Effective study habits are essential for achieving and maintaining a high GPA. More importantly, effective study habits help you to store information in long-term memory, allowing you to use the learned information in a novel setting. Applying the following rules for studying will aid you in earning excellent marks in school. Below are 8 Dos and 6 Don’ts from the no-longer active foreda.com that will get you well on your way to effective studying:
I had always thought of myself as a morning person. When I got to college, I made sure to schedule all my classes to start as early as possible and to finish by about 3 in the afternoon. Therefore, I was quite irate when my schedule this semester worked out so that none of my classes started until 2:40 at the earliest! How was I going to get through the evening classes when I was sure I’d be exhausted by then?
More importantly, would my brain be less effective at absorbing the class’s information in the evening as opposed to the morning?
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No one wants to put on the Freshman Fifteen and no one wants to pull all-nighters studying, but, unfortunately, these two go hand-in-hand in college. Late night studying lends itself to unhealthy options from vending machines and pizza delivery.
The unhealthy temptations continue into the next day too; when you’re exhausted from staying up your body will crave carbohydrates to help you sleep. You can do something about this.
Below you can read a list of 11 tips for healthier eating while staying up late to study put together by SUNY at Buffalo for its students. (more…)
When I was in middle school, I was never allowed to go to study groups, the single reason being that my parents thought that I would not actually be able to get any studying accomplished. I found this to be true when during high school, my friends would invite me to study groups and instead of studying, we would procrastinate even more.
However, upon entering college, I have found that changing the way I study in study groups has not only led me to learn more, but there has also been a significant increase (as far as I can tell) in my grades as compared to when I study by myself. Why is this? (more…)
There was an interesting article published in the Wall Street Journal yesterday discussing the best ways to prepare for tests. The author interviewed students preparing for standardized tests (like the SAT), but I think the advice and tips given apply to any test you have to study for. (more…)
It seems that most American high school students could do with a good vocabulary lesson these days. Critical reading scores on the SAT taken last year fell to a record low as reported by the Associate Press last week. While it is true that there are more students taking the SAT than ever, and the more that take it the more the average slips down and down, it doesn’t have to be this way.
If there are more students taking the SAT than ever, then more students should be preparing for the verbal section by simply learning more words. This is where drill and practice proves its usefulness once again. Take a look at our vocab learning tips and download our SAT vocab app (or study online) to make sure you can be more than a statistic.
If you are anything like me, when studying for exams, you like to take breaks. However in recent years, due to the increasing use and prevalence of the internet, on demand media, and with my cell phone by my side, taking a “study break” has come to mean checking Facebook, Twitter, celebrity blogs, Gchat, etc…
The study break morphs from a reprieve from studying into an unplanned detour that takes up just as much time, if not more than the time spent studying. You can get so caught up in this unplanned study break telling yourself, “just five more minutes”, and pretty soon, instead of going to sleep by midnight as planned, you get to sleep at 4 AM instead. Some study break that was.
This kind of study break is not a study break; “study break” has turned into a euphemism for procrastinating and distractions. That being said, a well planned out study break does not have to lead to procrastination. Let’s get back to what a study break really is and then cover a few tips on how to maximize the effectiveness of your study breaks. (more…)
The GRE General Test is changing next year. I’ll share some thoughts on the new test in a moment, but for one of the first times in my career, I’m going to actually refer you directly to the official info posted at ETS.org, the folks who write the GRE.
Now that I’m with Brainscape, no longer working at a giant test prep company, specifically the test prep company (Princeton Review) that worked hardest to be a thorn in the side of the creators of some of these flawed standardized tests, I’m less hesitant to simply direct you there. In the past, I would have spent hours attacking the new GRE / ETS in a variety of ways — from new product design to PR and everything in between! But today I’ll just send you there. It’s a great place to start for an overview of the revised GRE versus its current incarnation.
But I also cannot resist making a few comments, of course. :) (more…)
The following, which originally appeared in the Sigma Tau Delta Fall 2010 Newsletter, was written by Stephen Heiner, who I did not know before reading recent press on the GRE. Stephen brings the kind of no-nonsense approach to GRE prep that we respect at Brainscape. BTW: it can be hard to find much written WELL about the GRE on the web. Seriously, google it. 9 out of 10 links are to sales pages or bad advice. Anyway, Stephen, thanks for good advice!
Standardized testing is a blight on our educational system. It exists simply because of the overwhelming number of applications to undergraduate and graduate programs. (more…)
Looking for a quick way to add points to your (or your students’) SAT/ACT score? This post, which provides a free tool for learning vocabulary, is for you!
If you know my background as well as what we’re up to at Brainscape, you know that we may be able to help. We can, so I whipped up a really simple, fun, and effective tool: the attachment below includes both a short vocabulary quiz (not in SAT question format; just a vocab quiz) AND free access to a web or iTunes study app that will help you (or anyone) learn words fast! Click on the link below and get rolling. If you’re already using Brainscape, take the quiz and enjoy how well you learned the first 50 words in your vocab deck! For those who need a bit more info, read on.
Vocab Quiz and Study Instructions
I’m generally not a fan of cramming for anything, so I’m using the term somewhat facetiously. The best way to prepare for standardized tests is (more…)
