[irkou]

im not sure if i even can cram haha.. to lazy to study but

im a junior in HS right now and im preparing for the SAT and SAT2 Math2 and another NOW... im an international student too if that makes a difference

i was thinking of *trying* to study a whole lot in a few days... not only the SATs but my HS classes.. but would studying like physics in one day be a good thing? off course im going to sleep early and not do an all nighter but would i be able to process and remember all the info i study? this same goes for SATs (which ill probably spread till SAT testing).

and how bad are the chances if i have little extra curriculum? i havnt done anything until this year which was just one activity.. next year im planning to do every activity possible but is that any good if i have one 2 year and the rest being a 1 year activity?

and how do you stay focused when studying? honestly.. my body just stiffens and sometimes i just cant process anything im reading when i study for my longest which is like 1 hour haha

another thing is.. my school right now doesnt have any good AP classes i want to take... they only have Bio, Econ, World, and Calc.... HOWEVER.. this is the only school where ill prob get extracurricular activities... so what to do? my GPA at this moment is a 3.6.. which is pretty bad i know...

[Yuenie]

Well, cramming is never good. We all just do it because we're lazy and suck at managing time productively. Don't cram if you don't have to. Especially if you're trying to cram like five different subjects into your head at once.

As for activities... You don't need A LOT, you just need a handful of activities that you truly like and enjoy doing. Doing one activity in junior year and then doing about 10 different things in senior year won't really help you at all. College admissions will just see that you are trying to cram a laundry list of activities just for the sake of elongating your resume. Just find a couple activities (like 2-5ish) that you really like doing and continue with it from now till end of senior year (or beyond that).

As for studying.... just chill. If you weren't cramming you wouldn't be stressed about studying or learning everything in one night. My neurology teacher in the summer said that supposedly studying in 20minute intervals with 5minutes break after each 20minutes helps. Supposedly helps you retain the information. I've never done it myself before though. Another thing for studying, if you're not someone who understands/memorizes things easily, take notes as you read the textbook and make an outline of each chapter. (I study for like 8hrs straight for my AP History midterms and I make outlines)

Lastly.. you can't really do anything about it if your school doesn't have many AP options. But just because you don't like them, doesn't mean you should at least challenge yourself in one subject or another? FYI, if you already have a major you're thinking about in college, for instance accounting, many schools would WANT you to have taken AP Calc. Or if you plan to major in science or medicine, they would RECOMMEND that you have taken AP Bio. The more competitive schools would want to see that you already have an interest in pursuing that subject - of course not many schools actually outright make it a requirement to apply.

However if you really feel taking an AP class won't help your GPA at all, then maybe you shouldn't take an AP. Schools still rather see an A in a normal class than a C in an AP class.

[Avex]

Those are pretty good tips, actually.

The 3rd fact about AP classes and taking them, even though you don't like specific ones, I somewhat disagree with. If you are into the liberal arts (i.e. sociology), you shouldn't force yourself to take AP Calc necessarily. You could take classes at your local community college RELATED to sociology; so while you're doing something you like, you are still showing colleges you are challenging yourself, but w/ classes you LIKE.

[irkou]

thanks for the tips.. ill try the 20min lapse thing.. the reason im frekain out now is cause junior year for me is almost over and having a 3.6 is NOT good for me... other than that i have SATS which i have to take earlier since i have to send my college registration earlier as an international student

but yah... what i really need help on is, how to NOT be lazy? like if its something thats not interesting... i just cant focus or comprehend it anymore... i like lost my comprehension and all when i came to Korea haha...

[prisonerzero]

Go to the library and study.

[kikkie.kl]

I actually studied this in AP Psych not too long ago. If you cram in a short amount of time, you'll be able to retain the information for a short amount of time. You'll probably forget it after the test.

Study a little bit each night and you will be able to retain the information longer.


*Don't study right before you go to sleep either. It won't get into your long term memory.

[Baby.S]

Well, that's how I got through most of high school.

[itsSO0JIN]

its weird..
i think i score better on tests by cramming.
i tried the whole study a week in advance;
i ended up scoring worse than looking over things
quickly for 5 mins before the test.
i suppose there's a lot of factors that could be the reason
as to why this happened..

but definitely, the info you're trying to remember would last
longer and stick with you if stored in the longterm memory.
(i usually forget right after the test lol)