college advice that’s “bad advice”
i see the same things over and over and it’s not bad of course but it’s also really unrealistic for different types of students who’s first priority in life might not even be college, so:
- don’t do all your readings. getting assigned 50+ pages in 6 different classes and pulling all nighters to read it isn’t going to make you a “smarter” student if you’re falling asleep during lecture and are never going to be tested on the material.
- don’t buy your books before the class starts. i cannot stress this enough. some professors straight up tell you they don’t use it at all, others tell you they put it on reserve in the library so you can go scan it, or you might be able to split the cost with a friend in the class.
- steer clear of the university bookstore. check amazon, check chegg, check bookbyte, check everywhere. this website compares prices of multiple stores.
- rent, do not buy. look i know you may think you’re going to need it in the future, b/c u got ur NCLEX, MCATS, LSATS, GREs, etc and you need to revise, but the reality is that you’re going to buy a practice review book for another $100 that will focus on the info u need for later entrance/exit exams so there’s no need to spend $500 of one textbook that will be out of date by next year
- better yet find your text books on utorrent, reddit, mega share, for free. one of my professors actually sent us a link to one lol. even if you need printed versions, printing and binding can still save you $100s. look i kno some of yall have a moral compass, but i work in my university’s library and let me tell you we sure as hell don’t care if you print 600 pages for a textbook.
- check libraries for your textbooks. scanning books in a university is legal friends. tedious but legal.
- kiss up to your professors. look fam some of these professors have taught over 10,000 students and if you’re looking for a recommendation an A just isn’t going to cut it. sit in the front row, go to office hours, even if u’re not writing notes make it seem like u are, just act interested even if you aren’t.
- sometimes not studying, not reading, not doing x so you can do y is the best thing to do. story time: last semester I had 2 finals back to back. the week before I studied solely for biochemistry (the week earlier i had papers and projects due). I got a C- on my anatomy & physio exam b/c i studied one hour for it, but I ended with an A b/c my prv grades were good. biochemistry was tough, but I pulled an A on the final. It worked out perfectly for me so whether ur on the cusp of a letter or failing, prioritize, you know yourself best so plan accordingly.
- sometimes mental health days won’t help. sleeping in early 2 days before a paper is due so u can stress abt it the next day when you have 2 hours to write and edit is not gonna help. mental health is important but be able to distinguish long term mental health vs short term mental health.
- you don’t need to pay attention in all your lectures. i had some lectures that were just so irrelevant and did not help me at all, but I still went (re: kissing up to professors). that being said I’ve also typed up papers for other classes and caught up on work in lectures where i knew I wasn’t benefitting from. killed two birds with one stone.
- take morning classes. actually i’m not recommending day or night classes, i’m just saying don’t let some random person on the internet tell you when you’re going to be most productive (which lots of ppl seem to dislike am classes). I work most efficiently between 4am-8am, crash around 10am-1pm, and then plan that my day’s done by 5pm. Know thyself. don’t rely on some random person’s personal preferences to schedule your classes. this is applicable to longer vs shorter class blocks as well.
- just b/c you take notes doesn’t mean you’ll be a good student. i study my writing so I prefer note taking, but again prioritizing. I had 50+ slides on some lectures that were replicas of the exam. I tried copying them all down and making the fancy but that only led to a cramped hand, so I just printed out the lectures. Other classes I had to write word for word what the teacher wrote or said, in others I took my own notes at home. Realize that every class will be different and using one method of studying might end up being a waste of time and counter productive.
- applying to every scholarship isn’t the best way to get one. be smart about where you’re applying. if you don’t fit the criteria for one don’t spend an hour writing an application essay for it. there are tons out there and do apply for tons, but ones you fit the criteria for. here’s a master post that may help.
- planning isn’t always helpful. if you’re spending more time planning than studying or doing the stuff you plan to do it’s probably wasting your time.
- it’s okay to pull all-nighters. yes studying throughout the semester is a grade idea, but sometimes you know you need the extra revision and those couple of hours in reality do make a big difference for lots of people (be realistic, just b/c you’re well rested doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get a great grade)
in other words learn to prioritize.
also:
- sometimes if your syllabus is available online, your teacher will state whether or not they use the book.
- use ratemyprofessor dot com to see what past students say about the book usage.
- adding onto an earlier point, figure out what time of day you work best and take classes at that time. for example, i do better artwork at night so i take night art classes. i study better in the mornings, so i take gen eds in the morning. your brain will not function the same for everything at all times of the day.
(via sadgayradical)
