How to "Succeed" in High School

[[one of my followers asked how I immerse myself in French and the culture. all my favorites are starred. add your own and i’m open to specify more on certain categories. and i’m considering doing a post on listening and speaking]]

Books *Le petit prince *Petit nicolas *L'etranger Asterix Alice au pays des merveilles *Classic fairy tales! (I recommend that you read comics…lots of them)

Movies *A la folie…pas du tout Le petit prince *Amelie Les Choristes *Les Intouchables *Oss 117 *bienvenue à marly-gomont *il a déjà tes yeux *Une femme est une femme Paris je t'aime (this is barely in French but good for culture) *Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis LOL *Ratatouille

Music Anything by: *Stromae Indila *MHD Maitre Gims Coeur de pirate *Edith piaf *Zaho Zaz RIDSA *Tal Djany

TV Miraculous ladybug Lazytown Nina *T'choupi Disney movies *The get down (i usually just watch netflix series in french…they’re usually available) *The long long holiday *C'est mon choix *Extra french Parks and recreation Recherche appartement ou maison

Youtube Sananas *Shera Kerienski Damon and jo Comme une française *Antastesia So andy *Cyprien 7jours *(In general lyric prank videos!)

ALSO I SUGGEST LISTENING THE RADIO FRENCH RFI

Francaisfacile.com as well

Also don’t sleep on duolingo or memrise

And don’t neglect getting writing and speaking (including conversation–irl and/or online) practice!

Harry Potter Themed

gryffindor common room - warm fires and chatter

ravenclaw common room - serene but cozy

slytherin common room - chilling out underwater

hufflepuff common room - earthy and bright

hogwarts library - reminds me of late night cramming

the great hall - warm chatter and glasses clinking

hogwarts express - rain & train

complete harry potter movie soundtrack

Indoor Ambience

witch’s cottage - storms, cats, and ravens

september morning at home - cheerful morning

warm cottage - cold outside, cozy inside

coffivity - cafe moods

gentle wind chimes - calming and magical

a library, 1732 - quaint and relaxing

reading at jazz cafe with rain

bustling town square - chatter and bells

a london flat - rain and a muted radio

sleeping with the window open - chatter and city ambience

Outdoor & Nature Ambience

rainymood - rain and optional music

new york rain - rain and city ambience

an owly night - serene with owls

deep ocean - surprisingly relaxing

nighttime in arizona - wind and animals

japanese zen garden - calm and a bit mysterious

cold winter - wind and animals

creek in the alps - gentle stream and animals

beach sounds one 

Music

my study playlist on spotify (#spon)

vivaldi - the four seasons

undertale soundtrack - say what you want about the game and fandom but the soundtrack is pretty epic

gustav holst - the planets

game of thrones soundtrack

most movie soundtracks work well for studying! i recommend pirates of the caribbean for extra motivation, and harry potter ofc

overtures for musicals also work

classical music is pretty great! you can make a station for a certain composer on Pandora (i personally like Beethoven and Debussy) or check out the playlists on Spotify

1. Read class notes before bed

The first way you can increase your grades is by reading your class notes every night before you fall asleep. Studies have shown that the brain takes the most recent memories of the day and stores them in long term memory. This means that you will have a better chance of recalling your notes if you study them a little before bed each night. If reading all of your notes before bed is too big of a task, just try going over the last lecture notes in each class every night.

2. Study in advance

I am a firm believer in the power of studying in advance. This is one thing that always helps me to do better on my exams. Whether it’s the hardest test of the year, finals, or whatever, this technique never fails. My favorite thing about studying in advance is that it helps me to become familiar with the notes so that I can avoid late night cramming when the test comes. This girl is not a night person! Studying in advance also really helps to eliminate stress.

