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Kevin View Drop Down
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Posts: 767 		  Quote Kevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Soo Stressed!
    Posted: 27-Sep-2008 at 07:20
I'm soo stressed by school right now, all get in school is soo many test and quizzes and it seems like that's all i do, and not to mention there has been repeated misunderstandings on my part with my AP Psychology homework all of this seems so ridiculous, and I feel like I'm not taking off academically like I should despite the fact that I try and work soo hard and I'm losing out to people who don't deserve honors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AngryAngryAngryAngryAngryAngryAngryAngryAngry  

Edited by Kevin - 27-Sep-2008 at 07:20
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Constantine XI View Drop Down
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Posts: 5711 		  Quote Constantine XI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27-Sep-2008 at 07:39
Time management.
 
Buy yourself a daily diary with all the hours for the day marked on each page, it should start at 7 am and finish at about 9 pm. Work out the exact amount of time it will take you to study/work for a given test or assignment. Then schedule every hour of the day from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed so the required amount of work always gets done. Remember to add time for breaks, recreation and social activities so you don't burn out. Good luck!
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Posts: 1551 		  Quote Dolphin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01-Oct-2008 at 16:31
It's simple, if other people are getting better grades than you and you are sure that you work harder, then it's either they are just more intelligent, or they are at least studying smarter. One problem you can't remedy, the other you can try to fix by prioritising work, find the information most relevant to your study and learning it well. Before College, sometimes it's better to just do what you are told to do well, rather than having a scattershot approach to far too much information.
 
And Constantine, while I agree that on paper your advice is good, for me it takes the whole point out of learning and enjoying the process. If we scheduled sex, or recreation, or anything else it takes away from it. Personally I study about three hours a day around exam time, and that gets me top grades, scheduling every hour of the day is for regimented people, not people who enjoy learning through their own drives and motivations.
 
Robots don't get top grades in my experience, but hey, that's just me.
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Posts: 5711 		  Quote Constantine XI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 03:27

Yes I know dolphin, I don't propose anyone do this indefinitely. Last year was honours year for me and I wanted to badly to get the top mark in my department. So I followed what I outlined above and it worked wonderfully (I had to surrender my social life and be very solitary, and the fatigue damn near wrecked me). But I was aiming to get first place in something that was intensely competitive (we have more commerce students at my uni than any other in the nation).

 
Then when the whole process is over and you have got where you want to, you can take it easier. A solid heap of hard work and sacrifice while young can make things a hell of a lot easier when you are older.
 
If you wish to enjoy yourself while learning, then for sure don't use my Nazi scheduling regime. That procedure is just to get you marks when you want them really badly.
 
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Aster Thrax Eupator View Drop Down
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Posts: 1929 		  Quote Aster Thrax Eupator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 12:10
It's simple, if other people are getting better grades than you and you are sure that you work harder, then it's either they are just more intelligent, or they are at least studying smarter
 
Sorry, I won't buy that - I know plenty of thick people who just have a knack for exam technique. An exam at the end of a 2-3 year course which lasts for only around 1-2 hours doesn't really prove much. I'm not being arrogant when I say that I get the highest grades in my class, yet I still know people who also get As but seem as thick as ****. The system is far from perfect - and I also know people who are far more intelligent that me but don't get the marks they deserve.
 
If you want something, you have to kick life in the privates for it - just work harder and harder until you get it! In any case, the system is, as I say, far from perfect, so those people aren't all going to be geniuses...


Edited by Aster Thrax Eupator - 03-Oct-2008 at 12:10
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Posts: 1943 		  Quote Reginmund Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 12:30
Originally posted by Aster Thrax Eupator

Sorry, I won't buy that - I know plenty of thick people who just have a knack for exam technique. An exam at the end of a 2-3 year course which lasts for only around 1-2 hours doesn't really prove much. I'm not being arrogant when I say that I get the highest grades in my class, yet I still know people who also get As but seem as thick as ****. The system is far from perfect - and I also know people who are far more intelligent that me but don't get the marks they deserve.
 
If you want something, you have to kick life in the privates for it - just work harder and harder until you get it! In any case, the system is, as I say, far from perfect, so those people aren't all going to be geniuses...


The system only wishes to test your knowledge in one very particular and narrow subject, not your ability to reflect independently, your intelligence or your general erudition. As a result it is not necessary to be what you think of as smart, the deciding factor is rather your work ethic, and almost any simpleton can in theory memorise knowledge from books and articles merely by repeating over and over what they have to learn.

