Nonlinear-student - The Infinite Chaos

Hi ! Since a friend asked me for some tips to study better, I thought that it would be a good idea to share them with you all !

First of all, I started to have really good grades only once I started to apply exactly what is on this list ! On the beginning of the last year I had grades that went around 15/20 (French scholar system works with grades on 20, not on 100), which was good but I wasn’t the first of my class at all, and then in the end of the year and even right now, I have an average of 17/20 (without P.E obviously lmao), which is considered extremely good as a scientific senior student here !

Anyway I think that most of those tips are already well known but maybe you’ll find things that you didn’t think would work but actually do !

1- Do all of your homework (if possible)

This is some basic tip but God knows that it is the most important thing ever. Practice makes perfect, and I KNOW that sometimes you’ll be too tired to calculate the weight of a satellite which turns around the Earth in 239 days but even if you don’t feel like writing it down, just try to think about it, to find the methodology to do this exercise, because you have high chances to have this exercise again during your test ! Which lead us to the next advice…

2- Always write down the correction of your exercises when your teacher corrects them in class

Well I do think that it is the most important thing that I didn’t do last year and that I do now and it helps me so much. Like I said earlier, in maths, physics, literature and so on, there’s always a methodology that works almost universally for each type of exercise. So you have to listen carefully in class and take notes in case you didn’t understand something that might be important, and even after writing the methods and the corrections you don’t know what to do…

3- Ask a professor or a friend, or check videos on YouTube if this is still blurry in your mind

WE DON’T REPEAT THIS OFTEN ENOUGH BUT YOUR PROFESSORS ARE HERE AND PAID TO HELP YOU ! Even if you don’t like them, if you want to understand a subject you have to ask someone who could explain it to you ! If you’re in college and asking a teacher is not possible, then ask a friend you know they can explain it to you ! Don’t be ashamed of not understanding, this is absolutely natural. Then, if you still don’t understand, maybe you’ll find the answer to your question at our dear friend Google or even better, on YouTube ! Personally I think that Khan Academy is absolutely great for sciences ! Also I don’t really know about american YouTube channels that focus on school, so it’s up to you to find a channel that suits you ! (For my frenchies passant par là Les bons profs et Yvan Monka mes sauveurs).

4- Do not spend time uselessly !!!

Dear God how much time I spent on Twitter and YouTube just REFRESHING FOR NOTHING knowing that I have a test the next day 😭 I realized how much time Twitter would take me each day during the summer holidays so I decided to « delete » my account (I just log in once in a while so my tweets stay here, I don’t want to loose my threads on the Attack Titan and Hanji Zoe).

I also decided this year that once I’m home after school, I’ll just use my phone while I’m eating something and then leave it in the kitchen, and NOT USE IT until I finished all of my homework, even if it’s 10pm and half of my friends sent me a text about interesting things ! Also OBVIOUSLY no Netflix and series and anime once I’m done, but…

5- Don’t overwork yourself

If your studies are your priority like me, then you’ll put your homework before your activities, or even your sleep, because you’d feel guilty or even more stressed because you didn’t learn everything you had to and your test is the next day. Until now I can sleep at 1am and wake up the next day at 6 if I didn’t learn everything, and do that all the week until I have nothing to learn (this is an extremely rare case).

DO NOT DO THAT ALL THE TIME

You can allow you to do that when it’s a really important test, but if this is a really quick vocabulary test, then you should prioritize your sleep ! Then, if you’re really in deep shit you can learn on your way to school (flashcards yayy)! Sometimes when you’re really in a hurry your brain can memorize things so much faster I swear ! But of course, if you want to not do that all the time you have to be really organized, so next tip is…

6- Organize your week if you can !

This is so important to do that omg ! This is the newest thing I’ve been doing and it helps me sooooooooooo much omg ! Personally I have a bullet journal in which I organize what I’ll do each day, and (evenifthosedaysicompletelylostmybalance) now I can find some time for me to draw or just to sleep a bit more lol.

Make To-Do lists, have your own Bujo, just write down everything you have to do this week on your phone, at least you know you won’t miss something that might be important, and in the long run, you’ll find more time to learn your lessons and to do more exercises, and at the end of the semester you’ll have better grades ! But of course this is a question of MOTIVATION !

7- Last but not least, find a way to motivate you !

I think that if you want better grades, that’s for a reason after all ! Then if you’re feeling too lazy to work, just think about the reason that motivates you to go to class and to learn your lessons !

