#*uni

how i use google drive for university - pt 1: digital notetaking  by kkaitstudies

idk about you but i’ve tested a bunch of note taking methods. in my last few years of university, i was indeed lazy and rarely referred back to the professor’s slides in the course shell. i opted to read off the slides in lecture and take notes. while MS OneNote is great, i found myself enjoying Google Drive much more. so here is a quick overview of how i take notes using Google Docs. 

folders are your friends

make separate folders for each of your courses. google drive even gives you the option to change the colours of the folders. in these folders, add any relevant coursework such as the syllabi, readings, and your notes document.

use one doc for notes per course

once you receive the syllabi, take some time to take note of required readings, and assignment deadlines. i have created a free template you can save to your own google drive that you can access here. fill out:

- course code & name - prof’s name, office hours, and email - date(s) for each week of class - weekly readings (tip: if you have online readings, you can link them in the doc!) - & open the document outline (view > show document outline)

you also don’t have to use all these features. T B H, i didn’t do weekly readings. a lot. oops. BUT i did always pay attention in lecture. i simply deleted the “reading notes” header every week i didn’t bother to read.

make use of early access to lecture slides, headers, etc. 

some profs (bless their souls) post the slides sometime before the lecture. if you have the time, copy the lecture slides into your notes. and if they don’t...type real quick to get all the info as it’s happening (or go back to slides online after lecture to see what you missed out on). i separate lecture topics with headers, with the bullet points underneath (see above). if there is anything that the prof says during class that isn’t in the lecture slides, i will change the colour of the text to a different colour. any important concepts or testable material are highlighted.

...and that’s how i take notes! everyone is different. not all note-taking methods work for everyone. this is what worked for me in my last 2 years of uni. hopefully a similar structure works for some of y’all! also, let me know what you think and @ me if you end up using my template. have a great semester!

how i use google drive for university - pt 3. gmail & google calendar by kkaitstudies

please note: my university is partnered with google, so all of my digital correspondents operate like a personal gmail/gcal. this may not be the case for you or your university. this is how i kept my university inbox and calendar clean.

create email labels/sublabels 

creating labels to move these emails into is a LIFE SAVER. consider labels for the following categories: 

- general university emails - faculty and program-specific emails - student groups you’re a part of - internship correspondence  - general correspondence/conversations - each individual course you’re taking that semester

how to create labels, sublabels

1.   in the dropdown menu to the left, click “Create new label” 2.   name your label accordingly 3.   hover over the new label and click the 3 dots > select a new label colour 4.   move all emails pertaining to this category into the folder

tip: google automatically sorts labels alphabetically. if you want certain labels to stay at the top, insert a special character before writing such as an asterisk or period. when i wanted a label to show up at the bottom, i started the label with a “z” before typing the actual name. 

at the end of the semester

1.   in the dropdown menu to the left, click “Create new label” 2.   name your label according to the year or semester - ex. 1st Year Fall 3.   hover over the new label and click the 3 dots > select “Edit” 4.   check off “Nest label under” and choose the label from step 2. all email correspondents will still be in organized folders, but tucked away. 5.   select the label from step 2. hover over the new label and click the 3 dots > select “Hide” 

inputting classes into google calendar

1.   in google calendar, click “Create” to make a new event 2.   input the course code, location, and colour if you’d like 3.   change the date and time to the date of your first class. 4.   click “Does not repeat” and in the dropdown menu, select “Custom” 5.   select “Ends: On” and select the last date of that class. save all of your changes. this class will now show up in your calendar every week automatically until the end of your semester.

doing more with google calendar

there’s plenty that you can also add to your calendar! consider using the following:

- study room bookings - club/sports events - meetings with group members/profs - designated study time - meals/hangouts with friends

and that’s how i used google calendar and gmail! i hope y’all enjoyed this series and found it useful. let me know if there’s anything you’d like to know more about, and i will definitely try to make a post about it. good luck!

how i use good drive for university - pt 2: grade tracker by kkaitstudies

am i the only one that always needs to know where i stand in a course? no? good, bc do i have the grade tracker for you. i made my first version of this grade tracker back in my 2nd yr of uni, and have since updated it to its current version. here is what i track and what you need to do to fill it in.

