small class
Pick classes that interest you so studying doesn’t feel torturous
Want to learn
GRADES SPECIFIC
Prioritize class by how can affect GPA
More credits: more weight
Work enough to get an A in your easy classes: take something good at
Don’t settle, don’t slack off, don’t put in minimal effort to get that B/C. Just put in a tiny bit more effort to ensure A
Will have harder classes and need to counteract
Take electives can ace
Anything but an A in an elective is kinda mean and an unnecessary hit for your GPA
FIRST DAY/WEEK/HALF OF CLASSES
Get to know teaching style: focus most on, lecture/notes
Pick and follow a specific note taking format
Outline
Date each entry
Capture everything on board
Decide productivity system
Google Cal
Todoist
Agenda: remind meetings, class schedule, important dates/midterms/quizzes/tests, no homework
Always wanted to be prepared
Rarely last minute
Have plan, stay focused
Homework notebook
Good redundancy
Study syllabus
Know it thoroughly
Plot all due dates after class
Penalize if fail to abide by
Study the hardest for the first exam
Seems counterintuitive
Hardest/most important test
Pay attention to content and formatLess pressure: just need ___ on final to keep my A
Easy to start high and keep high
Go into crunch mode at the beginning
End softly
Get plenty of sleep, exercise, and good food in the finals days before the exam
DURING SEMESTER: PEOPLE
Get to know professors: go to office hours, care about grades/course/them
Easier ask for help, rec letter
Get to know interests and what they think is important
Figure out their research interests, 60% of their job is research
Learning is dynamic
Discussion helps
Get feedback early when not sure what doing
Take comments constructively
Consistent class participation: ask questions, give answers, comment when appropriate
Understand material
Find a study buddy in each class: don’t have to study with
Somebody can compare notes with, safety net
Pick somebody who attends, participates, and take notes regularly
Make some friends
Participate as fully as can in group activities
Be involved
Learn – not be taught
Be punctual
Good impression, on human professors
DON’T BE LATE
Skipping class =/= option: It’s “cool” to get attendance award
Make all the classes: it’s hard to feel confident when missing key pieces
Get full scope of class, everything will make a lot more sense and save a lot of time in long run
Mandatory class: higher graduating cumulative GPA
Go to class when no one else does/want to show up, reward
Get to know professor, what’s on test, notice, r/s build, material not in reading
Unless optional and super confusing professor
Sit in one of the first rows
Don’t fall asleep
Fake interest if you have to
Tutors
DURING SEMESTER: THINGS TO DO
Take notes! Provided is bare minimum, accessed by students who aren’t attending lecture
Based on lecture and what read –> test; it’ll be worth it
Write it down
By hand
Bored? Doodle instead of going online
Read all assigned–even if need to skim
Seems cumbersome and maybe impossible
Figure out what’s important
Look at the logical progression of the argument/what’s important/what trying to prove
Understand everything that you do read–even if don’t read everything
PIck 2 examples from text per topic
Complete course material on time
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL DAY BEFORE IT IS DUE
Begin as soon as possible
Sometimes it’s just straight up impossible
Have it look attractive
Library doesn’t just mean = study
Social media in the library is still social media
Confusion is terrible
Read other textbooks, review course material @ another uni/by another professor, google the shit out of it
Review
Do not wait, do throughout semester
Exam prep
Ask for model papers, look at style & structure, thesis, how cite
Get old tests
Look at type of questions (detail level and structure)
Can solve old exams cold
If give out paper exams in class: probs won’t repeat questions, focus more on concepts but still learn the questions
Have class notes and psets down cold
Do all the practice problems
Read through notes a few times; rewrite into a revision notebook
Highlight major topics and subtopics
Different highlighter for vocab terms
Overall picture, go from concept to detail
Look at overall context and how specific idea fit into whole course
Ideas, don’t memorize all your notes
Better understand = more able to use and manipulate info and remember it. Understand = manipulation.
Charts, diagrams, graphs
Lists
Practice drawing labeled structures
Flash cards for memorization
Every school requires some degree of grunt memorization
Say it aloud, write it down
Get friends to quiz you
Self-test: severely challenge self, have a running collection of exam questions
Explain difficult concepts to your friends; force yourself to articulate the concept
Never pull an all-nighter
Do not spend every hour studying up to the exam
Eat, shower, sleep
Don’t wait until night before exam to study
Prep takes time even if reviewed throughout semester
Ask about format–don’t ask the professor to change it for you
Law of College: it will be on the exam if you don’t understand it
Ask professor, internet, textbooks
Night before exam
Jot what want to remember/have fresh
Read through in morning/before exam
Physical prep
Sleep, have test materials
Day of exam
Don’t cram every single spare minute
Go to bathroom before exam
Never miss an exam/lie to get more time
You won’t be any more ready 2-3 days after when supposed to have taken it
Slay exam. Get A.