However, the real advantage to being intelligent and generally knowledgeable lies in how little effort you have to make in order to achieve the same grades as the mediocrities who study like crazy to compensate for their shortcomings. Take this from one who spent the laziest two years of his life writing a masters thesis that was graded with an A.
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Omar al Hashim View Drop Down
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Posts: 5697 		  Quote Omar al Hashim Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 12:40
Sorry, I won't buy that - I know plenty of thick people who just have a knack for exam technique. An exam at the end of a 2-3 year course which lasts for only around 1-2 hours doesn't really prove much. I'm not being arrogant when I say that I get the highest grades in my class, yet I still know people who also get As but seem as thick as ****. The system is far from perfect - and I also know people who are far more intelligent that me but don't get the marks they deserve.

No I agree with Dolphin. Exam technique is very important (studying smarter). The whole idea in a heavy workload environment is to minimise the amount of work you need to do to achieve the maximum grades.
In my experience people who get As and are as thick as four stars are probably a lot more intelligent than you give them credit for. They have probably seen the smarter and better way of learning while you are slogging away inefficiently.

I have noticed among my uni colleagues that the people who get the best marks are less likely to get hired by companies than those who have moderate to good marks.


Edited by Omar al Hashim - 03-Oct-2008 at 12:42
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Reginmund View Drop Down
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Posts: 1943 		  Quote Reginmund Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 12:51
Intelligence and good exam techniques are related; if you are able to look at a thousand pages of required reading and decide just what you have to do in order to get good grades for the minimum amount of effort then surely you are quite intelligent.
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Constantine XI View Drop Down
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Posts: 5711 		  Quote Constantine XI Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 13:14
Originally posted by Reginmund

Intelligence and good exam techniques are related; if you are able to look at a thousand pages of required reading and decide just what you have to do in order to get good grades for the minimum amount of effort then surely you are quite intelligent.


This is a very good point, though I would say it relates more to those studying the liberal arts. In that field, the ability to create an defensible and persuasive work out of a sheer colossal mass of information does require one to be smart enough to know what to memorise religiously and what to pass over as useless to gaining the examiner's marks.
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Posts: 1943 		  Quote Reginmund Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 14:31
Originally posted by Constantine XI

This is a very good point, though I would say it relates more to those studying the liberal arts. In that field, the ability to create an defensible and persuasive work out of a sheer colossal mass of information does require one to be smart enough to know what to memorise religiously and what to pass over as useless to gaining the examiner's marks.


Absolutely, which is why they are in my opinion intellectually superior to those who pursue natural sciences. I know this sounds incredibly arrogant, but the natural sciences require a very workmanlike form of practical intelligence that doesn't require you to mature intellectually. Most of my old high school friends study natural sciences, and I whenever I am with them I notice how immature and simple their minds are compared with the people I meet who study liberal arts, despite dealing with such complicated sciences as physics and chemistry (generalisation of course, but I've seen this pattern repeat itself more often than not). Not that it's necessarily a bad thing; I find the simpleminded students of natural sciences to be a welcome break from the liberal arts students with all their pretentiousness and self-centered introspection, no matter how sharp their intellects be or how well-spoken they are.
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Aster Thrax Eupator View Drop Down
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Posts: 1929 		  Quote Aster Thrax Eupator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 15:05
Intelligence and good exam techniques are related; if you are able to look at a thousand pages of required reading and decide just what you have to do in order to get good grades for the minimum amount of effort then surely you are quite intelligent.
 
True, but if a person was truely intellectual, then they would put the effort in anyway because they are so curious. Obviously, being able to write a good essay and get a high mark without doing any of the reading shows intelligence, but that depends at what level (I guess in your case with the masters, obviously!) but at the stage Kevin and I are at, it doesn't because one can get a C-B without trying anyway. I think that with intelligence must come the passion for the subject - surely that's an aspect?
 
Moreover, as regards you comments about further reading - at a high level, that in itself must be evidence of intelligence, because at a high enough level, the further reading is itself a feat. In my history course, I don't consider someone who gets As but doesn't read and appreciate the key works to be less intelligent than one who does and still gets As. I always find that there comes a point where people can't rely on exam technique and really have to have a flair for the subject - I discovered this only this year; the people who have done so wonderfully in GCSEs have begun to slip down, whereas people like me who didn't do so well have soared up.


Edited by Aster Thrax Eupator - 03-Oct-2008 at 15:09
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Posts: 1943 		  Quote Reginmund Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 15:26
Originally posted by Aster Thrax Eupator

I think that with intelligence must come the passion for the subject - surely that's an aspect?


