Aaye

Falling

Deeper and deeeper

New lengths and new experience do not make me wise

Rather I feel lost and hurt

I am imprudent and foolish you say

Yet fail to recognise my pain

As your vacuous thoughts spit and cover my view

Lubricating the floor and there I slip and fall

Down

And

ENGLISH & ESSAYS - lit, lang, essays

ap lit

english literature masterpost

english literature tips

ap literature reading list

literature masterpost

ap lang

how to study for the ap lang exam

ap language and composition

another ap lang mp 

essays

a guide to outlining essays

academic writing resources

writing last minute essays ​

SOCIAL SCIENCES - hug, gov, econ, ush, euro, world

ap hug

ap human geography

another ap hug masterpost

ap hug masterpost

tackling ap human geography

ap gov

how to do well in ap gov

ap govt and politics resources

ap gov and politics

ap gov resources

youtube ap gov review

ap econ

ap macro econ sheets

how to survive ap economics

lets get economical

ap ush

how to procrastinate for the apush exam

apush resources

ap us history masterpost

another apush masterpost

all the topics u need to know for apush 

ap world

ap world history

ap world masterpost

how to study ap world history

one more world masterpost

ap euro

ap euro masterpost

ap euro crunch time

european history masterpost

ap euro tips

SCIENCES - comp sci, psych, chem, physics

computer science

pltw masterpost

coding masterpost

typing masterpost

coding online

learn to code

how to study for computer science

psychology

ap psychology: a masterpost

teach urself psychology n neuroscience

more psychology

ap psych resources

masterpost of psych notes

ap psychology

chemistry

how to organic chemistry ​

science resources

another org chem masterpost

ap chemistry

high school chemistry cheat sheet 

chemistry resource masterpost

ap chemistry masterpost 

chemistry resources 

physics

physics links

studying for ap physics

ap physics 1

ap physics c

physics resoures and links

MATHEMATICS - algebra, precalc, calculus, general

algebra

algebra 2

algebra masterpost

precalc

precalculus review

resources for precalc

precalculus masterpost

calculus

how to study calculus ​

mega calculus masterpost

ap calculus formula sheets

general

how to study math

complete math masterpost ​

NON ENGLISH LANGUAGES - specifics, general

specific

spanish resources masterpost

spanish resources

swedish resources masterpost

italian learning

learning turkish masterpost

beginning with japanese

japanese masterpost

german learning tools

romanian masterpost

learn hebrew in 200 words

learning latin

french masterpost

a french masterpost

chinese masterpost

learn korean  

general

languages dictionary masterpost

how to learn languages

languages masterpost

what to do after duolingo

how to learn a language knowing the basics

MASTERPOSTS OF MASTERPOSTS

masterpost of everything

studyblr resources

the really big studying masterpost

masterpost of masterposts

study masterlists

the imperfect guide on ap classes

ap cram packets

MISCELLANEOUS - art, printables, apps, organizing

art

mini art guide

paper recommendations

how to survive ap studio art

fifty ways to improve ur artwork

helpful (art related) websites

useful art masterpost

printables

printables masterpost

another masterpost

how to make a printable

apps / websites

websites u didnt kno

study apps n websites

organization

cleaning out binders

time management stuff 

how to be more organized

FIRST OF ALL, 80% may not be what you want but can we all take a step back and appreciate HOW BLOODY GOOD THAT IS. The first step to “improving” your performance is to take stock of where you are - and celebrating your achievements is part and parcel of that. 

Here’s a few resources that may help: 

Dealing with a shit grade 

How to “study smart” 

How to take notes 

Planning and to do apps

This list of resources I had for a year 11 anon - general high school tips 

How to study for finals 

My annual HSC post 

Why your ATAR doesn’t matter as much as you think it does 

The last three paras of this post 

Honestly, the best way to prepare is to “do” the thing you’re actually preparing for. So in this context, practice exams - get familiar with them, get familiar with the type of questions and the time pressure you’ll be submitted to. Do lots and lots of practice exams in timed conditions. 

Then, review what you didn’t understand. Use the exams as a guide for your notes - or to reorganise your notes you’ve written in class. 

Also, reaching out and discussing your struggles with HSC - anxieties about the future, how HSC is calculated, the pressure of finding a uni course etc, really helps. I’d highly encourage you to get in touch with some of the Australian Studyblrs on here. 