RELATED:

HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE DURING FINALS WEEK

3. Be productive when studying

When you start studying, you need to make sure that you are actually being productive with your time. Make sure that you are paying attention to what you are reading. Try to keep your phone out of sight and out of mind. Turning your phone on moon mode will really help with this. Remember that everyone’s brain works differently, so, be sure that you are using study techniques and tools that help you. Don’t just study one way because that’s how everyone else does it. Study in whatever way works best for you.

4. Wake up early and make a plan

I know this one is a little painful for those of you who are not morning people, but try waking up fifteen minutes earlier to go through your plan for the day. You can make a list of things you need to do, look over notes, check your emails, etc. Waking up early and making a plan will help you feel more prepared for the day ahead which will then lead to more effective classes, studying, and better test grades.

5. Recite notes out loud

Studies show that reciting your notes out loud helps you to retain more information. Who am I to argue with science right? So next time you study, try reciting your notes out loud. If it appears to help you, then keep it up for future studying!

SOME TIPS FOR PAYING FOR COLLEGE WHEN YOU DON’T REALLY HAVE THE MONEY

INTRO: What’s the difference between a scholarship, a grant, and a loan? 

A scholarship is something that does not need to be repaid and is usually awarded to you based on academic merit or other accomplishments. Scholarships are either awarded to you personally or to your institution. Depending on the type of scholarship, you can use this money for tuition, books and school supplies, and room and board.

A grant, on the other hand, is usually granted by an organization, the state, or the federal government, and it is usually based on financial need. A grant does not need to be repaid and this money will go directly to your institution. 

A loan is given by places such as banks, private companies, or the federal government. As the name suggests, a loan must be repaid and will accrue interest over time. Loans are tricky, and in a minute I will talk about how to best avoid taking on predatory loans. 

*Note: this post is an edited version of this previously answered question 

What to consider when choosing a college major 

When you begin thinking about college, it’s important to remember that you aren’t obligated to choose a major right now – in fact, you don’t even really need to choose a major until your sophomore year of college if you don’t want to. That said, a lot of people aren’t comfortable going into college undeclared, and that’s okay! Here are some tips for considering a potential major: 

Consider what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing. Do you really enjoy your English courses in high school? Maybe English or writing is the major for you. Are you passionate about foreign languages? Maybe you could study a language of interest. Are you really good at math and science? Perhaps engineering is for you. Whatever it is that you enjoy, there is tons of information online about potential careers in that field. Browse around and see what’s out there! But fear not – committing to a major isn’t necessarily as scary of as a decision as you might think; many, many people end up working in areas that aren’t specifically related to their degree, so don’t think that this one decision is a life sentence!  

Your major doesn’t need to be your “calling” in life. A lot of people don’t even have a so-called calling in life. Sometimes a degree is just that: a degree. You don’t need to go to college because you’re drowning in passion for a certain subject; it’s perfectly acceptable to get a degree solely to broaden your job opportunities.

Take a quiz. There are loads of quizzes online (and I’m referring to serious ones, not Buzzfeed quizzes) that can help you hone in on your interests and talents. These kinds of quizzes can help you realize your talents that you never really considered before.

Don’t be afraid of changing your major. On average, a college student will change their major up to three times. If you commit to a major and get halfway through your first semester only to realize that you aren’t really as interested in that area as you once thought, you can absolutely change your major.

quite honestly, i’m not a big chemistry fan! i thought it’d be a good idea to start off with something i’m not too comfortable with, so i can truly show you how i study when i don’t grasp the material straight away.

HOW DO I STUDY FOR CHEM?

so much practicing: there’s a substantial amount of problem solving within chemistry, and to make sure you’re balancing equations properly or doing conversions, you have to make sure that you’re practicing. honestly, it’s the best way to hone your skills to perfection, and because chemistry builds on itself so much, it’ll make the class a lot easier! you’ll probably be able to find plenty of problems in your textbook, but if not, i’ll provide some links.

rewrite your notes: this is one of the things that helped me the most. rewriting or summarizing your class notes will be like doing the lesson all over again- you’ll be consolidating your knowledge, reinforcing it in your brain, and creating much nicer copies of your notes which will be great to study from, but this really can apply to most classes.

make flashcards: there’s more memorization in chemistry than you’d expect, so be diligent with your flashcards! you’ll need to know all of the ions with their charges, and quite probably some of the periodic table elements, along with structures and other terms. making flashcards is great for revising and they’ll also become a really helpful study tool. 