Well yes, and a person who fails to realize the significance of history can't have much potential in the first place. At least a basic knowledge of history is required of anyone who wishes to style himself or herself as an intellectual, and I recall even my old teachers in math and the natural sciences took great pride in knowing the history of their discipline.

How is this for a general rule; people who don't know much about history, don't know much about anything. Wink
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Aster Thrax Eupator View Drop Down
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Posts: 1929 		  Quote Aster Thrax Eupator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 21:46

I clearly agree with you - but I am finding that at the moment in my studies, the need for "passion" for one's subject is really begining to pay off. It's hard to get a good grade without doing extra reading and soforth outside of college. This is happening over a long period of time though - a matter of mark boundaries, but it's there.
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Posts: 767 		  Quote Kevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 22:45
Originally posted by Aster Thrax Eupator

Intelligence and good exam techniques are related; if you are able to look at a thousand pages of required reading and decide just what you have to do in order to get good grades for the minimum amount of effort then surely you are quite intelligent.
 
True, but if a person was truely intellectual, then they would put the effort in anyway because they are so curious. Obviously, being able to write a good essay and get a high mark without doing any of the reading shows intelligence, but that depends at what level (I guess in your case with the masters, obviously!) but at the stage Kevin and I are at, it doesn't because one can get a C-B without trying anyway. I think that with intelligence must come the passion for the subject - surely that's an aspect?
 
Moreover, as regards you comments about further reading - at a high level, that in itself must be evidence of intelligence, because at a high enough level, the further reading is itself a feat. In my history course, I don't consider someone who gets As but doesn't read and appreciate the key works to be less intelligent than one who does and still gets As. I always find that there comes a point where people can't rely on exam technique and really have to have a flair for the subject - I discovered this only this year; the people who have done so wonderfully in GCSEs have begun to slip down, whereas people like me who didn't do so well have soared up.


I think you hit the nail right on the head Aster, sort of speak as we both see the people in our secondary school education who get the good grades and honor rolls and so on and so forth and who are intelligent in many cases but are not intellectual as they aren't driven by the passion for fields of interest and study but by money and financial reward at the end of the tunnel. In addition many pretend to be intellectual but are not and just wind up being elitists instead.

For example I saw much of this in the students among me at the Cambridge College Programme and can tell you that I think many of them with the attitude they take will find higher education difficult and I could even see many dropouts among them.

However passion for the subject wields very strong power in terms of education and will bring more to people who show such strong willingness much fruit in the future. Also this isn't to say all high achieving students aren't passionate, for example I think there is some at least budding intellectuals in my AP US Government class, however I just don't know at this point. 


Edited by Kevin - 03-Oct-2008 at 22:53
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Posts: 1929 		  Quote Aster Thrax Eupator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03-Oct-2008 at 23:02

I recently went to the Durham university open day and spoke with many of the academics there - they were passionate - and that got them where they were. Moreover, you are right to use the term "intellectual" within that context - an "Intellectual" is one who uses his/her knowledge and intellect keenly and with an active mind - not just soaking up information and using raw intelligence to reguritate it onto an exam paper. I've seen what you mean about the "fake" intellectuals a lot - they will feign intellect, but when it actually comes to doing the reading and stuff, they just can't be bothered. They love sitting in black berets and talking about existentialism and nihilism (I don't know WHY it's always those two philosophical schools!) but it's obvious they've never read anything by Nitzsche and/or Satre. It makes me sick - I think a lot of it comes from the image the romantics portrayed - Lord Byron and Colleridge etc have a lot to answer for...

I obviously don't know the details, but from what I know of you I doubt it's because you aren't "smart-learning" as was mentioned above, or aren't doing enough. However, if you're not (which I doubt) ensure you spend most of your time working. I'd imagine that in your case it's probably the system just playing to the lowest common denominator. One word of advice I'd give is practice papers - ensure you don't do pointless exercises; even if they are set in class...