download a free copy of the grade tracker template here

step one: subject info fill in: course code & name, prof’s name, class times & locations, and office hours

step two: assignment due dates, type, task, and weight fill in: due date (ongoing on top and descend by date), whether it’s a group vs. individual assignment, name of the task, and the overall weight the assignment counts for

step three: mark and weight towards final  as the semester rolls on and you receive marks, input the mark (in %) you received in the Mark column, and how much it counts towards your final mark in the Weight Towards Final column.

extras: average and ongoing total calculator the sheet is already programmed to calculate your progress. your course average (mean) will automatically change as you input marks, as will the ongoing total towards your final mark. 

extras: tabs!  there are tabs for different sheets at the bottom of the page for Semester 1, Semester 2, School GPA Scale, and Instructions

tip: create grade expectations with an add’l column you know when you’re halfway thru the semester and you’re like “man... i’m just trying to pass with a __%” add a column to the right of the Weight Towards Final column and play with numbers to see what you need on each assignment to get whatever you need to finish with your ideal mark even if it is just a 50 bc sometimes it just be like that. 

that’s how i tracked my grades throughout university! it gave me a lot of peace of mind bc i always knew where i stood in the course so long as my profs kept on top of grading. if you have any questions or use this template, feel free to message me! i’d love to get some feedback. enjoy your semester!

let’s be real: university tips & advice by kkaitstudies

hi there! i’m going to be trying something new i’ll be calling “let’s be real with kkaitstudies” in which i give you some tips & advice based on my own personal experiences. i am not a perfect student. i’d prepare for things only for to have them unravel, change courses, or i’d simply lose motivation. so let’s get into it.

the campus bookstore shouldn’t be your first stop. welcome to the world in which you have to buy your own textbooks - but you don’t need to buy it at full price! check amazon, second hand book stores, and look for online PDFs if that’s smth you’re into. some unis have “free/for sale” or “textbook exchange” groups on FB. buying textbooks second-hand from upper years has saved me soooo much money

avoid taking classes before 10am. the ppl don’t lie when they say 8ams suck. if you have the ability to choose your class times, choose sections that start at 10am or later bc waking up early after a long night of studying or doing assignments is not fun.

ratemyprof will be your saviour. nothing ruins a subject more than a bad prof. i’ve had my share of amazing profs (you will srsly rave abt them for the rest of your uni career) and not-so-amazing profs. checking out reviews on ratemyprofessor. just look up your uni then professor and read all those reviews. these anons mention the course code, if textbook is needed, if they’d take it again, and their own comments. most classes i chose by prof ended up being the ones i’d talk nonstop about.

check out all the sick resources your school has!!! i seriously cannot stress this enough, bc i’m a fool that really only started doing this in 3rd year and with only 1 year left, i regret not doing this earlier. newsflash: parts of your tuition pay for all the amazing services available to you. your school may have a gym/pool for students, career centres, access to study/collab rooms, cafeterias, centres and safe spaces for members of marginalized communities, student mentorship, therapy dogs, STUDENT GROUPS AND COURSE UNIONS!!, etc. take some time in between classes to check them out. watch some sports games! apply for scholarships that are available to you!

the first semester is an adjustment period, and every semester following will teach you something new abt yourself. the transition from high school to university for me was in nooooo way smooth. especially as a commuter student, i had to adjust the routines i had around my home and school life. i had to learn how to make friends again. in third yr i learned that the way i had been doing notes since first year didn’t actually work for me. going into fourth year, i’m getting over my fear of the campus gym, and will actually start budgeting bc i spend waaaay too much money on food on campus. you’re always learning! don’t be afraid to explore new things and experiment bc everyone’s doing it too.

and to finish it off (for now), it’s okay to question your major, change it, take more than four years, take gap years, or drop out altogether. don’t see this piece of advice much, huh? that’s the thing - there’s a huge stigma around doing anything outside of sticking to the same major for the designated around of time. but why? so much can change from the second you walk off that stage at high school graduation. you can enter your major thinking it’s what you wanted to do, take some classes, and realize that you’re unhappy; that it’s not what you expected or wanted. and that’s okay. your feelings of uncertainty are valid. so many ppl that i know have changed majors, decided they’re doing an extra year, or dropped out of uni. if this is you, talk to more ppl abt it - esp others in this position. when ppl tell me abt their change of plans, i swear i can actually see the weight lifted off of their shoulders. your major should not be a burden. also lbr is it really worth it to be unhappy studying smth u don’t want to AND be like….$15k+ in debt for the sake of pleasing other people?