(This is not a studyblr. I just want to post something that I wrote ages ago and hopefully it will be useful to someone. Though I am happy to answer questions.)

so it’s summer and time for test preparation. Here are my notes for UCAT and BMAT, as someone who’s taken each of them twice.

UKCAT (second time) 3000

BMAT (second time) 7.3, 8.6, 4A

UKCAT preparation (They renamed it UCAT I think. I am not absolutely sure if these notes are still applicable.)

I did all the free practice questions on the official UCKAT guide. Whilst The Medic Portal UKCAT question bank was still free, I finished about 90% of all questions. Overall I think it was a really good source with realistic questions.

The amount of time needed for preparation is really different for everyone. I’d rather start early, try a few problem sets, and plan from there.

Verbal Reasoning: Read the questions first before reading the article. Scanning didn’t work for me as a non-native English speaker, so I just tried my best to read as fast as possible.

Quantitative Reasoning: Familiarise yourself with all the common formulas, and improve your mental arithmetic bit by bit. The official practice questions were generally harder than the ones in the actual test. The numeric keypad was a lifesaver. Again scanning didn’t really work, so I consciously read every word.

Decision Making: There are several types of DM questions, and the only one I struggled with was Evaluating Argument. (It often turned out that my common sense was a bit different to everyone else’s, oh well…) Pick the strongest and most logical argument, even if it sounds ridiculous to you. You might be able to first exclude the arguments with inappropriate assumptions or those irrelevant to the question.

Abstract Reasoning: I have no idea. I wasn’t able to memorise any of those mnemonics, so I just practised a lot to find the ‘sixth sense’.

Situational Judgment Test: Good Medical Practice guide from GMC website is a must read. Here are a few things I jotted down, but of course you can make your own notes after lots of practice.

Very appropriate=addresses at least one aspect of the situation. Appropriate but not ideal=no bad consequences, but not very wise. Inappropriate but not awful=shouldn’t really be done, but no terrible consequences. Very inappropriate=makes the situation worse.

Very important=vital when deciding to do or not to do. Important=useful but not vital. Of minor importance=can be taken into account, but doesn’t really matter if it’s considered right at that moment. Not important=completely irrelevant.

Medical students cannot give any medical advice to patients or family members.

Apologising on someone else’s behalf (when they are indeed wrong) is appropriate but not ideal.

For problems in group work, you should first try to solve locally. You should encourage everyone to contribute. You must not exclude anyone from discussion. Asking for tutor’s advice is appropriate but might not be ideal.

Future grade/assessment is not important at all when you’re considering reporting someone’s behaviour.

You cannot ignore a friend’s inappropriate behaviour or expect the friendship to affect anything professional decision.

It is very appropriate for a medical student/junior doctor to consult a senior doctor.

You should refuse the ‘wrong’ kind of help, but make use of available resources.

You should not appear insensitive even when you cannot provide sth.

You cannot discuss a mistake right in front of a patient.

Other people’s professional opinions are (very) important.

You cannot compromise quality of service.

You cannot blame anyone for anything before gathering enough evidence.

It is important that the patient understands everything and errors are corrected ASAP.

Patient history is important.

People who’re in need of urgent help should be prioritised.

BMAT preparation

I did every official practice paper at least twice. I also finished the book The Ultimate BMAT Guide 600 Practice Questions, which was very helpful with explained answers and good tips. (If you’re concerned with the cost) I used a very cheap second-hand copy. The main idea is to practise as much as possible, and also to reflect once in a while.

If you’re anxious about the timing, just try to think ‘one question at a time’. I liked to check the time after every single question, but this might not work for other people.

Section 1: The school curriculum in my country doesn’t even mention money exchange. You will need to familiarise yourself with playing cards, public transport timetables, loans, etc. For those data analysis problem sets, I preferred to read the questions first and then scan the article and graphs. I always, always ran out of time, so when there was only two minutes left I would roughly scan the unanswered questions and choose the answers that seemed most sensible, and then I would return to whatever question I was working on.

Section 2: Even if you take biology and chemistry to A-level/IB, there might still be something that you don’t know about, so those sections are worth a thorough check. With the invaluable help of a friend who studied physics in IB, I made sure that I understood all the formulas and when to use them. There were also some miscellaneous things that needed to be memorised.

Exams are getting closer and now is the perfect time to create a solid study plan to get motivated and be productive. Here are some tips to help you making your study plan!

