Posts filed under 'academics'
Setting up my class schedule always stressed me out-would I get the classes I wanted, at the times I wanted? Would I have time to get my homework done, and have a job? Here are my top 5 tips to make your class schedule the best it can be. (This might be a little early since it’s just the opening of summer, but for since some schools make you set up your classes over the summer anyway, I thought I should get these tips out ASAP!)
- Sign Up for an Extra Class. Every quarter, I signed up for one more class than I planned to take (I usually took 4 classes, so I signed up for 5). The first week, I went to all 5 classes, picked the one I liked the least (because it seemed too hard, the professor was weird, the topic was boring, or whatever) and dropped it. That way I had an easy out of one class: I didn’t get stuck with something I didn’t like and still had the credits I needed.
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- Back-to-Back or Hours Apart? [Note: This was edited after advice from commenters Mel & Allan] Decide ahead whether you can handle back-to-back classes or if you’ll need more than a 10-minute passing period between. Some students feel pressured rushing from building to building in the passing period because they don’t know the campus, or find it hard to keep focused with one class after another. Others like to get all their classes over with in one fell swoop and use the rest of the day for work, study, and socializing instead. If you do schedule you classes with extra in-between time, use it to review your notes from the class you just took. According to Strategies for Success, “extensive studies have shown that one’s recall rises immediately after a learning period, such as a lecture, and then declines rapidly until after about twenty-four hours, recall has diminished by about 80%. However, the decline in recall can be dramatically reduced if one reinforces the learning by a short review within one hour.” Translation: Shorter studying time later! You can also use the extra time to do homework, grab a snack, or get to know the campus better.
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- Take Some Fun/Easy Classes. All through your pre-college school days your schedule revolved around the requirements-college is your turn to call the shots. Take at least a couple fun or easy classes in subjects you’ve always wanted to take (as long as you can keep up with your major). One of my favorite classes was a Pass/No Pass class in Gospel Choir-it was easy, relaxed, fun, and had a very enthusiastic professor. I looked forward to it every week.
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- Don’t Schedule Classes You’ll Sleep Through. No matter how devoted you are to BioChem, you’re not going to get much out of it if you fall asleep in class-or worse, if you don’t even get out of bed. Be realistic when you’re scheduling your classes. If you’re going to skip anything before 9, set your classes up for 9:30 or later!
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- Block Out the Rest of Your Day. When you’re setting up your class schedule, plan out how the rest of your life will work in around your classes. Give yourself time to go out with friends, have a part-time job, do homework and study, and set aside time for these things on your calendar-in writing. You can always move your activities around later, but figuring them out early will help you wrap your mind around everything that has to get done in a single day.
These 5 things helped me make a pretty good (sometimes great!) schedule every quarter. If you do nothing else, I definitely recommend that you take action on Tip #1 - sign up for an extra class. It gives you so much freedom to know you can drop one of your classes without falling below your credit requirements!
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photo: White clock by Fenix
June 5th, 2008
Sometimes flashcards and rewriting notes will get you through a test, but for those trickier questions-orders of occurrence, lists of amino acids, etc.-mnemonic devices can be the key to making info stay in your head for the long term. Here are a few ideas, and remember, the sillier you make these, the more memorable they’ll be!
Acronyms
Acronyms are simply a way to shorten several words into one or a few “words” by combining their first letters. Remember ROY G. BIV, the acronym from elementary school that helped you remember the colors of the rainbow in order? (Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet!) You can use the same technique to help you memorize any list of things, from amino acids to the oceans of the world to the presidents of the United States.
Example:
PEMDAS, the order of operations in math (Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction)
Acrostics
Acrostics, use the first letter of the words you want to remember, too. But instead of making a word, they make a sentence with whole words that start with those letters. These, too, are great for remembering lists in order.
Example:
Every Good Boy Does Fine., the order of notes on the G Clef (EGBDF)
Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Sand., the order of taxonomy (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species)
Music
As goofy as it sounds, putting words to a familiar tune can really help it stick in your mind. This works especially well for formulas, lists, and processes (like production of ATP, for example). You’ll probably have to sing it to yourself a few times to get it down, but once it’s in your mind, it will be hard to shake!
