Getting Through the Exam Time Blues

It’s that time of year again—and no, we’re not referring to winter or the holidays, but that time when everyone starts to camp out in the library, sleep deprived and totally immersed in textbooks and note-taking. But exam time doesn’t need to be the few weeks out of your year when you are exhausted, frazzled and stressed out. There are plenty of things that you can do to maximize your study time while still taking good care of yourself and de-stressing.

Devise a studying timetable and stick to it! Allocating slots of 40 minutes to each topic with 10 minute breaks has been scientifically proven to help students gather and assess information in a more efficient manner. Don’t read the information straight out a book or off of the internet, make sure you copy and rewrite it in your own words. Also, color-code and star certain aspects of your notes to bring the make sense of the information and help you to remember it in the long run. You should also try and study the most difficult areas first thing in the morning because you’re more likely to retain tedious information first thing, as opposed to doing it last thing at night when you’re tired and in a rush to get it done with.

Eat healthy. Make sure that you’re eating properly--3 meals a day with a healthy breakfast, your main meal at lunch, and a lighter meal in the evening. Some foods, such as fish, nuts and dried fruit, have also been known to help student memory. You could also try making some fruit and veggie smoothies to make sure that you get your 5 a day on the go!

Sleep. Students should ‘shut down’—that means no notes, study sessions or textbooks-- at least an hour before going to bed. You should also aim for at least 8 hours sleep per night so that you’ll wake up well rested the next morning. Try and steer clear of any sleep medication, including herbal remedies, and instead try running a warm bath before going to bed to help you relax.

Drink plenty. We are of course talking about water and other non-alcoholic fluids. Research has shown that keeping your body hydrated helps you ingest information and keep you more alert. Though your morning routine may call for that first cup of joe, try and resist - coffee makes you nervous and can actually dehydrate you! If you aren’t ready to give it up completely, at least cut back to one or two cups per day.

Be positive. Stress loves negative energy. Believe in yourself and don’t forget to treat yourself to something you enjoy, i.e. music, food, or shopping, every now and again to keep you motivated and willing to learn.

How to Catch Up On College Work if You Fall Behind

There are few things worse when you are a student than that feeling of being completely out of control with your workload. Here are some ways to help you get caught up with everyone in your class.

Talk to your teacher or tutor. Explain to teachers what may have leaded you to fall behind and ask what you can do to get caught up. Also, ask which assignments is priority and which you should aim to complete first. Your teacher may also be able to connect you to additional resources, like tutoring, check-ins or counseling. Try to get additional help and support from tutors--they were students too once upon a time and will probably be happy to give you some advice.

Write a list of everything you need to get done. It can be scary, but you need to be able to determine exactly how much you have to do–look about a month ahead and factor everything in to get on top of it all. If you don’t write everything down, you could easily forget it all together and fall even further behind. As you finish each task be sure to cross it off of the list; that way you will see yourself making progress and will know how much further you have to go.

Take an hour. Even if you feel totally swamped with little to no free time, chances are you can find time to sit down and get started on one piece of work. Try to find an hour somewhere--between lectures, before or after dinner or in between TV shows. Even if you don’t finish what you started to work on, it will certainly help you to make progress.

Hand in all upcoming work on time. Make sure not to fall behind while you work on catching up—the last thing you want to do is get further behind. Set aside time every day to gather all upcoming assignments and make a detailed plan for how you will complete them.

Get a study partner. Having the support of a real person can be helpful, so finding someone to work with is a great idea. Organize study sessions in the library, set deadlines together, compare notes and ideas or even just meet for coffee and take time to talk about things. You may find that the added support and development of good study habits helps you to stay well ahead, rather than lagging behind.

Don't be ashamed about falling behind. It happens to everyone, and the important thing is that you are dealing with it now and taking care of it before it gets out of hand.

Transitioning from High School to College

Families will soon be preparing their high school children for the changes that college brings. Juniors and seniors in high school should start thinking about college early, not only preparing to select the right institution, but also preparing for the transition from high school to college life.

This is one of the reasons that parents should assist students in this process. The transition from high school to college can be difficult. In most instances, this is a matter of overall maturity. At the same time, these changes have to do with knowing what to expect. The more students understand about college life, the more they can prepare and transition.

Living in a Dorm

Most freshmen come to their campuses never having lived away from home. They may also not be accustomed to living in close quarters with others. High school students should make an effort to understand and prepare for dorm life in college. Reading material about campus rules and individual dorms can be helpful. A planned visit to dorms before beginning schools can also assist students in knowing what to expect.

Responsible Study Habits

One of the important things for students to remember about college is that they will have new responsibility. Parents will not be around to chaperone activities and study habits. This means that students must adopt habits that will allow them to get their studies completed. They will need to use organization and scheduling in this process.

Time Management

Time management is absolutely essential for college students. Most campuses have a list of extracurricular activities and events. Coordinating your time for school and time for other things is important. This will allow students to participate and socialize while achieving their academic goals. Being able to manage your time well is the best way to showcase maturity and preparation for higher education.

College can certainly be the most influential time in a child’s life. Much of the information and skills learned during this period will follow students throughout their careers. Learning to transition will allow students to focus on their goals and enjoying what their school has to offer. 

The "Ready To Go To School" Checklist

When preparing for school, teens and their parents are rightfully worried about getting the right grades, finding sufficient funding, and of course getting into the perfect school.