RESOURCES

CHEM HELP

my fav the khan academy

super helpful study tips!!

equation balancer

study techniques pdf

interactive periodic table

NOTES & CHEAT SHEETS

sample lab notebook

printable periodic table

chemtutor (super comprehensive notes!)

chem for dummies cheat sheet

best chem printable ever

TIPS!

start studying early! there’s a lot to learn, so keep on top of your work and don’t let it overwhelm you. make your notes and flashcards as soon as you’ve learned the material in class!!

don’t be afraid to ask for help! chem’s a tough subject, so don’t be scared to see your teacher or ask other students for help or explanations if you need it.

The basics: 

To be safe, you should apply to multiple schools. Most people would recommend at least 5, comprising of two safeties, two matches, and one reach. 

Safety: A school you are certain you’ll be accepted to.

Match: A school where most accepted students have similar credentials to you.

Reach: A school where you might not have a GPA or ACT/SAT score as high as most students, but you want to give it a shot anyway.

Where do you find schools to apply to? I recommend Cappex. There, you can put in your GPA and school preferences to find schools you may like. 

Visiting schools before you apply is nice, but not necessary if you lack the time/funds to travel. There is a ton of information online about all schools, so make sure you do your research before deciding on your list of schools to apply to. 

August-November: Early admission 

Most college applications open in August. You can start applying any time after that. Application deadlines vary from school to school, so make sure you’re keeping on top of everything. 

How do I send ACT/SAT scores? - Online. They usually cost $12 to send.

What about transcripts? - Depending on your high school, you may send these online as well, or you may have to go to the school registrar to send scores. 

What are early decision and early action? Are they different? - Yes; Early decision is a binding agreement that means that if you are accepted to a university, you will enroll. Early action is simply when you apply early to receive an earlier answer about your admission status. Early application dates are usually due between November 15th and December 1st.

October 1st: File FAFSA

Starting in 2016, students can begin to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid on October 1st. This form ensures that you will be considered for financial aid including state and/or federal grants, as well as federal loans. Make sure you file FAFSA as soon as possible. 

How to File FAFSA

What is work study? Do I qualify? - Work study is a program for eligible students to work a campus job and receive a grant for participating in work study. 

Work Study: A guide

Which schools do I list on the FAFSA? I don’t know where I’m going yet. - When you file FAFSA, you will list every school that you applied to. 

I don’t understand how paying for college works. - Here’s a guide about all the different grants, loans, and scholarships available to college students. 

December-March: Regular admission 

Depending on the university, regular applications are due sometime around March 1st. Make sure you have submitted all of your applications and supplemental materials. Decisions will be out soon! 

When applying, you may find that you are waitlisted or deferred. If you are deferred, it doesn’t mean that you have been denied! It just means that the school needs more time to consider your application for one reason or another. 

What does it mean to be waitlisted? 

April-May: Accept your offer

Hopefully by April you have a good idea of which school you’re going to choose. The deadline for accepting your offer of admission for most schools is May 1st, so make sure you do this by the deadline! 

Some other guides that may be helpful during this process: 

Apply for scholarships. Here is a guide. 

“Should I retake the ACT/SAT before applying to college?”

Anonymous asked: Could you possibly make a list of how to avoid getting burnt out throughout the school year? Last year I was in the top eight percent for GPA as a freshman, but I was so burnt out it’s a miracle I made it through the year. Now I am a sophomore with a heavier classload, and a job plus extracurriculars. Any advice?

