Time Blocking Method

eat an apple while reading shakespeare outside i dare you

a list of my favorite study tips (and when to use them)

summer:

invest in a book of short stories for each language you’re studying, and keep the book(s) on your bedside table. take advantage of the free time while out of school to get in the habit of reading through the short stories whenever you can. just a few minutes of reading the short stories every day will immensely improve your foreign language skills and keep you from forgetting the vocab & grammar over summer break

acquire a list of the books you’ll be reading for school in the fall and start reading them. to get the list of books, try asking someone who’s already taken the class, your future teachers, or a school counselor. reading the books ahead of time will not only put you ahead of the rest of your class by giving you time to work through the material in advance; it will also significantly lessen your workload during the school year.

this applies to the school year as well, but especially when you’re reading books in advance, keep a journal and pen at hand every time you read. write down the major plot points of the section you’re reading, what you like/agree with, what you dislike/disagree with, and one or two quotes that summarize the main themes of the section (make sure you include page numbers!!!!). when school starts & you’re assigned an essay on that book, you’ll already have the main points of the book laid out, and lots of great quotes—with page references!—to use in your essay.

two weeks before school starts:

take a look at your syllabus and get started on your first assignments. if you start now, you can stay at least one week ahead on all of your assignments throughout the year. this is a HUGE lifesaver when something comes up unexpectedly during the school year—like getting sick or having to go out of town for a few days at the last minute—and you don’t have time to get homework done, because if you’ve done it in advance then you won’t have to worry about falling behind.

get a planner app for your phone. i like egenda, but you can use any app where you input homework assignments in advance and it alerts you at various intervals of time before they’re due. it’s impossible to get a good grade on an assignment if you forget to turn it in on time, so just alleviate that issue altogether.

throughout the school year:

take notes. have a notebook open in every class, and write down all important names, dates, quotes, formulas, and theorems. write the current date at the top of each page, and have a separate notebook for each subject. if a teacher repeats something more than once in a class, underline it, because those are the things that appear on midterms and finals.

help yourself memorize things by writing essays about them. even if you’re not assigned an essay about a topic, try to write/type two or three paragraphs every week to summarize what you’re learning in a class. writing things in your own words is one of the best ways to remember them, and it will also help you to improve your writing skills. additionally, this should be applied to all subjects, not just literature or history (because even if you’re studying a STEM field and writing isn’t a huge part of the curriculum, you should still have the ability to write about STEM concepts in a way that is understandable and engaging).

befriend the smartest person in the class. figure out who always has the right answers and make yourself their ally. be a good friend to them, and then when you’re struggling with a concept, they will either explain it to you or—if they don’t know what the explanation is yet—they’ll help you search for it.

take advantage of indexes. almost all books have one, and they can be lifesavers if you don’t know the answer to a question. especially in history class, when there are a bunch of names that are super difficult to memorize. i know this is a pretty basic tip (if you can even call it a tip), but i’ve had a lot of friends completely forget about indexes, so this is just a brief reminder. :)

participate in class. this might sound super obvious, but you cannot retain information without discussing it! if you’re like me and participating in class sucks because of social anxiety, try to force yourself out of your comfort zone & remember that you are your own worst critic, but it’s also okay just to discuss things with a close friend or family member instead. the important thing is that you’re repeating what you’ve learned out loud and practicing explaining it to someone else, which will really help you to grasp the concepts.

three weeks before midterms/finals:

now is when all of your notes come in handy. go back through the notes for each class and study them, particularly the parts you’ve underlined. you shouldn’t try to memorize the pages, but you should study them enough that—by finals week—you could summarize the contents if someone asked you pointed questions about them. this is also when it becomes extra helpful to be friends with the smartest person in the class, because they will be an excellent study buddy. just make sure that you reciprocate if you ask them to help you study.

fill in any gaps in your notes by talking to your teachers and attending all of the office hours that you can. many teachers will give you a study guide if you ask for one, and you can literally go through and fill it in with info from your notes. remember, most of your teachers really do want you to do well, and they’ll try their best to help you achieve the best scores possible.

if any of your quizzes are open book, ask your teacher if you can put completely blank sticky notes on pages. bookmark the pages that have important events, quotes, facts, etc., and then if you forget something on a test you can refer to the book & it will be much easier to find the information. personally, the only open book finals i’ve had are the kind where you just write three 1000 word essays in 3 hours, but we are required to have at least 5 quotes in each essay, so if that’s the case for any of you guys then this tip is super helpful for bookmarking those quotes as well.