But while your child will be as ready as they'll ever be for studying, are they ready for the other things that come with going away to college?  Now, in their junior or senior year, is the time to make sure they know how to:

1. Have a nutritious bite.  Does your child cook for themselves or the family, or given their druthers will they eat Big Macs every night?  Nutrition tends to nosedive at college – and with bad eating comes illness, lethargy, and a less rewarding experience.  Make sure your teen knows how to eat well.

2. Pack light.  It may be a long way away, but now is the time to start deciding what's going away to school and what isn't. Dorm rooms are cozy, to say the least, and your child won't be able to take all their possessions with them.  Where are you planning to put the stuff they don't bring, and are they prepared to know what they should bring?

3. Do laundry.  Nobody's going to do your child's laundry for them while they're away, so they might as well learn now unless they want to smell really awful.  And it might lighten your load in the meantime!

4. Keep money tight.  Your child will be responsible for a lot of budgeting they didn't have to worry about, and will likely be accosted by credit card companies plying their easy-to-spend borrowed money from the moment they arrive at school.  Make sure your child has a budget and knows the ramifications of borrowed money.

5. Lock your stuff at night.  It's an unfortunate fact, but colleges are a haven for thieves, and most students have sad stories of stolen stuff.  Ensure your child knows to, and has the tools to, secure their room, their laptop, their phone, and other possessions.

6. Do things on-site.  Take nothing for granted.  If your child will be using a car at school, do they know how to change a tire, check the pressure in the tires, and when to have the oil changed?  If they are relying on a computer do they know where support can be had on campus?  Is their cell phone plan and provider suitable for the location they're moving to?    

7. Study right.  A good college is vastly harder than high school. If your child's getting through high school with ease, they need to learn study skills (which can be found elsewhere in this blog.)

Help your child make a great start in college by helping them with these simple tips before next fall!

Stress Management for Students

Getting into college will be one of the most rewarding and exciting parts of your life.  It'll also be the hardest. The process is generally long, complex, and can be difficult. Anything difficult will cause stress – and unless you learn to manage stress, it will manage you.  Don't allow stress to build up and negatively affect your scholastic endeavors or your health.

 To fight stress, do these things:

1. Stay healthy.  Poor eating, exercise and health habits will do more to you than just make you gain weight; they sap energy, worsen your mood, and add to stress.  Stress is not just a mental state; it's a physical state, and if your body is not well equipped to handle it, you'll be less able to deal with stress.  Eat healthy food, get a good night's sleep, and exercise. 

2. Budget study time.  Ignoring an exam and then cramming the night before will add to your stress (and it doesn't work anyway.)  Having a study plan will not only pace your brain, but just knowing that you have a plan will relax you. For more tips and tricks, read our blog post “Managing Your Study Time”. 

3. Stay social.  You don't want to party your scholarship away, but it's important to stay social. Make friends.  Find clubs.  Play games and sports. Keep in mind that the students you meet today are the co-workers of tomorrow, so it pays to get out and meet new people. Take the time to get to know your colleagues and the time to relax. The mind is well rested by new activities, and socializing will cut down on your stress. 

4. Engage support.  It’s very common for both high school students and college students to feel overwhelmed by it all. If concerns are eating away at you, tell someone - confide in a friend, call your parents, or talk to a professor. Find groups that provide support. Hard though it is to believe when you’re awash in a sea of stress, someone's always ready to help if you just ask. 

Stress management is critically important to any long term effort that requires a lot of time and effort, and your college-bound journey is exactly that. The skills you learn today to manage stress can carry through the rest of your life!

Managing Your Study Time

If you're making the effort to get into the perfect college, you may be one of the many students who just can't seem to study enough.

But, believe it or not, it's possible to allocate too much time to studying. If you feel like you're abandoning social life or extra curricular activities to hit the books, or just feel there's not enough time in the day to study, you might want to consider better study time management. Study smarter... not longer!

Try these three tips:

1. Budget your time. Parkinson's Law states that any task given unlimited time will probably never be finished. If you don't set aside a specific amount of time for schoolwork, you might fall into the trap of feeling as if you've never done enough.

Instead, try to set yourself a fixed amount of time per evening. My suggestion is 85 minutes per day. Set an alarm for that time and when it rings, close your books and finish. After a few days you might be amazed at how your studying will become more efficient just because you're unconsciously working towards that limit.

2. Plan a week ahead. If you don't have a plan before you crack open the books, you won't be efficient in your studying. If you sit down with mounds of essays, labs, upcoming tests and readings and no idea where to start, you'll be distracted by everything you're not doing while you try to do something. Furthermore, you might find yourself spending so much time on one subject you don't leave enough time for another.

Instead of sitting down to a pile of notes and textbooks, plan your week.. Using your work due dates as guides, figure out what you want to do on Monday, Tuesday, and so on, and stick to it as closely as possible. And what you're not planning on doing tonight, get it off your desk! Concentrate on one task at a time to do it right and absorb the information.

3. Don't burn the midnight oil. If you usually go to sleep at 11, staying up until 3 isn't going to help, and in fact, it'll probably hurt. Doing work while you're tired will just result in poor work. Studying while you're tired will almost certainly result in your remembering nothing. Worse, losing sleep will reduce your energy, attentiveness, and performance in class.

Instead of cramming to the wee hours of the morning when exam time comes around, why not find other times to study? Bus and train rides, quiet time, even skimming a textbook while eating, all allow you to absorb information and come up with ideas when your brain is alert, and leave you with time to get a good night's sleep.

Your brain uses more energy than any other organ in your body. To get into the college you've always dreamed of you need to keep your brain from getting worn out!