After my first semester of UBC, I’m trying to think of a checklist of what I need to do next semester in order to substantially raise my average. I want to make realistic goals, but also high goals. I’ve done it before, with SAT’s and in high school when I was months behind, but UBC is certainly on another scale. Here are my goals so far.
– I think I spent the first 2-3 weeks thinking I was working hard, but I know what working hard is, thats what I did before my physics final, thats what I need to do from beginning to end. So work harder! Duh!
– Always pre-read. I did this in the beginning for physics and bio, but had like periods where I’d stop(usually midterm season or when work piles) so I’d skip it. Not knowing the readings before going to class is not fun, also leads to last minute cramming.
– Don’t force yourself into the position where you must cram! When I give myself enough time to study not cram, I do so much better.
– This one is a big one and may only work for me: FORGET THE CHEAT SHEET: I’m not use to having a cheat sheet available, this never really happened in high school, so when I found out, lets just say especially for physics, I didn’t stress too hard on learning everything because well, I had my cheat sheet! Same with bio, how much do I need to know when I have a cheat sheet! Big mistake, completely screwed me. For the physics final, I left my cheat sheet till the last minute for the first time, and had the least on it, and did substantially better! It was my best exam, same for my biology exam. Why did I realize this so late? So people, treat each test with cheat sheet’s allowed, like it doesn’t have a cheat sheet.
– Use some free time between classes that you know you’ll waste, and go to another sections lecture. In Chem, I didn’t understand a couple concepts later on, and going to another professors lecture reaffirmed and helped so much! Not a lot of other people do it, so give yourself a little advantage!
– Try, try, to get 5 hours of sleep before each midterm/final. This number is different for everyone, but I only need 5 hours and a coffee to be very alert through the day.
– do the Practice Midterms! I don’t know what I was kidding, they are definitely the best ways to study in my opinion. After going through the subject matter, taking the practice midterms is the best way to know if you can actually do the problems. I wish I did this for Math, Physics, and Biology. When I did this, my grades went up, easy as that.
These are just the few I have so far, but I really wish I did all these things from the beginning, but now there’s no excuse not to do great next semester after being aware of all the mistakes I made first semester. Well maybe that 8am math class 2nd semester is an excuse. Ha, still trying to fix that. Note to all math 103 students, please drop so I can get out of the 8am lecture! 🙂
Happy Holidays!