There Is Something About Trigonometry That Makes Me Wanna Puke.xD

hey guys!! 

so since i’m a rising senior i’ve been working hard all summer in preparation for applying to colleges this coming fall. throughout the duration, i’ve found some amazing websites to help you through the process, and resources i think are worthwhile to check out. 

email

set up an email specifically for colleges (best to do this before/during junior year) b/c

your inbox will overflow with college emails

you will hate yourself if you don’t

use it as your email for college-oriented websites you sign up for

put it on interest cards you fill out during college fairs/visits

colleges are going to email/spam you 24/7 just direct them here honestly

google drive

make a folder for college

put your essays in there

you can share essays with editors really easily this way

make a spreadsheet of all the colleges you are applying too with categories like size, type, location, etc. 

make a list of achievements, awards, teams, clubs/extracurriculars, etc. that you can refer back to during applications

make sure to have an emergency flashdrive with your important college documents on it

finding colleges & stats

cappex: helps find colleges that fit you, calculates admissions chances, helps you plan college visits, helps with scholarship search, etc.

through cappex you can access meritaid, a great scholarship resource

naviance: a college readiness worksite site that does a ton and is basically a combination of every single site listed. it’s used through your school, normally, so get in contact with your counselor about making an account

unigo: this site gives reviews/advice/experience from current or former college students regarding the school they attended, and also offers tips and tutorials for admission from professionals, plus a college database

collegenavigator: exactly what it sounds like. this site has a ton of info on schools and it’s really easy to use

collegeboard: general resource! 

collegedata: lots of statistics and overviews of schools

collegeresults: shows the graduation rates of colleges

collegeinsight: gives info about affordability, diversity, and student success

admitted.ly: this is an awesome website (and app) for matching you with schools, and it’s really organized/manageable as well

collegeniche: this is basically yelp for colleges. reviews for students, by students, about specific colleges

organization/tracking

overgrad: tracks college and career goals

makemeafreshman: this website is an actual godsend. enter all the colleges you are applying to (including what type, such as early action, early decision, etc.), and it will generate a schedule of things you need to do and specific dates they need to be done by (submitting fees, completing the commonapp and FAFSA, etc.)

scholarship oriented

posse: organization that identifies gifted scholars, then groups them into “posses” by region, and hands out full scholarships to top colleges 

questbridge: links exceptional students (esp. low-income) with colleges, scholarship providers, enrichment programs, and employers

college greenlight: amazing for finding scholarships to apply for (they can find a scholarship for anything), plus does college matches based on criteria you give

majors

collegemajors101: provides info about a variety of majors, like course requirements, career options, etc.

i’ll definitely keep adding to this list, and if you have any questions about the sites or have some you think should be added, please message me!

remember, the best thing you can do is get things done early. summer’s not over yet and there is still a lot of time between now and application due dates. make the most of it! get organized, and get educated about college.

happy studying/applying!

The choreography in “Rewrite the Stars” is honestly genius.

The whole scene is staged in such a way that for the first half of the song, Phillip is continuously trying to pull Anne back to him each time she tries to pull away. He’s trying to hold her in place at his level, on the ground. Even when she soars up into the air, he keeps trying to literally pull her back down: grabbing on to her hand, her waist, the rope, her hoop. Anything to keep her in place with him. 

But for the second half of the song, Phillip stops trying to hold her down and instead follows after her into the air, basically saying through the choreography, “If we can’t be together in my world, can we be together in yours?”

And only once they’re both in the air - the space that reflects the freedom the circus gives them - does Anne allow herself to consider the idea that they could actually be together. Phillip stops waiting for her to stay on the ground with him and puts in the work to be with her, literally scaling the walls of the theater to reach her. In more ways than one, they end up finding a balance and supporting each other’s weight for the rest of the song.

What I’m trying to say is that the choreography in The Greatest Showman is not only absolutely gorgeous, it’s also incredibly deliberate and tells a story through movement and I love it so much. 

Fallen Down

So i completely messed up two of my very important exams this semester, and now i am struggling. I had a very good score the last sem. I am just hoping that i can redeem myself.