You don’t need a fancy planner. You can just use Excel to create it as you like and it will be more than enough!

Make a list of all the topics you have to study and gather similar subjects in the same category. Then, classify them by priority order.

Estimate the amount of time you’ll need to study each topic. Don’t underestimate it : you have to take all the time you need to understand and memorize, otherwise you’ll end up rushing things up and not being productive enough. I remember adding 1 hour more than I thought I would need so I could have plenty of time to go deeper in the subject without stressing myself out.

Know when you’re the most effective and do the hardest tasks in that moment. Keep the lighter subjects for the rest of the day. When I was doing my first med school year I would always study chemistry and physics in the mornings and the rest in the afternoon and evening !

Plan your breaks and meals. If you want to watch an episode from your favorite TV show, plan it. Your free time is important too! Make to create time for daily activities that fulfill you :)

Plan your delay! Set a day in your planner where you just catch up on everything you’re late on so you don’t get super stressed if your study day didn’t go as planned ! I always use my Sundays as « delay days » haha

If you have enough time, try to plan review sessions of the topics you’ve already seen. When I was studying anatomy I would make review sessions one day a week so I could memorize in the best way possible.

Also, plan a day or half a day to test yourself. Do it early enough to re-adjust your study plan if you feel like you have to spend more time reviewing a certain topic!

And you, what are your “planning habits”? Do you use a planner ?

Please reblog and like this post if you want more tips like this one!

these are small things you can add to your day to be 10% more productive with the estimated time it’ll take! these are things i do (or try to do) most days. they’re small enough to feel manageable, and i for sure don’t use all of them but i find that when i use at least 2-3 in a day i feel a lot better about the material.

retype notes in google docs (10-15 min/1 hour lecture)

Utilize pomodoro technique for at least one subject (25 min work/5 min break. total 30 min)

Look over notes before class (5 min)

Look over notes after class (5 min)

Make notecard summary after class (i find this one especially useful for calculus!) (10 min/notecard)

Explain short concept to a friend (10 min max)

write down to-do list of tasks (5 min)

Go over concepts in your head on your walk to class (absolute FAVORITE because of my daily calculus quizzes within the first 10 minutes of class) (as long as your walk is!)

“How can I stay disciplined?”

“How can I get things done if I don’t feel like doing them?”

“How can I overcome my lack of motivation?”

As a college student who has had their fair share of being absolutely unmotivated to do anything, I know it can be hard to get things done if you don’t feel like doing them. Luckily, there are some things you can do to become more motivated to finish your homework, write your paper, study for your exam, or whatever tasks you have on your plate.

Part 1: Increasing motivation

Break up your tasks

Just thinking about one huge task is going to intimidate you so much that you’d rather leave it till later, when the urgency of time pushes you to complete it, than start now.

Breaking up your big tasks into smaller ones will make your tasks seem less daunting. Since you won’t be as intimidated by the amount of effort it might take to complete these tasks, you’ll be more likely to start doing them.

For studying, this can be something like ‘make flashcards for units 1-3’ or ‘practice past exam papers: 2015 + 2016’. For writing papers, this could be writing an outline, doing research for each point of your outline, writing the first 3 paragraphs, etc.

Working on small tasks at a time will also make you less prone to distractions since you only need to focus for a short length of time.

Make small goals and reward yourself

These goals could be accomplishing one of the smaller subtasks above, or achieving a certain grade on a practice test, or finishing a section of your study plan - as long as you’re working towards something.

The rewards? Maybe going out to eat, watching something, or even just time off. Hopefully these rewards will motivate you to complete your task.

I know some people are more inclined to do their work if they’re punished for not doing it, rather than rewarded for doing it, so if you wanna take the ‘punishment’ approach, you could do something like not allowing yourself to use social media until you finish a set of tasks - this is essentially the same thing, just thought about in a different manner. However, you should always be careful with these punishments/restrictions, because sometimes they can end up harming your health and productivity (e.g. ‘I can’t take a break until I finish all of my homework’).

Part 2: Not relying on motivation

Of course, you can’t always expect yourself to be motivated all the time. In fact, it’s very ineffective to rely on motivation to get things done; motivation is fleeting. Here’s an alternative: self-discipline. But how does it work?

