I'm scared...honest...

[Ormica]

So I may be out of luck, guys...it seems school expects you to actualy work and well...I'm not big on work. That being said if I can't get my grades up to a D (This is just in case cause that should be easy for me) then I'll not be able to be In-game for the rest of the school year (Unless of course I do it sneakily and without permission...). I'm not sure if this willl cause any problems but that means this weekend I'm going to be doing a lot of work and laundry so I'll probably not be on at least this weekend , but if I'm not on for longer you know why, CotH. I hope the extreme does not happen, so I wish not to leave and if ya'll have study tips i'd like to hear 'em!

[Reigen]

Study tips? I ran a rigid schedule when I felt my grades were compromised. This is how my day would go:

Wake up an hour early: Look over notes, just skim them and use them to refresh the stuff you learned before.

Breakfast is a must, though nothing super sugary or else you'll crash. Eat plain toast, that's what I did.

Ride to school: More notes, read a bit more in-depth to the things you might have been confused about.

Arrive to school 15-30 minutes early [if you can]: Study material and finish any homework you might not have gotten to the night before.

Morning classes: Take notes on -everything-, if you get it, start on homework ahead of time in class. Do it while the stuff is fresh in your head and try not to babble on with friends. If you finish the stuff up, great! Work on homework for other classes or study for your next class.

Lunch: Skipped lunch, studied notes/material for afternoon classes. Do homework for morning classes or unfinished afternoon classes from the previous day. [Not recommended unless you're super desperate] If eating, same as breakfast. Nothing super sugary. I know lunch is normally the time you blabber with your friends, but if you're failing, then friendship is a privilege that you get when you raise your grades.

Afternoon classes: Same as morning classes. If you finish your homework early in an afternoon class, work on morning stuff or study notes.

Home: Dedicate two hours to studying/homework/note review. Don't even be in the same room as your computer because that will just temp you. If you need to type of paper, turn off all messengers. Put shortcuts in folders and out of your instant view. 'Out of sight out of mind'. Once everything is finished, then take time for internet related things. The internet is also a privilege and not a given, so get those grades up.

GO TO BED AT A REASONABLE HOUR. Never stay up past midnight. -Never-. Even if you're frantic about a test, you -need- rest or else everything will turn to mush and it will not help you.

Cut back on soda/coffee if you do drink those, drink more water. Use flashcards for tests and try to get interested in the material. It's a lot better if you don't fight it all the way because school is important. Sure, it may not be fun, but then you get into situations like this...it's best to find -something- good.

Edit: As a note, doing this? I graduated with honors.

[Nikodemos]

As one who slipped under the wire by the skin of my teeth I advise that you BUCK UP AND DO YOUR HOMEWORK! I could be going to a fancy university instead of the library for my advanced education, and while I probably wouldn't learn anymore than I already am, I'd certainly be drinking liqour with better looking women. I've always regretted not doing better in school.

[Sersay]

I would NOT suggest drawing on the desks...

[BountyHunter]

I would suggest attending lectur-- Classes and actually paying attention in them. If there is something you don't understand as it's been taught before, catch up on it. If you have exams soon, do every practice exam you possibly can without fault, you learn a lot by doing questions and trying to figure out where you went wrong.

[Kage]

I'm gonna toss in my two cents onto this post, don't let Coth get in the way of life. If your playing Coth all the time and not studying, take out Coth entirely. No one here'll get angry at you because of it, and we'll be waiting to hear that you passed with flying colors. I probably should have done the same when I was in highschool. Oh, do your homework. Homework sucks, I personally have an issue with it that I wont get into, but if it's required, do it. You'd be surprised how much your grade will go up if you read and do the questions at the end of each chapter like the teacher asks.

[Loxmardin]

When taking notes, do it by hand. Take a pen and paper and write things down. If you have a computer, don't use it to take notes. You can ingrain the information much better if you write by hand since it goes through your physical memory as well and you have to process the information in a whole different way if you have to use your hand to spell it out all the way.

Something I did to remember a lot of information before an exam, as well, is to read over the chapters you've got the day or two before the exam. As long as you repeat the entire procedure the day before, it doesn't matter how long before that you've been studying (using this method) as long as you get it all down on the last day (use your own judgement there, though I recommend a couple of days of repeating this procedure):

• 1.) Read through the information.
  2.) Close your book/put away the information.
  3.) Take a piece of paper and write down EVERYTHING you remember.
  4.) Glance through the pages of text you just wrote, tear them out and throw them away.
  5.) Read through the information/book/whatever again.
  6.) Close the book, put away the information.
  7.) Write down everything you remember from this read-through.
  8.) Glance it over, tear it out, and throw it away.
  9.) Rinse and repeat until you feel you've got a good grip and the text just kind of flows.

