Friday 20 September 2013

The Student Series: Keeping On Top



This week's addition to The Student Series covers all means of keeping on top of your work. Less for high school level but definitely when you reach your A Levels and higher, stuff like this is crucial as you will not yet be able to comprehend just how much more work you have to put into your studying. Here I'll share with you my know how - every single tip I can think of to help you keep on top of your work. 

Homework: might seem silly at this point as homework was never, at least not to me, a big deal, but when you get to college it really does become make or break. Now, you don't get punished for not doing it like in high school, but your grades definitely suffer. At this level, homework is set to help you and to revise your topics, not just as something for you to do at home. I highly recommend doing homework as you get it - use your free periods at college, do it in the evening when you get home, that way if you're struggling you have plenty of time to go speak to your teacher. No excuses. 

Coursework: I actually only did one essay based subject at college but the coursework I had to do was a pretty hefty chunk - 4,000 words to be exact. It really helps to chip away at things like this as they end up being much less daunting. Write yourself a schedule and aim to do a little every couple of days. 

Extra Reading: without meaning to sound nerdy, this is incredibly important and should, in theory, be easy to do if you're passionate about the subjects you're into. Keep on top by reading into the topics you know you're going to cover - that way you're not totally clueless when it comes to lessons and lectures. Although I preferred to, you don't even need to buy the books yourself: you could take a trip to your nearest library or the one at your college or university, or if you ask your tutor what you're looking for they'll recommend you some and maybe even lend you one from their personal library. 

Summarising: as I did mainly science subjects, there seemed to be many more topics (although shorter) than in the essay subjects, but I still found it really helped to summarise my work at the end of each one. Summarise the information into a couple of pages and find some practise exam questions to go with it. Answer a couple and save the rest for revision time. Take the time out once a month (or more often, whatever you feel best with) to consolidate your knowledge and look over the notes you've written yourself.

2 comments :

  1. Great advice. I always got to the day or 2 before a 7,000 word essay was due and had to spend the whole day behind the computer screen stressed out that I wouldn't finish or get a crap mark! Starting things early so helps! Great Blog!

    Jenna ♥ ♥
    Northern Beauty 85

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much! Glad to be of service :)

      xo

      Delete