Establish a study routine

Humans are creatures of habit. Even if you’re a P-type (like me), habits are hard to break. So making a habit of accomplishing your tasks/studying at a set time every day will help you, well, accomplish them. For example, it’s a lot easier to get your homework done every day if you do it at the same time - e.g. once you come home from school - rather than doing it ‘whenever you have time’.

Having a study routine will also make you less likely to be distracted since you know that that period of time had a purpose. If you’re trying this out for the first time, you might wanna completely get rid of distractions so that you can focus (e.g. putting your phone in your bag, on silent). However, with practice, I found that my phone or any other sources of distraction don’t really bother me anymore since I’ve had tons of practice resisting the urge to pick up my phone whenever there’s a notification, for example.

Schedule in time for breaks

This ties in well with the point about rewards: the break might be the reward for your studying. However, this doesn’t always have to be the case. You shouldn’t always think of relaxing as merely a reward for studying or accomplishing your tasks, but rather a necessity for the well-being of your mind. This sort of approach to breaks ensures that you actually let your brain rest once in a while.

After taking a break, your mind will be refreshed and revitalized, and you should have more than enough energy to continue with your other tasks.

Some of you asked - with regards to my previous post on The Mandatory Midday Break - how I can limit myself to exactly an hour, and to be honest, the answer is habit. It’s like having a habit of showering at the same time every day and not extend the length of time you spend in the bathroom (except in certain circumstances, like during a day off, I guess).

This is why it’s important to schedule your breaks and establish a study routine or habit - not only does it ensure you get enough rest, but it also prevents you from extending your break so that you don’t become unproductive and leave a ton of tasks unfinished.

It can be hard to motivate yourself to accomplish all your tasks, but there are things you can do to increase your motivation. However, you can’t expect to be motivated all the time, and you shouldn’t rely on motivation to get things done. Discipline and habit are the most important tools you can use to be efficient and productive without having to be motivated.

Its worth saying that I applied to medicine twice before getting in, the UKCAT score I got the first time was well higher than the second time. My application was strong enough to receive offers from higher UKCAT threshold universities as well my back up non UKCAT assessing university. 

I decided to write this post because I found my old notes on how I organised my mind to do well in the UKCAT and thought I’d share with the Medblr community.

Here goes! 

Verbal Reasoning (650)

Read the question/statement and allocate a keyword!

Skim passage, try looking for the keyword.

If its there, read the sentence before and after and decide between true, false and can’t tell.

If you can’t decide between them. Flag and move on.

If you cant find the keyword. Flag and move on. Its not worth wasting time deciding whether or not you’ve selected the correct keyword. 

Abstract Reasoning (750) 

If anything I practiced this the most and scored high in it. The way I arranged my mind for this section is as follows

I formed a set of categories upon which I scanned each question and decided which category it best fit.

The categories were; shape, colour, number, arrangement and the WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HELL category. Usually in that order. 

These categories have sub categories too. For example: type of shape, features of shape that repeat in the set ( e.g. a triangle in each set). It does get more complicated sometimes where categories intermix, like  1 fully shaded triangle in the right hand corner of each box in the set. 

Breathe, I know that was a lot to read. Practice makes you faster.

When your in the WHAT THE ABSOLUTE HELL category, guess, flag and then move on. You most likely won’t have time to come back to this. Make an educated guess. Flagged is incase you have time to have a second look. 

Quantitate Reasoning (820)

Im being truthful here and telling you I hardly practiced QR. Im really good at mental maths. Seriously I never used the calculator throughout this section on the UKCAT and here are some tips. 

READ my child READ! Because sometimes you dont need to look at the information given at all. Sometimes everything you need is in the question itself. Best believe it. 

Round, saves SO much time. If the options are in close range, round smaller. 

If you’re not good in maths, practice as much as possible. Revise your times tables and know the basic formulae for area, volume, perimeter etc. Revise stats and make sure you know how to do basic ratios, percentages, mean, range etc. Make sure you know how to read a graph. 

Flag anything that you dont get first time and move on. If something is time consuming, its worth moving on and finishing the easier ones. 

Decision Analysis (500) 

I still cry at this. WHY?

Funny enough, after AR I practiced this the most. When I tested myself this section was always my highest score. Funny. 

My tips if you choose to take any is:

Don't dig deep into this too much. You begin to confuse yourself dreadfully.

Take your time, these are all supposedly do-able. So each one you get is one worth getting correctly. 

Look for words that indicate what the sentence is about.