That said, good luck with your studies! Don't feel pushed to come back on CotH until you've got your situation under control. School's important---don't throw your chances away!

[Krilari]

As the old Tribute to Mortality saying goes...

"Grades before Raids."

[Xigo]

*Reigen gives all this advice*

*She then proceeds to complain when I go to bed before 2AM when I have school*

[Holynexus]

What Reigen said, except I was (and still am) WAYYY too lazy to keep a strong studying discipline. I'm the best in my promotion so far, though, and I never skip luches either. Eating is half the battle well actually having energy does help.

Oh, and attend lectures. They might seem all useless, but seriously, half of what you'll wanna know is in that. And if you can, participate and ask in class. Even if your best friend threatens to gag you next time you ask a silly question. :3

[Caravan]

I echo Loxy with handwritten notes -- never once did I take notes on a computer, not even in university. Taking notes is also a bit of an art -- there's a number of theories on the best format for notes but at the end of the day it's whatever you find most effective.

Do not skip meals -- this will do you no favors at all. Eat lunch and eat a good breakfast. Stay away from the quick-burning sugars and eat something that has some staying-power.

Go to class and sit in the front row. If you can't sit in the front row, sit in the second row. Try to stay near the center of class. This is called the "T Zone" because it's been shown that this area is the most effective for students: Anyone in the outlying areas either won't hear a professor as well (more important for large lecture halls) or will tend to slack off due to not being in an immediate range.

Lastly: Do your homework and do your homework on time. Homework is like... 3/4 of the effort in school. You can be the best student in the world (Smart, attentive in class, score well on exams) but if you don't do your homework it won't mean a dang thing.


Don't go lax on your education. You'd be surprised what you'll use later. Good grades don't only mean you know X, Y, Z. Good grades shows that you can: Be taught, be disciplined and be effective. Bad grades tend to reflect laziness or poor work ethic.


To close: CotH is secondary to your education. Real life takes precedence.

[Reigen]

*Reigen gives all this advice*

*She then proceeds to complain when I go to bed before 2AM when I have school*

...Are your grades in trouble mister? >:(

[Sol]

A lot of this advice might sound intimidating. Don't worry about it. It's about what works for you. My study style was practically the polar opposite of the one Reigen outlined, and my ultimate grades were in the country's top 5%. (I regretted it strongly in the summer when my sleep-deprived, caffeine-fueled lifestyle crashed violently and my overtaxed immune system left me really ill for a few weeks, but that slip of paper with all those As and As* on it kind of redeemed the experience.)

While I encourage you to take tips and pointers from everyone here - because there really are some great tips, especially when it comes to time management - I would emphasise that you really need to figure out what works for you more than anything else. There is no orthodox method of learning that's the best for everyone. Some of us get drilled into a certain style of learning by our parents, by strict teachers, or by our own volition, but I'm guessing that if you're struggling now, you haven't been drilled in such a manner. I know the feel. I never developed a strong, consistent study routine that wasn't extremely taxing to personally, and I still fret and worry if I'm being too lazy now I'm in uni, even if my papers are passing with decent grades. Developing such a routine is a challenge for all of us, but I think that it's something we'll all benefit from if we achieve it.

I think you should take a picking of the techniques that sound the most useful, try them out, and see what works best. Try Reigen's routine for a week - if it's too taxing, try for another and see if you can slip into it. If not, try something that's more accommodating, but she has a set of extremely valuable tips and pointers there that you'd be a fool not to tap into.

But again, it doesn't work for everyone. For me, handwritten notes have always been a source of vexation - if I have to take something down by hand while it's being spoken aloud, I panic, and then I write quickly so I don't fall behind. I'm dyspraxic: when I write quickly, my writing literally becomes an incomprehensible squiggle. If I try and write calmly, I can manage about fifty words a minute, at best. Compare that to my typing speed of 120 words per minute and you can see why I prefer to take my notes entirely digitally. (Although it is awkward to be that one guy who cracks out the laptop in a lecture, especially when the writing desks are tiny.)

Firstly: chill out. Don't panic. The fact that you're taking note of this now means that you've got this in the bag if you just try. But don't get complacent. Remember, achieving will be far more valuable to you in the long run than simply passing, and you really need to give school your all. I only realised this at the beginning of my final year, when some family problems served as a stark wakeup call. A lot of people don't take it seriously at all, and a lot of people end up going nowhere in life. If you go far and beyond now, the chances are very good that you'll go far later on. Think on that, if you need some motivation.

Perhaps telling us the classes you're taking will help us tailor future advice? :3

[Zhaei]

No idea what exam level or classes you're taking, but don't do the thing I did and kid yourself into thinking you can wing it and get by without proper (or any) revision. Only reason I'm actually going somewhere is because the difficulty of the courses I was taking is laughable.

[Bingles]

I would echo Loxxy and Rei 100%!



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