Grades are Posted – Now What??

Now that you have your semester grades, what’s next?

If you are happy with your grades:

• Think about what you did well this semester.
• What did you do in your classes and when studying to be successful?
• Is there anything you didn’t do but should have?
• (This would be an appropriate time to make a list and pack it with your next semester belongings!)
• How can you transfer those same work and study habits to the next semester?
• What courses are you taking next semester?  Which ones will be more challenging?  What can you do to be successful in those classes?
• Enjoy some well-deserved relaxation time!

If you are NOT happy with your grades:

• What went wrong?   (Don’t entirely blame others – what was your responsibility?)
• What could you have done differently?
• (Again – consider making a list and putting it where you will find it next semester.)
• What can you do to fix things?   (Maybe change your next semester schedule and add a D/F repeat?)
• Review your goals.  Why do you want to go to college?  What sacrifices are you willing to make to be successful in your future classes?  
• Take some time to renew your goals and your determination to be successful!

This is the perfect time to reflect and review.  Then resolve to do well or even better next semester!

‘Twas the week before finals and all through the dorms….

One week of classes and then finals’ week.  What should you do to have a successful end of the semester?

Check your finals schedule.  At most institutions it is different than the weekly class schedule.  (While you are at it, double check the location.)  Keep in mind that many professors will not remind you, they expect that you will find this information yourself.

Know the following information for each exam:

Information to be covered

Type of exam – essay, multiple choice, short answer, combination

What your estimated grade is going into the exam?  If you are on the border between two grades, that will motivate you to put extra effort into that course.

Plan your study schedule.  Start to prepare NOW.  This is not the weekend to relax – this weekend is important to be sure that you are ready for each exam.

Study for each exam several days in advance.  Remember that learning needs to be spread out and given time to consolidate in your long-term memory.   This means that you will be studying several subjects in one day, but that is fine. 

As you study in depth, make review charts for each subject with the important information and sub-points included.   As you go along, these then will become your major study material with the option of going back into the book or notes to review the minor details.

The last subject you should study each night is the first exam you have the next day. 

Be sure to take the supplies you need to the exam – several pens, pencils, book or notes if the exam is open book.

There will be a policy at your school about what to do if you have too many exams in one day.  At my university students don’t have to take more than 3 in one day.  There are procedures in place identifying which professor must make accommodations.

Work hard and good luck!!  You can do it!!

Strategies for Multiple Choice Exams

As I stated in the last post, there is no substitute for studying and knowing the correct answer.   But having some test-taking strategies definitely can help.  Here are some tips:

• Read the prompt carefully.  Be sure you know what it is asking.

• It does not work to think that you will “recognize” the answer for several reasons:

·    The information will be worded differently than your lecture notes and the textbook.  It also probably will be in a different order than your lecture notes.

·        There are almost no “give away” answer options.  All of the possible answers  are from somewhere in the unit, they just do not pertain to the question you are answering.

• Read ALL of the options before making a choice.  There may be several possibilities, but you want the BEST one.

• Use process of elimination. 

• Be careful and slow down if the prompt has the word NOT or EXCEPT.  This changes the question.  In some cases you are now looking for the WRONG answer.

• The old adage of “when in doubt chose C” does not work.  The professors have heard it also.

• Sometimes it is true that the longest answer is the correct one.

• Be sure the answer grammatically fits with the prompt.

• If you do not know an answer, you can skip it and keep the question in your mind.  It is very possible that a wrong answer later on will trigger your memory for the correct answer to the one you skipped.  (Just be careful to be on the correct number on the scantron sheet.   Getting off my one number is disastrous!!)

Good luck!  But remember - hard work beats luck!!!