Balancing High School and Part –Time Work Part 3

Balancing High School and Part –Time Work

Part 3

Brad MacGowan, of the Career Center at Newton North High School in Massachusetts, thinks that working can be a valuable part of a student’s life, if taken on responsibly. “You can derive a great deal from working, considerably more than just money,” he says. “In most cases, you can acquire a nice dose of discipline and a whole new set of skills and experiences.” In addition, your supervisor may be willing to write a strong college recommendation for you.

School Comes First

Schoolwork, including homework and studying for tests, should always be your top priority. MacGowan cautions students who do decide to work, “If you are rushing through your assignments ... or not studying enough for tests because of work, it’s time to cut back or quit and find a less time-consuming job.”

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Selecting Your Courses Part 6

Selecting Your Courses

Part 6

Success in AP can also help you in other ways. AP helps you stand out in the admission process and offers the opportunity to learn from some of the most inspiring teachers in the world. Learn more about the AP Program.

For More Help in Choosing Courses

Use College Search to look up a specific college’s academic requirements to be sure you are on track to attend the college of your choice.

If you have concerns about your class schedule or progress in school, set up a meeting with your school counselor, teacher or adviser. There are many resources to help you with this process and with achieving your personal, college and career goals. Without goals, you meander all sorts of directions. Goals give you purpose, direction, enthusiasm, and passion for that which you really desire. Define your goals deliberately, evaluate your goals often and make changes as necessary, work hard to achieve your goals, and continue working hard until you actually do reach your goals.

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Selecting Your Courses Part 5

Selecting Your Courses

Part 5

The Arts

Research indicates that students who participate in the arts often do better in school and on standardized tests. The arts help you recognize patterns, discern differences and similarities, and exercise your mind in unique ways, often outside a traditional classroom setting.

Many colleges require or recommend one or two semesters in the arts. Good choices include studio art, dance, music, and drama. Many students have talents and extraordinary abilities in the arts. Students should look within their own repertoire of talents and identify their artistic abilities and take college classes to develop their talents.

Advanced Placement ProgramⓇ (APⓇ)

To be sure you are ready to take on college-level work, enroll in the most challenging courses you can in high school, such as honors or AP courses. Research consistently shows that students who score a 3.0 or higher on an AP Exam typically experience greater academic success and college graduation rates than students who don’t take AP.

Work hard in your righteous pursuits, and you will reap the benefits of self-fulfillment and job satisfaction. Don’t make shortcuts just to “get by,” instead, take challenging and difficult roads (courses) and reach higher mountain peaks of achievement.

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Selecting Your Courses Part 4

Selecting Your Courses

Part 4

Social Studies

You can better understand local and world events that are happening now by studying the culture and history that has shaped them. Here is a suggested course plan:

·      U.S. history (two semesters)

·      U.S. government (one semester)

·      One additional semester in the above or other areas

Foreign Languages

Solid foreign language study show colleges you’re willing to stretch beyond the basics. Many colleges require at least two years of study in the same foreign language, and some prefer more.

Learning a foreign language can be a challenge but is exciting. Repetition is the key to learning a language, and having conversations with other speaking the same language is the best way to learn this new language. Repetition in a fun way will build your skills thoroughly as you seek to master new languages.

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Selecting Your Courses Part 3

Selecting Your Courses

Part 3

Science

Science teaches you to think analytically and apply theories to reality. Colleges want to see that you’ve taken at least three years of laboratory science classes. A good combination includes two semesters of each of the following sciences:

·      Biology

·      Chemistry or physics

·      Earth/space science

More competitive schools expect you to take four years of lab science courses. You can add two semesters in one of the following subjects:

·      Chemistry or physics (the science you didn’t already study)

·      Advanced  biology

·      Advanced chemistry

·      Advanced physics

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Selecting Your Courses Part 2

Selecting Your Courses

Part 2

The following subjects and classes are standard fare for success in high school and beyond, whether you plan to attend a four-year or two-year college.

English (Language Arts)

Take English every year. Traditional courses, such as American and English literature, help you improve your writing skills, reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Math

You need algebra and geometry to succeed on college entrance exams and in college math classes—and in many careers. Take them early on. That way, you’ll be able to enroll in advanced science and math in high school, and show colleges you’re ready for higher-level work.

Most colleges look for students who have taken three years of math in high school. The more competitive ones require or recommend four years. Each school has its own program, but some of the courses typically offered are:

·       Algebra I

·       Algebra II

·       Geometry

·       Trigonometry

·       Calculus

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Successful Students 9

Successful Students

9

9… don’t cram for exams. Successful students know that divided periods of study are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.

If there is one thing that study skills specialists agree on, it is that distributed study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch efforts known as cramming. you’ll learn more, remember more, and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-s-night sessions on Friday’s exam than studying for four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end repeating it over and over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not too clever, huh?

When you cram, you are taking the shortcut, and shortcuts never produce any real worthwhile results. Also, when you take shortcuts, you feel rather rotten knowing that you could have done better but didn’t. Shortcuts cut you short. You can’t plant watermelon seeds and harvest fresh watermelons the next day. It takes time. Cramming for a test or project and expecting to make a high score the next day is like planting watermelon seeds and expecting to harvest and eat fresh watermelon the next day. Plus cramming for a test or project doesn’t help you academically, so why even do it. Plan ahead, prepare ahead. Give yourself plenty of days and weeks to prepare for upcoming accountability opportunities.

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Successful Students 1-2

Successful Students

1-2

Successful students exhibit a combination of successful attitudes and behaviors as well as intellectual capacity. Successful students… 1… are responsible and active. Successful students get involved in their studies, accept responsibility for their own education, and are active participants in it! Responsibility means control. It’s the difference between leading and being lead. Your own efforts control your grade, you earn the glory or deserve the blame, you make the choice. Active classroom participation improves grades without increasing study time. You can sit there, act bored, daydream, or sleep. Or, you can actively listen, think, question, and take notes like someone in charge of their learning experience. Either option cost one class period. However, the former method will require a large degree of additional work outside of class to achieve the same degree of learning the latter provides at one sitting. The choice is yours.

2… have educational goals. Successful students have legitimate goals and are motivated by what they represent in terms of career aspirations and life’s desires.

Ask yourself these questions: What am I doing here? Why have I chosen to be sitting here now? Is there some better place I could be? What does my presence here mean to me? Answers to these questions represent your “Hot Buttons” and are, without a doubt, the most important factors in your success as a college student. If your educational goals are truly yours, not someone else’s, they will motivate a vital and positive academic attitude. If you are familiar with what these hot buttons represent and refer to them often, especially when you are tired of being a student, nothing can stop you; if you aren’t and don’t, everything can, and will!

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I Will Persist Until I Succeed Part 1

I Will Persist Until I Succeed

Part 1

Heather A.’s Academic Success Story

In high school, I didn’t study as much in groups as I do in college. I feel I learn better when I can teach other people information and we can exchange notes taken in class because other students pick up on more information than others.

My overall study method: I prefer to study in small groups and practice problems where I can work out the methods verbally with others. My test study method: I have very different techniques. For financial tests, I try to work on problems given in class as well as problems from power points and homework. When it comes to marketing classes, I review my notes and try to make diagrams to describe different processes.

My time management secret: One of my biggest secrets is to look over the information that you just learned when class is over. After reviewing the information, it sticks a little bit better than waiting until the night before the test.

How I deal with multiple projects/tests: I try to work on whatever has the shortest deadline and work form there. My overall study method: I tend to do massive studying blocks of about an hour or so in order to really learn the material.

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