WEEKLY
Friday morning: go through each syllabus, write down in HW notebook
All hw during weekend; study/reading assignments during week
Save everything
Divide big tasks into small pieces to help propel self
Standard study schedule: block off lectures, labs, regular commitments
Note the weeks that have assignments and tests that will require extra studying
Don’t oscillate too heavily every day with study times (i.e. don’t study 2-3 hours for weeks and then 10-12 hour days right before an exam)
Eat and sleep to make more extended work periods liveable and enjoyable
DAILY
Set an amount of time would like to study every day
Try to study most days
Avoid vague/zoned out studying –> waste of time
Do a little bit daily but don’t let studying be your whole day
Review notes: 30mins/day, each class from that day
Look at important ideas/vocab
Prioritize new vocab because language is most fundamental and important tool in any subject
Circle abbreviations and make yourself a key somewhere so you don’t forget what the hell that abbreviations meant
Check spelling
Rewrite/reorganize notes if necessary
Format of ideas is just as important as the concepts themselves, esp. when it comes time for exam review
This helps you retain the material so you’ll be ahead next time you walk into class
Chance to ID any knowledge gaps that you can ask about for next class
Keep up with reading
Skim text before lecture or at least main topic sentences
Jot down anything don’t understand; if lecture doesn’t clarify, ask the professor
After lecture: skim again, outline chapter, make vocab flashcards
Highlight similar class and lecture notes
will definitely be tested on
Review and make study questions
Study
Disconnect from anything irrelevant to study material: help focus and your GPA
Don’t limit studying to the night
Study whenever, wherever between classes
Variety helps focus and motivation
Especially if tired at night and can’t transition between subjects
Try to study for a specific subject right before/after the class
Already feeling burnt out from this semester and I haven’t even had a midterm yet. I made myself relax today but I did take the time to go to a coffee shop for a couple of hours to study for my midterms next week.
It’s totally okay to take a day’s break but I find myself feeling guilty or even more stressed when I “waste” an entire day. I’m fully admitting that this a harmful mentality but I also think it’s a mentality that a lot of students share.
It’s okay to take an entire day, or however long you need, as a break but make sure it feels like a break and isn’t setting you up for more stress later. Reading just one chapter, doing the laundry, organizing your desk, doing meal prep, etc. are all little tasks that you can fit in on a day off without burning yourself out and will make your life easier later :)
“School will get better. Your relationship with your family will get better. Your anxiety and depression will get better. Your life will get better. It will all get better. I can’t tell you when or how, but I can tell you that it will. I promise.”
— just in case you needed to hear this today
5.3 I’m exposing my tendency to doodle in the margins of my paper in chemistry but it’s okay because I got a 100% on our most recent exam
here’s the truth about textbooks
i keep seeing posts out there saying that you need to read the textbook to succeed in class. NO. you do not need to read the textbook. at least not for many, if not most, of your classes. first of all, it’s impractical. profs can assign up to 2-3 a week, and if you’re taking around 4-5 classes, that’s a WHOLE LOT of reading. if you have time to do so, go ahead, but a lot of students don’t have that much time on their hands. so i’m suggesting that you DON’T need to read every single chapter your prof assigns. what you DO need to do is to get smarter at selecting what and when to read, as well as scanning the text effectively.
when TO read the textbook
when your profs tell you that they will not be teaching from the textbook but that the exams will cover material and/or questions from the textbook
when the material is difficult, tricky, or lengthy and you need clarification, further explanation, or examples
when you miss a class
when you HAVE TIME to prepare for lectures in advance
when you feel that you actually learn and retain information better by reading the textbook
when NOT to read the textbook
when your profs teach from the textbook pretty much line by line
when your profs tell you that they will not be assessing you based on information from the text, but from their lectures
a strong implication of this is if your profs require lecture attendance
when you feel that reading the textbook does not help you learn or retain information
when you are constantly confused by the textbook (esp when it comes to calculation-based stem classes like math or cs)
when you have absolutely no time whatsoever to read pages after pages of bad academic puns
what you can do INSTEAD of reading the textbook
look at the course syllabus/schedule to see what you will learn in lecture. have an idea of what material you’ll be covering, then do the following steps.
check the course website/resources and ask yourself: what do you have to work with? are there lecture slides? lecture notes from previous semesters? online links or readings?
if one of the above exists, read the lecture slides/notes. they are usually much less text-intensive and get straight to the point. you can zip through them pretty quickly. you will at least have a basic understanding of the material that will be introduced in class.
google terms and concepts that you don’t understand from just reading the lecture slides. again, the idea is to get you to have a basic understanding of the material and not become an expert. this will help you avoid getting lost during the lecture.
if you’re still a little confused, read selected sections from the textbook that deal with the topic you need more help with. please don’t read the entire thing.
if there are no lecture slides or external resources to help you out, scan the textbook effectively.
how to SCAN textbooks effectively
read the chapter title and section headings
read the highlighted, bolded, or italicized terms and concepts, as well as their respective definitions in the content itself, the margins, and/or the index at the back
google the terms and concepts if you’re still confused
examine any charts, graphs, or flowcharts
examples and example questions can be helpful, so pay attention to those
at the end of each chapter there should be a brief summary or main idea section. read those and do the practical problems if possible.
THIS IS SO USEFUL!!!!! Highly recommend reading this and learning to identify when to use a textbook and not
early day off means more cafe study sessions 💫
I spend the whole day studying statistics; I feel like my brains are melting… Eight days to go before my exam! For some reason I’m totally fired up and I really want to ace this exam. So even though it’s ten pm right now, I’m still going to study a bit more! Gotta take advantage of being focused for once 🤓
[09.14.18] 27/100 days of productivity
I had Greek exam this morning and was glad to see that my hard work paid off - 101% on my first test of the semester! Good news!
Background: @emmastudies