1. Set aside one day a week dedicated to relaxing

In college it’s rather difficult to have a day when you don’t have ANY homework, but choose a day each week that you dedicate to yourself. Only do homework that absolutely needs to get done that day, then treat yourself to some time for your hobbies. Watch Netflix for hours, draw, go see a movie. A day dedicated to relaxing and staying away from academic work will really refresh you and get you ready to get back to work!

2. Alternate between academic work and non academic work during study sessions

If you have a bunch of assignments to do, don’t just try to get them all done in a row without any kind of breaks. You’ll get tired and this will make your work worse and take longer. After finishing one assignment, do something that isn’t related to school. Clean your room a little, take out the trash, make a snack- just do something that isn’t schoolwork. This will break the monotony of studying for hours on end and you’ll look forward to the short breaks in between assignments. 

3. Remember your goals

If you’re having trouble getting an assignment done and you find yourself thinking “I don’t really need to do this” remember what your goals are. Maybe you want a 3.0 at the end of the semester or you really want an A in that class. It’s easy to lose track of your goals, but imagine how good it will feel to have an A at the end of the semester. 

4. Take it one day at a time

It’s incredibly easy to look ahead in your calendar and get stressed out about future essays and projects. That kind of stress can cause you to just want to clock out and sleep for the rest of the semester. I recommend taking the semester one day at a time. Just focus on what you’re doing now. Plan out the week, not the whole semester. Before you know it, it will be finals week and you’ll have made it!

5. Become a part of a group that cares about school

Those who come from schools where teachers couldn’t care less.

The majority of my peers lived on council estates, had carer roles and left school at 16 to work to help provide for their families (yes, sometimes that involved the distribution of illegal substance; no it’s not as glamorous as the movies). University just wasn’t pushed on us; for those of us that managed, you better believe we worked our arses off to get to where we are now. It is possible. It’s hard, but it’s possible.

also this should entirely be accessible to anyone who’s done just enough calculus to talk about maxima and minima of continuously differentiable functions, which means either high school or undergrad calc, depending on your educational path; don’t be so worried ;p

Some general tips:

Work out why you’re studying and why it’s important to you, and turn that into your motivation. It could be “to prove the haters wrong” or “to help people” or “to understand more”.

Make a motivation wall (or page in a notebook or something) full of motivating quotes and images that will stir you into action.

If you’re feeling weighed down then take an hour out to yourself and then come back to your work. 

Look at what has to be done and break it done into smaller tasks. Everything will seem more manageable and you might find that you have less to do than you thought, or that some things aren’t as urgent as you thought they were. 

Make a to-do-list so that you know everything that has to be done and nothing will be forgotten. You can rank tasks as the most important to the least important and tackle the most important ones first.

Make sure that you’re eating properly and getting enough sleep because that can really make us feel down and unmotivated, so tackle any issues in that department as well.

Make a list every day of what you want to achieve that day.

Clear your desk and get rid of any distractions. Here are some more study space organisation tips.

If you find that you’re getting distracted by the internet then put your phone somewhere that you can’t reach it (I usually throw it on my bed behind me so that I can’t see it either and it’s totally out of my mind) and install some website blockers. A good one for chrome is “StayFocusd” and one for Mac is “Self Control”. Here’s a more detailed list of blocking extensions.

Break your initial barriers to the task and get started on it; even if you don’t start it well or don’t get a lot done, you’ve started and that’s the most difficult part.

Don’t be too much of a perfectionist; it brings us down and puts us off even trying and really it’s a waste of time (especially on exam prep because usually markers are aware of time limits, rushing etc. and they’re a bit more lenient).

Check some of these sites and resources:

My reasons to study tag

My motivation tag

Calming and motivating manatees

Motivating quote posts

What motivates you - Take the Motivation Test

100 most inspirational quotes to motivate you

Hello! I guess my main advice is to check that you have what you need (e.g. stationery), and prepare your room (ensuring that you have a designated study space). You could also spend time checking reading lists and seeing if you can get any cheap / free books. Here are some links that might interest you:

Preparing for College: An Online Tutorial | DO-IT 

Preparing for College | Harvard College

Prepare for college - Mapping Your Future 

I just hit 100 followers, so I thought I would make a printables masterpost. Enjoy!