Edited by Aster Thrax Eupator - 03-Oct-2008 at 23:04
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Posts: 767 		  Quote Kevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2008 at 02:32
Originally posted by Aster Thrax Eupator

I recently went to the Durham university open day and spoke with many of the academics there - they were passionate - and that got them where they were. Moreover, you are right to use the term "intellectual" within that context - an "Intellectual" is one who uses his/her knowledge and intellect keenly and with an active mind - not just soaking up information and using raw intelligence to reguritate it onto an exam paper. I've seen what you mean about the "fake" intellectuals a lot - they will feign intellect, but when it actually comes to doing the reading and stuff, they just can't be bothered. They love sitting in black berets and talking about existentialism and nihilism (I don't know WHY it's always those two philosophical schools!) but it's obvious they've never read anything by Nitzsche and/or Satre. It makes me sick - I think a lot of it comes from the image the romantics portrayed - Lord Byron and Colleridge etc have a lot to answer for...

I obviously don't know the details, but from what I know of you I doubt it's because you aren't "smart-learning" as was mentioned above, or aren't doing enough. However, if you're not (which I doubt) ensure you spend most of your time working. I'd imagine that in your case it's probably the system just playing to the lowest common denominator. One word of advice I'd give is practice papers - ensure you don't do pointless exercises; even if they are set in class...


Hmm, I've never seen the fakes wearing black berets lol?

Your right in assuming I think in saying that I'm a smart-learner and a hard worker.

However even though I'm one of the hardest working people at my school I feel I can improve on some issues namely time management in which I often tend to take a long break after an exhausting day at school, then focus too much studying on one topic while neglecting another even though I sometimes get around to it eventually usually in the wee hours of the morning or 3-10 minutes before class like many students our age. Also my organization historically has been on the rather poor side(although I have made strong improvements here). This is also combined with the learning disability in math that I think I told you about a while back, that's played a big part in holding me back and causes me to struggle in the subject and it's related fields such as physics which I'm in this year and even though it's causing me massive pain I seem to be doing well none the less.

Still even with all of this and me trying not to let the above hold me back, I still think that things are unfair you know?      
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Omar al Hashim View Drop Down
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Posts: 5697 		  Quote Omar al Hashim Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2008 at 02:54
hmmm, from the look of this thread I'm going to wager that myself, Constantine, Reg, and Dolphin are the kind of students that Aster and Kevin are complaining about
Originally posted by Reg


Absolutely, which is why they are in my opinion intellectually superior to those who pursue natural sciences. I know this sounds incredibly arrogant, but the natural sciences require a very workmanlike form of practical intelligence that doesn't require you to mature intellectually. Most of my old high school friends study natural sciences, and I whenever I am with them I notice how immature and simple their minds are compared with the people I meet who study liberal arts, despite dealing with such complicated sciences as physics and chemistry (generalisation of course, but I've seen this pattern repeat itself more often than not). Not that it's necessarily a bad thing; I find the simpleminded students of natural sciences to be a welcome break from the liberal arts students with all their pretentiousness and self-centered introspection, no matter how sharp their intellects be or how well-spoken they are.

I know exactly what you mean.
Although at least at my uni I would not include most physics students in the simple-minded generalisation. Good physics requires spark, style and a razor mind. Chemistry on the other hand can basically be held up as the perfect example of what you are talking about.
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Aster Thrax Eupator View Drop Down
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Posts: 1929 		  Quote Aster Thrax Eupator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2008 at 14:51
then focus too much studying on one topic while neglecting another even though I sometimes get around to it eventually usually in the wee hours of the morning or 3-10 minutes before class like many students our age
 
To be fair, that's not really "smart learning" - make sure you look at the lesson plan and the scheme of work, and plan your work accordingly. I make sure I do roughly 1 - 2 hours for each of my subjects a day - that keeps me sharp and on the ball.
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Posts: 767 		  Quote Kevin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2008 at 17:25
Originally posted by Aster Thrax Eupator

then focus too much studying on one topic while neglecting another even though I sometimes get around to it eventually usually in the wee hours of the morning or 3-10 minutes before class like many students our age
 
To be fair, that's not really "smart learning" - make sure you look at the lesson plan and the scheme of work, and plan your work accordingly. I make sure I do roughly 1 - 2 hours for each of my subjects a day - that keeps me sharp and on the ball.


The thing with me is time is becoming harder to come by with extracurricular activates such as my internship and other ones which makes time like that hard to come by, not to mention all the tests have to take to gain admissions somewhere. However you are right in saying that my study method does need reconsideration.

So I take it you are organized and well disciplined in dealing with studying for school? 


Edited by Kevin - 04-Oct-2008 at 17:30
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Posts: 1929 		  Quote Aster Thrax Eupator Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Oct-2008 at 18:21
Well, I think/hope so - I do a "to do" list every day, and leave my weekends for extracurricular activities. Don't take on too much outside your studies if you are deeply interested in them.
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