“You tell me i am not like most girls and learn to kiss me with your eyes closed something about the phrase—something about how i have to be unlike the women i call sisters in order to be wanted makes me want to spit your tongue out like i am supposed to be proud you picked me as if i should be relieved you think i am better than them”

If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit.

unknown (via love-inspire-universally)

running a studyblr as an adult is so strange. i see kids as young as 13 having breakdowns about grades, isolating themselves from everyone because they don’t quite fit in, not knowing how to deal with very real mental health problems… it’s not my place as someone significantly older than you to try and intervene in your personal life, but i hope you all know that if you ever want advice - about studying, dealing with life, or just which colour to change your blog to - or need someone to listen to you when you’ve had an awful day, my inbox is always open. things will get better for you, and you will be okay, i promise.

the education system wont really be teaching you important shit like this..

so let me be the one to do it…

places that give student discounts

discounts your student id can get you

how to survive college on a budget

how to save money

earn money by simply doing polls

scholarships masterpost

really helpful student loan debt article

college investor website

7 money tips for college students

student loan calculator

what to buy each month of the year

coupon tips

can’t pay your bills?

is your cell phone bill too high?

dont know how to do taxes?

pay off student loans efficiently

budget monitoring website

save your money on cords

how to balance a checkbook

the ultimate guide to saving for retirement

How to Handle Having TOO MUCH To Do

So let’s say you’re in the same boat I am (this is a running theme, have you noticed?) and you’ve just got, like, SO MUCH STUFF that HAS to get done YESTERDAY or you will DIE (or fail/get fired/mope). Everything needs to be done yesterday, you’re sick, and for whatever reason you are focusing on the least important stuff first. What to do!

Take a deep breath, because this is a boot camp in prioritization.

Make a 3 by 4 grid. Make it pretty big. The line above your top row goes like this: Due YESTERDAY - due TOMORROW - due LATER. Along the side, write: Takes 5 min - Takes 30 min - Takes hours - Takes DAYS.

Divide ALL your tasks into one of these squares, based on how much work you still have to do. A thank you note for a present you received two weeks ago? That takes 5 minutes and was due YESTERDAY. Put it in that square. A five page paper that’s due tomorrow? That takes an hour/hours, place it appropriately. Tomorrow’s speech you just need to rehearse? Half an hour, due TOMORROW. Do the same for ALL of your tasks

Your priority goes like this:

5 minutes due YESTERDAY

5 minutes due TOMORROW

Half-hour due YESTERDAY

Half-hour due TOMORROW

Hours due YESTERDAY

Hours due TOMORROW

5 minutes due LATER

Half-hour due LATER

Hours due LATER

DAYS due YESTERDAY

DAYS due TOMORROW

DAYS due LATER

At this point you just go down the list in each section. If something feels especially urgent, for whatever reason - a certain professor is hounding you, you’re especially worried about that speech, whatever - you can bump that up to the top of the entire list. However, going through the list like this is what I find most efficient.

Some people do like to save the 5 minute tasks for kind of a break between longer-running tasks. If that’s what you want to try, go for it! You’re the one studying here.

So that’s how to prioritize. Now, how to actually do shit? That’s where the 20/10 method comes in. It’s simple: do stuff like a stuff-doing FIEND for 20 minutes, then take a ten minute break and do whatever you want. Repeat ad infinitum. It’s how I’ve gotten through my to do list, concussed and everything.

You’ve got this. Get a drink and start - we can do our stuff together!

one of my lecturers printed us a step-by-step guide to writing an essay for an assignment we had. i decided to type it up and share it with you guys. i think for the most part it is really useful and a super simple way to break down your essay. hope this helps :~)

Foolproof Guide to School Success!

Hi! I just finished my first year of college and I definitely have to credit the studyblr community for all the useful information and tips! I currently closed the year with a 4.0 and don’t plan on stopping!

 In high school I was an ok student but I decided to change all that when I started college. So, whether you’re in high school or college, it’s never late to change and attain academic excellence! So here are my tips! 

Try to get an early start on your day and sit closest to the front as possible. Studies show that sitting in the front of class will improve your grades and knowledge! 

A study showed that those who sat in the front achieved an average of 80% while those in the middle achieved an average of 71.6% on their exams. And guess who did even worse.. unfortunately those in the back scored an average of 68.1%

Distractions are decreased because there’s no one sitting in front of you, just the lecture which basically forces you to pay attention.

This increases the likelihood of your professor getting to know you. Why is that important? Well, in an accounting course I once took, I sat in the front, attended extra tutoring sessions hosted by that instructor, and generally put in extra effort in the class. By the end of the semester everyone was really struggling, over 20 students flunked out, and even my tips weren’t getting me to that A I wanted. Well, because I had established who I was and that I was serious about the class, my instructor bumped my final course grade from an 88% to 93%! She said she noticed the effort I put in so she gave me the grade she thought I deserved

Seriously, sit in the front!! 

Ok, now that you have a good spot in the class, make sure you take great notes! The Cornell notes system is great but do whatever works best for you. 