Planner Printables

Daily planners

Emily Ley’s planner

@theorganisedstudent’s daily planner (2.0)

@strive-for-da-best‘s daily task pomodoro planner

@strive-for-da-best‘s daily study planner (5, 6 courses)

Another daily planner

@studyblrbunny’s daily planner (12h clock, 24h clock, without times)

@theblacklocus’ daily planner (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Weekly planners

Emily Ley’s planner

@theorganisedstudent’s twenty-four-seven weekly planner

@strive-for-da-best‘s weekly schedule

@theorganisedstudent’s weekly planner (without times)

Another weekly planner

@smallpaperthings’ weekly planner

@living-that-library-lifestyle’s weekly patterned planners (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

@theblacklocus’ weekly planner (sunday-saturday)

@thebeautygrad’s weekly planner (sunday-saturday)

@strive-for-da-best‘s weekly study planner (5, 6 courses)

Monthly planners

Emily Ley’s planner (undated)

@theorganisedstudent’s month at a glance (undated)

@theorganisedstudent’s monthly calendar

@smallpaperthings’ monthly planner (monday-sunday)

@living-that-library-lifestyle’s monthly calendar (undated, monday-sunday)

Thehandmadehome’s monthly planner

Botanicalpaperworks’ monthly planner

Semester planners

@theorganisedstudent’s semester planner

@ennui-for-me’s exam study pack (+ help guide)

@burymewithmyplanner’s study planner (etsy <- more colors, for free)

Yearly calendars (2016)

Emily Ley’s calendar

Mistiina’s calendar (undated)

Language Printables

Apamexico’s conjugation sheets 

French

German

Greek

Italian

Portuguese

Russian

Europian Spanish

Latin-American Spanish

Tracker Printables

Topic, assignment and test trackers

@theorganisedstudent’s topic understanding tracker

@theorganisedstudent’s grade tracker

@theorganisedstudent’s goal tracker

@theblacklocus’ assignment tracker

@strive-for-da-best‘s assignment tracker (per course)

@theorganisedstudent’s assignment planner

Another test and assignment tracker

@strive-for-da-best‘s topic, exam and assignment tracker

Study timetables

@living-that-library-lifestyle’s 4-weekly study timetables (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

@studyscribbles’ 4-weekly study timetable

@momostudy’s review planner (without header) 

@studyscribbles’ finals study tracker

@strive-for-da-best‘s course planner

@strive-for-da-best‘s course information (per course)

Note Taking Printables

Normal paper

Emily Ley’s graph paper

Emily Ley’s lined paper

@theblacklocus’ dotted lined paper

@theblacklocus’ regular lined paper

Emily Ley’s blank paper

Emily Ley’s quadrants paper

Online paper generator (dotted, graph, lined, …)

Cornell paper

@studygene’s blank paper (1, 2)

@strive-for-da-best‘s blank paper (article summary, lecture, outline)

@studygene’s graph paper (1, 2)

@studygene’s lined paper (1, 2)

Online paper generator (graph, lined, music)

Other note taking printables

@theorganisedstudent’s reading notes

@theorganisedstudent’s defenitions page

@thearialligraphyproject’s defenitions pages (height per cell is 0.5″, 0.7″, 1.0″, 1.5″, with formulas)

@theorganisedstudent’s essay planner

@living-that-library-lifestyle’s case notes (law)

@living-that-library-lifestyle’s case notes FINAL (law)

To Do Printables

Emily Ley’s checklist

@theorganisedstudent’s task list 

@living-that-library-lifestyle’s weekly task tracker

@melbstudent’s weekly goal tracker

@living-that-library-lifestyle’s weekly to do list (1, 2, 3)

@living-that-library-lifestyle’s to do list