21.05.2018 Practicing Informatics For My Exam, It’s Not Really Hard, But I’m So Tired Ahaha, Have

10/14/18

This weekend is fall break and most of the campus went home, but I chose to stay back and catch up /work ahead and I’m glad I did. I’ve been sleeping in, doing things at a relaxed pace, and making sure i have time to eat and even workout! I feel so much more at peace already.

Today I have a long ass to do list, but the only way to get it done is to start. Here we go!

Season 4 will hurt but I am all ready for the pain.

the greatest skill a woman can learn for herself is self reliance

Habits of successful students

Discipline: “discipline is doing what needs to be done, even when you don’t want to”, which means that you have to force yourself to start doing things. 

Concentration: when you make a real effort in your work (study, homeworks etc…) you will be more likely to actually focus, understand and learn. 

Organization: always set tasks and goals and organize a study-schedule. Maybe you don’t really want to plan all the week, but if you just wake up and open your agenda/bullet journal/iphone calendar and write down all the things you have to do, setting due dates and deadlines, you’ll feel more conscious and encouraged to stay on track. 

Tasks-splitting: sometimes, you write down your tasks. Some of these tasks may be very hard and complicated, and it will take a long long time to complete them. So, you can split them in smaller tasks, so you will feel satisfied after a shorter period of time, instead of studying for hours and still seeing that chapter undone on your study-schedule. 

Watch the sunrise: when I wake up late, I feel like I don’t have enought time to do my work and lose my motivation. I literally panic and then I think “whatever, I could not complete all the things anyway”. So, if you wake up earlier you will feel more positive and  controlled. 

Smart reading: try not to read your textbook just like a newspaper. For every paragraph you read, try to underline and write down key words and then your question about that subject. Literally, turn your textbook into questions. If you write down question - particularly why…? - and think about the answer, you will be more likely to remember that stuff later. 

Healthy lifestile: if you don’t drink enough water in the morning, you will be more likely to have a decrease of concentration in the afternoon/evening, so: stay hydrated. Try also to have some snaks every one-two hours: feed your brain. 

Nothing will ruin your 20’s more than thinking you should have your life together already.

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 write a bomb ass personal statement

I’ve had a few asks about how to write - as one of you put it - a bomb ass personal statement. I’m a bit reluctant to write this, seeing as I haven’t actually got an interview/offer yet! But I guess it might be helpful to those of you applying around now :)

HOW TO START

Bullet point what you want to include - I suggest listing out what you want to include. It’s a good idea to do this at the beginning, to make sure you don’t leave anything out; and it can help form the basic structure of your statement.

Do not start at the start - this is one of the most important things I learnt when writing mine. It is so hard to write that first sentence - so just leave it until the end, and begin writing with the actual content, something you’re more comfortable writing about.

When you do get down to writing that first sentence - do not start with a cheesy quote or the typical “I have always bee passionate about…” as these are things that can immediately put off an admissions tutor. Try and be original, or just simple: “I want to study X because…”

THE CONTENT

Just keep writing - don’t worry about the 4,000 character and 47 line limits. Literally just write, and keep going, even if you think what you’re writing is bad - just get all your ideas out there, and put down everything you would want to include. It’s so much easier to take things out rather than adding things in. My personal statement was around 8,000 characters at one point!`

Get the balance right - different unis want different things from personal statements, so check their websites to make sure you’re getting in what they want. You need to get the balance of intellectual curiosity/passion for the subject with your personal qualities and extra-curriculars. 

Back up everything with evidence - don’t just say you are great at working in a team, give examples that demonstrate that you have worked well in successful teams in the past.What to include?

WHAT TO INCLUDE

Why you want to study that particular course

Why you are the right person to study the course

Extra things you have done to show commitment or interest about the course - volunteering, subscriptions to journals, further reading etc.

Any relevant work experience

Any relevant awards you’ve won (e.g. maths challenge or physics olympiad) or responsibilities within the school (e.g. prefect or house captain)

Demonstrate desirable skills for your course - problem solving, teamwork, leadership etc.

WHAT NOT TO INCLUDE

Cliches - like “Ever since I was born I have wanted to study…”

Quotes - this is a personal statement, so don’t start quoting other people! Plus way too many people do this to make it original.

Jokes - it may be that the person reading your statement has a very different sense of humour than you do.

Really long sentences - you want your personal statement to be as easy as possible to read, and long confusing sentences won’t help that.

Repetition - it’s such a short document, you don’t have space for this. Plus it gets boring!

Names of unis - the unis you apply to have no idea where else you have applied, so don’t name any of them in your statement.

THE ENDING

Do not end on a cheesy quote or joke. Just sum up why you’d be a great candidate and reinforce what you have told them throughout the main body of the statement - that you’re fabulous!

Once you have finished a draft you can start trying to cut down on the word count. Maybe ask a teacher to look at your spelling/grammar, and you can always get your friends’ opinions too, on what should come out, and what should be kept in. Make sure you don’t let other people have too much influence - it has to be a personal statement!

Last exam remaining, but I am already acting like it's over 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!