while taking a final/midterm:

read through the whole test first. figure out how long it is, how much time you have, and how many points each question is worth. if you’re worried about running out of time, start by doing the problems that are worth more points, and then out of whatever’s left do the ones that look easiest first. this will guarantee that you make the best use of your time & get the highest grade possible

and that’s all i can think of right now! hope this can help at least a few people :)

what did you write your college essays about?

all sorts of things!

common app: prompt about background/identity/interest/talent - a book my mom bought me in third grade called why do men have nipples? and how that initiated my lifelong curiosity and questioning of the things in this world and how i use poetry to answer those questions

stanford: extracurricular - feminism club (i used this essay for any college asking about an extracurricular)

stanford: intellectual vitality - my obsession with japanese pens and how it reflects my experimental/sciencey mind that i use in research

stanford: roommate -  i basically kindly asked that my roommate make room for my muse, because she takes up a lot of space, and then i just talked about my muse/writing process

stanford: what matters to you and why - memes and how one particular tumblr meme reflects the importance of languages/communication

brown: why the major you chose - languages/growing up learning languages and psychology/research and its implications

brown: why brown - open curriculum, comp lit department not so eurocentric

brown: where have you lived - suburbia is boring but also grateful for good support system

brown: community - school lit mag

columbia: why columbia - columbia shp and psychology, comp lit department

columbia: why the major you chose - creative writing and psychology

cornell: why cornell - passion for languages, comp lit department, psychology, personality attachment and control lab, cornell traditions

dartmouth: When you meet someone for the first time, what do you want them to know about you, but generally don’t tell them? - this one is kinda hard to explain bc of its format but basically i wrote about creative writing, psychology, and social activism

harvard: your choice - being biracial, feeling excluded from both cultural communities, and the process of learning that i am not half of each, i am both

princeton: the prompt about culture - biracial (same as harv essay)

uchicago: how are apples and oranges supposed to be compared? - i basically just bashed wallace stevens for being pretentious, then wrote a parody of his poem “study of two pears” titled “study of not two pears, but of one apple and one orange,” then analyzed the “meaning” behind my parody poem, and continued to bash wallace stevens during the “analysis” lol

uchicago: why uchicago - i wrote about how when i visited uchicago over the summer with a friend, instead of listening to our tour guide, we spent the majority of the time running away from bees. then i wrote about how despite the bees, uchicago’s numerous redeeming qualities far outweigh the prospect of living in a beehive for the next four years. and i like talked about the comp lit department, traditions like scav, kuvia, and the latke/hamantash debate, and concluded that uchicago is hella weird and nothing like what it seems on the surface. i actually had sooo much fun with this essay hahhaha

uchicago: favorite things - i wrote about how my favorite food is ice cream and how everyone i’ve told this to always claims that ice cream is not a food and so this was a defense of “my beloved ice cream”

penn: why penn - comp lit department, kelly writers house, penn traditions

yale: why yale - ok this essay is really really bad and basically i thought i was being ~bold~ and ~gutsy~ but honestly in hindsight it just came off really rude and i don’t blame yale at all for rejecting me LOL (i took up 70 out of the 100 words talking about how the best part about yale was the singing in its music video “that’s why i chose yale,” and then i said i was kidding, and then i wrote one sentence about a literature class and a psych lab specific to yale lol rip)

yale: your choice - biracial (same as prince and harv)

macaulay honors college: of which activity do you derive the most joy - my obsession with writing and the brain and research

macaulay honors college: overcoming an obstacle - biracial essay (same as prince and yale and harv)

mit: cultural background and identity - biracial essay

mit: hobby - tumblr

mit: which program - writing department

mit: betterment of community - feminism club extracurricular essay

mit: world you come from - suburbia and how it’s boring and how at mit i will experience a new, innovative environment that’s entirely different and whatnot

mit: significant challenge - learning to love myself

i think that about covers all of my essays lol lmk if you want me to post any of them :)

You ever see a pretty dress, a well-organised notebook, a peculiar balcony or read one line of poetry and get the overwhelming urge to reinvent yourself

new year special: unpotato self-care package

Last post for New Year Special! Through this series, I hope that we can all overcome our insecurities and take care of ourselves more during the next year! 💙 Self-care is not selfish, and you cannot spread the positivity to others when you are insecure about their performance. ❤️

Little about motivation throught the photos.