Example: In high school, some of my friends put the Quadratic Formula to the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel”-I still get it stuck in my head sometimes, but I don’t think I’ll ever forget that equation. There are even songs that list all the countries in the world or all the elements on the periodic table!
Word Associations
These work particularly well for names of people, places, and things (and lots of other things if you get creative!). The key is to associate words and names along the theme of the question you want to answer.
Example:
To remember who the fattest U.S. president was, I think: Taft. Taft sounds like Taffy. Too much taffy makes you fat. : )
I try to make it as silly as possible!
“State-Dependent” Studying
Commenter Nichole suggested studying at the same time of day, in the same environment as you will be in when you take your test. This technique is supposed to help your mind recall more easily when you get into the test environment. Thanks Nichole!
Photo: Chess pieces by hortongrou
May 5th, 2008
It’s hard enough choosing a major yourself, and now people are talking to you about a minor or worse-a double major! As if one major isn’t hard enough work!
But do you need a double major-or even a minor-to be competitive? Is it going to affect your future, your career, your chances?
Double Majors
Double majors are a good fit for a select few students, but you are definitely not expected to take on two majors. It will not look “bad” if you only have one major!
Clearly, doubling up on majors means a lot of extra work. My personal feelings on this-knowing people who have both double-majored and who have stuck with just one major-is that you should major in something you are passionate about, and focus your energy there.
You’re going to spend the majority of your college career focused on whatever field you choose to major in, so if you feel equally, deeply passionate about two things, then a double major might be a good fit for you. If not, don’t double major!
Minors
Minors are, again, not really a requirement. Here are my basic rules about when you might logically choose to minor in a field:
- If your minor would strengthen your capability at your major. (i.e. if you’re a physics major, a math minor could really help you to do better in your physics studies)
- If required classes for your minor overlaps solidly with those for your major. (If you already have to do the work, why not add on a few extra classes to get the minor?)
- If you feel passionately interested in another field, but not enough to double-major. (If you’re studying art but really enjoy psychology classes, you may as well work that in as a minor!)
Bottom line? A minor is not required, and most employers won’t care if you do or don’t have one. I minored in psychology simply because (a) I found it interesting and (b) I had already taken some classes that filled part of the requirement-so it wasn’t hard to finish up the minor.
Hope that takes the pressure off-remember, study what you like!
Photo: Sign by alifarid
April 8th, 2008
You can’t copy down an entire lecture, word-for-word. If you did, you probably wouldn’t be able to focus on the content; you’d be much too busy trying to get all the words down. That’s why it’s important to know which information to keep, and which to let go.
Drawings, Diagrams, and Charts.
If you’re a visual learner (like me!) you should try to copy down as many of the graphs & charts your teacher shows as possible. In fact, if something isn’t making sense, it wouldn’t hurt to make up your own diagrams and charts, too. Imagery such as diagrams (like the internal workings of the kidney), as well as flow charts of processes (like how a bill becomes a law) can be easier to visualize during tests.
Charts and graphs are one thing you don’t always need to copy down. Often times they are used simply to underscore a key point. However, if your professor tends to use lecture material heavily in tests, those charts or graphs could pop up again, and you’ll want them to look familiar!
Read the Professor.
One of the best ways to know what information is important is to key in on your professor’s verbalization and attitude (as the NY Times wisely suggests). Your professor will give you hints about what is important, so watch out for topics that cause the following:
- Louder speaking voice
- Increasingly zealous body language (like arm-waving, pointing, etc.)
- Verbal clues (lots of professors will actually say, “This is important!” or “You don’t need to copy this down.”)
- Visual clues (like circling something, drawing on an overhead/laptop, adding a star, etc.)
- Repetition of certain words, phrases, or concepts
- Asking the class to repeat something back
All the above indicators mean he/she is talking about something important, so be sure you write it down and LEARN it!
