Study Prof

In the past, I’ve talked about exactly when to study for each class you’re taking. Follow that schedule and you will spend less time to get better grades!

But don’t make the mistake of blindly following anyone’s schedules or methods (mine included). It’s all about strategery, people.

Not all classes are created equal.  Some classes you can cut that schedule in half and still get an A.  In other classes, you may have to double up. Treat your schedule like a strategy game; carefully decide where you will get the most payoff and act accordingly.

Example; I took a class in (more…)

Taking a prep course is really an ideal first step for most students.  If you’ve never built a house before, it would NOT be smart to go out and start pouring concrete and putting up boards on your own for a couple of months, and only then go talk to an architect/builder to find out exactly how to do things.

You normally start by getting with an architect to plan the building and by talking to a builder who knows something about exactly how to procede with each step of the process.  Taking a prep course is like talking to an experienced builder and architect first.  Although their services can come at a premium, they can help you make sure that none of your time and effort is wasted.  In fact, they will more than pay for themselves!

A GRE prep course can raise a student’s combined score an average of (more…)

My friend, Aliya, listening intently

Don’t you hate it when you’re talking to someone on the phone and you can tell they aren’t really listening? The pauses between your questions and their answers get longer and … longer. They ask questions that you’ve already answered. You know they aren’t paying attention.

Failing to pay close attention in class makes for missed details, frustrated professors, and poor notes. Missed details? What if one of those details is on your next test? You’ll be getting a lower grade. You might even fail! Frustrated professors and teachers–in smaller classes–often notice your lack of attention, just as you notice when your friend-on-the-phone is otherwise occupied. That frustration can make your prof angry and resentful; not the attitude you want them to have when they’re grading your paper. Even in very large classes, professors notice when most people aren’t listening. Often that makes them (more…)

From the series Better Test Performance the Navy SEALs Way.

In a recently televised interview, the Navy SEALs command psychologist, Eric Potterat, listed four key mental techniques taught to SEAL candidates.  Self talk, the third technique listed, concerns how we focus our thoughts in high-stress situations.  Here’s how you can apply this to help increase your own test performance.

Students who panic on the SAT, GRE, or on classroom exams often have destructive patterns of self talk.  They think to themselves, “Oh no.  I missed those last two questions.  I just know it!  I’ll probably fail this whole test and make a D in the class.  I’ll have to drop out of school.  My parents are going to kill me! I’ll probably end up playing xBox 24/7, eating cheesie poofs out of the giant family-size bag, and drinking massive amounts of Mad Dog 20/20 just to drown the pain of the train wreck that is my life!”

Needless to say, that sort of thinking doesn’t help you solve the next calculus problem.  In fact, it produces massive amounts of panic chemicals that make higher-order thinking almost impossible.

Solution?  Instead of talking yourself into a panic, talk yourself into a better state.  One easy way to put this into practice is a technique I call the personal cheerleader.  Here’s how…

1. Think of someone right now who encourages you when you feel defeated or depressed.  Could be your mom, dad, a coach, a boyfriend, girlfriend, whoever.
2. Mentally take that person with you to the test.
3. When you start to panic, have your mental cheerleader give you a little pep-talk.  “You can do it!  Don’t worry about that question.  Concentrate on the next one.”
4. BONUS: You can take as many mental cheerleaders as you like to the test, and you can take whoever you want.  Try Brad Pitt or the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.  Try Brad Pitt AND the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Changing the way you talk to yourself as a way to increase your success is supported by scads of great research.  But it doesn’t work unless you do it.  Put it into practice today!

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From the Series “Better Test Performance The Navy SEALs Way”
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Study as long as it takes to master the material. For some classes, that means five or six hours a week; other classes may require 15 eye-ball-popping hours or more each week.  It totally depends on your noggin, the course, and the test.

Too much studying can cause eye ball buggage.

Have you heard the tried old nugget; “study two or three hours outside of class for each hour in class”?  That is utter codswollop … no, I mean it, codswollop!  Can you imagine a carpenter saying, “A cabinet takes eight hours to build.” and then he stops after eight hours, whether the cabinet is complete or not? It ain’t finished ’til it’s finished.  Might take (more…)