Abbreviate often

Date your notes at the top so you can order them chronologically. This will make studying a breeze later on. 

Find a color coding system that works for you. Highlight main ideas and vocab. 

Find a notebook that works for you. I was lucky enough to score 20 moleskines at my local thrift store at 1 dollar a piece so I’ve been using those. 

If you prefer loose leaf paper, buy a bunch and stick it into a flexible binder so you can organize and reorganize your paper. 

Use post-its and sticky tabs to add extra info that you might have left out during class. Use sticky tabs to find certain notes faster. 

These are some of my favorite note taking supplies:

These Pilot G-Tec pens are some of my favorite pens ever! They are super smooth and the lines are really fine. This 5 pack costs around $11 which is pretty affordable!

Mead notebooks are a classic staple. Seriously these are super durable!

These sticky post-it tab hybrids work really well for marking a page and highlighting important info. 

Mildliners are really nice and the colors are not to bright. A pack runs around $7 and a 3 pack is $15 on Amazon. 

If you want to go the extra mile, retyping up your notes is a great idea. That way your in class notes can be messy and it won’t matter since you’re going to type them up anyway. One Note is awesome for notes. 

I developed my own system for deciding on how I will study and how often I will study. It goes something like this:

Rank your classes in order of difficulty into three sections:

Easy, medium, and hard….

Easy classes get one point

Medium classes get two points

Hard classes get three points 

Is the class math related? ….. add 2 points

Is it science related? …… add 2 points

Is the class a subject that you struggle with? ….. add 3 points

is the class AP? ……… 3 points 

Add up the points for each class. 

Classes with 1-3 points: 

these classes are generally easy and have an easy instructor, contain info you already know, etc. 

These classes get 45 minutes a day in your schedule and minimal studying on weekends. 

Classes with 4-8 points:

These classes might need some more effort so try to…

Set aside an hour a day and 30 minutes on weekends. 

Classes with 9 points and up:

These classes are usually more intense, have daily assignments, have a strict instructor, etc. 

Set 2 hours a day and an hour or more on weekends. Consider going to free tutoring provided by your school, join a study group, or go to your instructor’s office hours. 

Plan your months, weeks, and days in advance! Keep a planner, calendar, or bullet journal. I personally use a bullet journal and keep a calendar printable in each binder I have for my classes. 

Include due dates, exam dates, when your rentals are due, etc. 

Look at it everyday!!! That way you won’t forget important events. 

If you want to, make it pretty! Decorate it with stickers, pictures, polaroids, etc. to make it more personal.

If you prefer minimalism, keep a simple planner or bullet journal system.

If an electronic system works better for you, go for it! But I’ve noticed that writing it on paper works best! 

Here are some great planners or journals to use:

Moleskines are always a great choice! 

This hardcover Yoobi journal is comparable to the Moleskine and comes in pretty colors! The price is awesome, each one runs at $6! 

Bando makes super pretty and trendy planners. They run from $20 and can get pricey though. It’s definitely worth it though!

This Sugar Paper gold polka dot planner is really cute and super affordable!

The AT-A-GLANCE planner has a monthly view and daily sections with plenty of room for writing in important dates and decorating with cute stuff! 

Kikki K has amazing planners. If you want to splurge consider their stuff. I’ve always wanted one but it’s around the price of a textbook :( 

While Studyblr has so many resources and tips, in case you haven’t noticed, a lot of the pretty pictures use muji pens, staedtler fineliners, and those cute lil’ backpacks. Remember that you have to use supplies that work with you. Here are the essentials to carry with you:

Notebooks and binders

A sturdy and comfy backpack. I use the Borealis backpack by The North Face on discount. Make sure it has comfortable straps, back support, enough room for all your stuff, and compartments for your food and water bottle. 

A phone charger. Keep it in your backpack. My phone has died on me so many times and it sucks, especially if you have to take the bus. Invest in a portable charger.

Earbuds are a must, especially if you take public transportation. Also great for when you’re at the library, gym, etc.

As previously mentioned, a water bottle and FOOD! Pack a lunch but also have backup snacks like granola bars or nuts. You need food and water for energy.  

Keep extra change. You never know when you need it!! 

Your planner. 

Pens, pencils, etc. Especially a stapler if you have homework that you regularly turn in!! Its really awk when someone doesn’t have a stapler and everyone in the class doesn’t either..

A laptop, seriously a must! Chromebooks are affordable! 

Hope that’s helpful! Looking forward to another year in college and staying in the Studyblr community,

Thania