(Also check out Note-Taking Tips Part 1: Keeping Your Notes Organized)
photo: Paper clips by Fran GC
March 11th, 2008
Note-taking is one of those critical skills most people don’t really learn in high school. Here are a few basic tips that will help you get a handle on the note-taking process–and help you out when its time to cram later!
Class, Date and Time.
You might think writing the class/date/time at the top of your notes is a waste of time, but if your notes get disorganized, it is your best way to figure out which notes belong to which lecture-you can just compare the date to your syllabus.
Lecture Number & Title.
Especially helpful for profs whose lectures spill over into the next time class meets. Track the lecture number and title (especially if your professor changes lectures midway through class) so you can refer to the right sections of the book for backup.
Note to Self.
I am a big believer in the “note-to-self” aspect of note-taking. Writing notes to your future self saves a lot of time and confusion, and can help you keep from missing out on (or forgetting!) important information. Make sure you mark the following things down for your future self to review:
- “Missed 1st 20 min of Lecture.” Mark down if you doze off mid-lecture, come in late, or leave early so you can borrow a friend’s notes & catch up later. I’ve missed quite a few test questions because of incomplete notes.
- “Not sure what he said here. Sounded like Golgi?” If you didn’t understand something the professor said, let yourself know so you can look it up/check with a classmate later.
- “***This WILL BE ON TEST***” If your prof gives you a heads up that something will be on the test, write it down!!! It’s like a free answer!
- “See Diagram 9B, pg. 618″ Instead of trying to copy down diagrams that are already in your book, just note the page number at the relevant point in your notes. If it’s helpful, copy it down later.
Page Numbers.
So basic, but numbering the corners of your pages is a lifesaver when you’ve been shuffling papers around during hours of studying (or if your roommate turns a fan on during a study session).
Photo: office tools 2 by lusi
March 6th, 2008
A lot of people thought it was a bad move when I declared a Literature/Writing major. Really. Only my parents understood it-it seemed like everybody else responded with a quip about how I “probably wanted to wait tables or serve hamburgers for a living!” No, I didn’t!
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was a bright idea, either. I considered studying something that would (supposedly) make me more money when I graduated, but either out of intuition or pure dumb luck, I stuck with my passion and pursued writing.
Committing for Money
A lot of students choose their major from a monetary standpoint-they want to do whatever will make them a millionaire the fastest. The problem with that is that a lot of kids end up hating what they study-and later, what they do every day, all day to make a living. That’s the kind of issue that drives a lot of people to go back to school or make big career changes when they hit their 40’s and 50’s.
Committing for Love
So, now that I’ve graduated, I can tell you that my English major actually helped me get a job. Better yet, it helped me get a job I actually LIKE!
I definitely recommend choosing a major in something that you love, rather than in something that you THINK will make you money. Here’s why:
- You’ll do better work, because you’ll enjoy what you’re studying. And better work means better grades. And better grades can mean scholarships in the short term, and a better job in the long term.
- You’ll make connections in the field you love because you’ll be working with professors who teach what you want to DO. A big part of finding a great job after college is networking during college!
- You’ll be attractive to the employers you want to work for because you’ll have an expertise AND a passion for your future job. Good grades are a great start, but if you can go into an interview with enthusiasm, you’re way more likely to get the job.
- You’ll be more likely to be happy with your job 10, 20, or 30 years down the road. Like I said, a lot of people tire of the jobs they’ve chosen because they never liked doing it in the first place. Life is too short to spend 8 hours of every day doing something that bores you to tears.
- You’ll be more likely to advance if you are good at something than if you aren’t. That seems like common sense, but a lot of students still choose a major in a field they just AREN’T NATURALLY GOOD AT because they’re hoping for a bigger paycheck. Guess what? It’s pretty hard to advance to higher paying jobs if you aren’t even good at the lower paying ones!
The bottom line is, you have to work either way. There is no magical major that will guarantee you millions of dollars your first year out of college-you have to work your way up the ladder. So why not choose something you love now, so the years of climbing the corporate ladder are more fun?
photo: in the air …1 by ckgd2
January 7th, 2008
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