SCHOOL CHEAT SHEET!!

soothe yourself | self care

stationery  

printables

helpful sites

music for studying | more music

note taking methods  | another one

studying methods

english | physics | chemistry | biology | maths | languages 

how to learn a language

ultimate guide for writing | writing resources | writing helps | tips for writers

how to write a kickass essay | write a great essay | stuff you need to write essays | essay tips | essay checklist | grade your essay

how do I study for…

bullet journals | a guide to bullet journals

the testing effect

everything you need to succeed in school

time management

organisation

how to annotate | another one

guide to aesthetically pleasing notes | improve your handwriting

create a study guide

resources | helpful websites | there’s an app for that

get more out of google 

productivity resources | 14 apps to become productive | how to stay productive

lazy night owl school survival guide

apps for a better life | useful websites for students

masterpost of studying tips

social media citation guide

college masterpost | another one | starting college on the right foot | packing for college | how to survive in college

how to ace that college interview

food to stay motivated | motivation guide

how to stay awake in class

balancing a healthy lifestyle

studying on your period

huge masterpost for the semester

a very long list to help you survive school

not enough time to finish an assignment?

100 delicious cheap recipes 

53 posts for students

high school cheat sheet

other cheat sheets

You can't fly unless you let yourself fall.

Düşmene izin vermedikçe uçamazsın.

I have just finished reading the handmaid’s tale

The Really Big Studying Masterpost

I couldn’t get it together enough to do a graphic or anything, so here goes. Sorry this is massively long but hopefully it will be helpful!

Studying

Review season printables

The lazy kid’s guide to study guides

Studying tips for university

Non-cutesy study tips

How I make my study guides

My study process

How I study for science

Effective study routine for intense classes

How to “study”

50 things to do between your study sessions

Studying: how tos, advice, & tips

Learning styles and study tips

Motivation + tests/studying

My study tips tag

This has some stuff on exams

My exam tag

The pomodoro method

“How can I focus/study effectively?”

Get started studying

General exam/studying tips

Learning styles and study tips

Memorization

Using a mind palace

Memorization

Improving memory

Studying with a terrible memory

Memory tips

Last minute studying

Emergency study plan

More on late studying JIC

3 day study plan

Finals/exams

Oh-crap-finals-are-so-close masterpost

Last minute tips for finals

Ways to reset your mind

Examinations: reminders

The ultimate guide to final exams

Tips to focus on studying (finals)

Exam prep tips

I ran out of time (on a test)

How to remember everything for a test

Exams masterpost

What to do the night before an exam

What to do the night before an exam (2)

Standardized testing

Standardized testing

The imperfect guide on AP classes

Free SAT & AP prep

AP review set printables

Free standardized test prep

AP study resources

AP testing tips and tricks

AP cram packets

#1 tip for AP classes

SAT masterpost

The new SAT

Focus and productivity

Distraction-free studying

Do’s and don’ts of a good study environment

15 things productive people do differently

Concentration masterpost

How to concentrate

Studying 101: how to stay focused, motivated, and on track

How to stay focused

How to deal with being lazy in school

Study tips for the lazy student (1)

Study tips for the lazy student (2)

Being sick, focusing and studying effectively, & maintaining physical and mental health

A day of studying: tips

Productivity with a planner

Summer productivity

Waking up early and refreshed

Holiday productivity

Summer studying

My productivity tag

Burnout / motivation / procrastination

Doing homework when you’re sick

Studying with a lack of motivation

Burnout 101

How to start working when you really don’t feel like it

Got motivation?

General motivation

How to study when you don’t want to

Procrastination

Procrastination advice

Motivation

Motivation advice

Resource for procrastination

A very long list to help you survive school

How to stop procrastinating

24 tips to overcome procrastination

motivation.mp3

Ways to avoid burnout

Motivation (2)

How to self-motivate

My motivation tag

Mental health

Stress relief

Don’t let it ruin your education

Studying with depression

How to find peace as a student

Living and studying with anxiety

How to study with a mental illness

Depression/mental health resources

Managing stress for the overtaxed student

How to be less prickly when stressed

What to do when you don’t get the grades you want

What to do on a bad day

Why it’s okay to fail & how to deal with failure

Dealing with failure

I got a bad grade, now what?

What to do when you get a bad grade

Feel better

How to find peace as a student

How to love yourself

Calming and fun websites

Anxiety and negativity

A beginner’s guide to meditation

Taking finals with mental illness

My mental health tag

Self care

How to take care of yourself when you’re sick

How to stay healthy in inhospitable weather

Healthy studying

For people who struggle with self care, etc.

Self care cheat sheet

Finals self care (1)

All the self care

Small ways to improve your life

A self care masterpost to help you get through school

Finals self care (2)

Balancing a healthy lifestyle with studying

Hotlines/self care refs

101 self care ideas

My self care tag

+ self promotion (bc everyone seems to be doing this)

A masterpost of masterposts

College masterpost

Note taking masterpost

How to be the best student you can be

My study process

Lecture tips

Coping with obsession

Confidence

Money masterpost

My YouTube (not a studytube)

My Instagram (not a studygram)