Situation Judgement Test (Band 1)

I scored Band 1 both times when I did the UKCAT. The first time I did it, SJT was still being trialled. My main tip for this: Read the GMC guidelines for doctors and medical students. This is what structured my way of thinking in both a professional manner and an empathetic one. Its worth reading. 

Extras

Flagging is your best friend. 

Love it because hating it will only discourage your preparation. Love it LOVE IT, you can hate it when its over. 

If you begin to fluster during the exam because its the third question you’re flagging because you really don’t know whats going on. Take a moment. Tell yourself that you got this. Im telling you YOU GOT THIS!

Dont go back, move forward. Even if you’ve flagged ten in a row move forward and only go back once you’ve been through them all. 

Each question is worth a point. Whether the question is easy or hard, its still worth the same. This is why I tell you to flag the tricky ones and do all the easyish ones. 

Sleep the night before and have breakfast. Stimulate your brain. 

I know this gives me a rather average overall score (goddamn you DA) but it was good enough for all the medical schools I applied too. 

When I started this blog a year ago, I never thought I’d have nearly 14k followers a year on!! I’ve put together this post on my one year anniversary to help new studyblrs get to grips with the basics of studyblr, begin studying more effectively and get started with sharing original content.

Who do I follow????

find nearby studyblrs with the world map

find people studying your subjects with the community list

here’s some popular studyblrs you might want to follow:

@theorganisedstudent

@reviseordie

@study-well​

@academla​

@studyign​

@elkstudies​

@studyrelief

@saturdaystudying

@areistotle

@hayley-studies​

Making friends is always good so send your fav studyblrs a polite ask to introduce yourself - If a studyblr replies to you publicly, you’ll get a promo to all their followers. Don’t just bluntly ask them to check out your blog, remember to include a genuine question to make it worthwhile for them to answer you!

What are those weird apps/websites everyone uses???

Momentum - that website that shows the time over a pretty photo

Lanes -  shows the time on a colourful background, and also has loads more useful functions like a to do list and a pomodoro timer!

Forest - super useful app to help you stop procrastinating

Pomotodo - a pomodoro timer with loads of other productivity tools

Khan Academy - it can teach you anything!!

Duolingo - it can teach you anything (as long as it’s a language)

Coffivity - a website that makes coffee shop sounds to study to

Noisli - you can mix your own sounds + has a nice chrome extension

8tracks study playlists

masterpost of great study playlists

masterpost of studygrams

masterpost of study channels on youtube

masterpost of more study apps

What’s all that snazzy stationery??

sidenote - as long as you study you can be a studyblr, you absolutely don’t need to own these things!! This is just a handy outline of all the stuff you might see other studyblrs using

Mildliners - those nice coloured hightlighters everyone has

Stabilo Fineliners

Staedtler Fineliners

Moleskine Notebooks

Leucchturm Notebooks

everything from muji

washi tape 

masterpost of more stationery

How do I start studying more effectively???

stop procrastinating!!

manage your time effectively

try making a bullet journal

find new ways to study

try decorating your notes

highlight properly!

try making mind maps

try making flashcards

how to reduce stress

how to improve your memory

studying with a mental illness

study tips masterpost

masterpost of studyblr masterposts

How do I post original content??

reblog don’t repost!! This is an obvious one but if you’re new to tumblr altogether you need to know that it’s never ok to steal someone else’s content. Also don’t reblog from weheartit because all the stuff on that website it stolen!!

the most common posts on studyblr are photos of notes - it’s a good idea to make sure the colours in your photo are aesthetically pleasing, and that you have a good source of light. Natural light is best but lamplight will work as well. If your photos need more light, increase the exposure on your camera/phone. People don’t need to see the whole of your notes, try taking photos of them from different angles to show off the bits you’re most proud of! more tips in this post

share some motivational quotes - I use picmonkey to design quotes

make a masterpost of your favourite resources

make a study playlist on 8tracks and share it on your blog

tagging is the most useful thing ever - tag your posts with #studyblr and #studyspo so that other people in the community can find you! More tags = more ways for people to find you, so make sure to add plenty of tags to everything you upload. If you tag a studyblr in your post, it’s likely they’ll reblog it.

open your ask box - it’s a great way to get suggestions for new posts, and its always lovely to hear from other studyblrs in the community

Welcome to the studyblr community, good luck with your studies!

Ashanti Lee (via lovelustquotes)