Making your parents proud, doing the job of your dreams, having a lot of money maybe, I don’t know what motivated you to read this post so far but just think about the pride you’ll have when receiving a 98/100! Then you’ll be able to help your friends with the subject you used to struggle with, and btw this is truly a wonderful feeling to graduate with all of your friends ! After that, the reward of holidays will be such a delightful thing 💕

This is all for now ! I might update this post if I remember something that I missed ! Also I’m really sorry if my English is awful, it’s been a while since I truly practiced it !

Just remember that even if you are in the top, intelligence doesn’t do all of the work and this is a progressive work that will help you getting even better results !

Edit: omgggg thank you so much for all those notes💕💕💕 ! I’d never imagine that this post would be this helpful !! I’m kind of curious about how much those tips helped you during the semester ! So if you think you see a progression do not hesitate to hit me up or leave a comment !

Strange attractors.

Mathematics is beautiful. <3

I MUST REPOST

dark academia on a budget

(because not only rich people can be dark academics)

-thrifting with friends for old sweaters that someone’s grandfather must have worn

-getting second (or third or fourth) hand books and reading the notes that other people left in them

-making sure everything is tidy and clean, no matter what

-adopting a minimalist aesthetic

-or making your own decorations (which then makes you better at lettering and art)

-sitting in a local cafe and buying the cheapest thing so that you can study there (and making sure that you tip as much as you can)

-reading poetry online, printing your favorites, and posting them on your walls

-taking as much of your family’s clothing that they’ll let you have

-rotating the same few shirts, pants, and shoes without anyone noticing

-a lack of jewelry (because there are more important things)

-sitting outside at a park to read or write

-looking outside windows on public transport while listening to somber music

7 April (Calc 4: happy exhaustion)

Today was rough, but I feel like I’m getting the hang of maximum and minimum values (thank you so much Lagrange).

I will say that I’m running into a bit of an existential crisis as far as my career is concerned. I feel like I really enjoy physics and am going to love making a job out of it, but this online learning environment is painful.

I want to actually do physics now that I have a better mathematical understanding, but at the same time I can only put forth so much effort in a class that has no social interaction. I can’t help but feel neglected considering I know how amazing my physics instructor is and knowing I’ll never officially have a “class” with him.

I’ve been struggling with my BPD as of late and it’s making me a bit more emotional than normal, but I’m taking strides to work through my issues.

A bit of positive news, I’m getting more comfortable on my skateboard, and am looking to land my first heelflip soon

You are strong

You are beautiful

You are powerful

Now go change the world

Stay up ✌🏿

🎧 The Watchtower - Sigimund

Inspired as fuck by your page

That literally means the world to me. Thank you so much

a bunch of scribbles 

Here, have some thermo notes

🎧 vibin 2 by Ryan Celsius

there’s something about crisp notes that genuinely bring me peace.

{ 02-04-18 } 91/100 days of productivity

29 days until the start of my exams … i am trembling …

Conquering the Why School? Essay

From a student who got into MIT & the Ivy League

I’ve read many Why School? essays. These often come across as generic, with no real indication of interest. I’m here to make sure you don’t make the same mistakes in your essays.

-Look up their course catalog. Don’t simply write, “I’m interested in your stellar economics program.” Great, so are hundreds of other applicants. Name-drop a couple of classes and explain why those specific courses appeal to you. It’ll show you’ve done your homework.

-Discuss a few clubs. Colleges want students who will contribute to their campus outside of the classroom. Are you interested in journalism? Talk about joining the school newspaper. Are you a violin virtuoso? Indicate your interest in the orchestra. Or are you into something that isn’t yet available? Say you’ll start a new group!

-Latch onto research opportunities. Schools love students who can contribute to their published papers. Look up ongoing research projects in whatever department you’re interested in (and no, research isn’t only for STEM fields!) and talk about how you’ll get involved.

-Talk about what makes a school unique. Columbia has a Core Curriculum; Princeton has a yearlong bridge program in Bolivia. Why do you want to attend this specific school?

-Touch upon your long-term goals. How will this university help you achieve your goals of becoming a lawyer? How do you want to make the world a better place? Colleges are looking for people who will contribute meaningfully to society.

-Don’t mention rankings or prestige. Harvard already knows it’s world-renowned, it doesn’t need you to stroke its ego. You should be choosing the best school for you, not the best school according to US World & News Report. 

Good luck! I’ll also be happy to read your college app essays, feel free to message me :)