Difficult Classes - Tips

None of my teachers, with exception of my Latin teacher, collected any problems done from the end of chapters (even if they assigned them or even just recommended them). However, I truly believe that some of my most difficult classes were so difficult because I lacked the motivation to do the problems.

So do yourself a favor when you run into those horrible "weed out" classes and do the problems at the end of each chapter, or even go to the resource centers for your department to get hold of old quizzes or exams and use those about 60% (the other 40% being your own homework assignments and questions from the back of the book) in preparation for an exam.

Re-writing your notes is always a good idea too, but only if you can better absorb. Other methods that I employed included pretending to teach someone else the concept (lame, but it worked) and mnemonics devices.

Study groups aren't always great (e.g. my AP Chemistry group was mostly for Colts games and pizza), but if you can find people who want to work just as hard as you do (and with whom you can get along easily), go for it.

If you have any other suggestions, please comment! :)

DropBox

Sign up at Dropbox.com to get 2 GB free of storage. I wish that this had been around while I was in college because I would have used it - majorly. Instead of keeping your files separate on your computer/laptop and your profile on the school server (in which you probably have to use a VPN in order to access it), store ALL your files on DROPBOX.

Just to let you know, by clicking that link you will add 250 MB to my 2 GB base. I'm not saying you have to do it, but I would appreciate. If you share with multiple people, you will be eligible for gains as well.

I've also shared my collection of recipes with multiple people and used this website to back up important files that I don't want to lose (like I lost all my pictures from Singapore...).

I think that this will save you a lot of stress and be a great tool for sharing resources among classmates/teams/friends.

Good luck!

Taking Classes to Boost Your GPA

I know that I've mentioned that taking easy classes (like Introduction to Sociology or Introduction to Political Science) will help boost your grade, but there is another element of surprise that you can employ in order to boost your GPA even more. It's called taking hard classes to boost your GPA.

If you come from an average high school and didn't do as well in English class as you hoped, do not enroll yourself into an English class that is killer. If you did extremely well in physics however, even though there is a lab and four credit hours, you can take these MAJOR GPA boosters and laugh while the other people cower at the sight of you.

Chemistry 116 is the death of many people who aspire to be engineers, biologists, chemists, pharmacists, doctors, researchers, and veterinarians. At least, at Purdue. I had taken 2 years of Chemistry before going to Purdue. Even though I was forced into taking a chemistry class by my no-good medical school advisor, ultimately, people bowed to me as I passed them because I had gotten that A in a four hour lab during the summer, when it is most intensive (but not so much).

Last time: If you did well in high school in a particular subject, consider taking a class (even if unnecessary) so that it will boost your GPA.

However, if you realize that you are over your limit, get out of there ASAP!!!!!!! A "W" for withdrawl looks better than a D or an F.

The only withdrawl I had on my record was when I had to technically withdraw from French 101 in order to go to French 202. Apparently if you know salutations, the alphabet, and your numbers, you can go to 200-level courses. Cake.

Saving Documents on the Computer

It's Finals Week at Indiana University right now, and sometimes professors are awesome (and yet, horrible) and tell you to write a long paper (or two) instead of putting you through a grueling test (that in the past, most people have failed).  It's good.

However, [as I have mentioned before, procrastinate WISELY] there are hard lessons to learn.

This may be common sense, but it is very important that you:

Save all your documents to a real folder.

If you don't know, most University computers' memories are wiped out every night. Sometimes you will find a file belonging to someone who has used the computer before you on the desktop. In my experience, you will have your personal storage space within the University's computer system (something like an H: drive), but if you save to the physical computer's harddrive, you can kiss that paper that you've been working on for thirty hours GOOD BYE. If you just save without making sure that you are saving it to the appropriate drive, you will be filled with frustration, searching-frantically-mania, sadness, anger, and frustration again (in this order) [ending in either a FAIL from a class, or a CHANCE AT A SECOND LIFE if your professor is kind and generous (this is rare, unless you are a small Asian girl)].

And if you want to be really smart, keep a soft copy of all your documents in your e-mail (in Gmail, you don't have to send it; you can just attach it to a draft which you delete later after all is done with that particular draft).

Druggie Roommate Problems

If your roommate is doing something illegal, talk to your RA, who will either handle it him/herself or alert the Staff Resident about it.

I know a girl who had a roommate that did coke and smoked marijuana all the time. The Resident Assistant was alerted, who in turn alerted the Staff Resident. The police told her to call them whenever there is hard evidence that her roommate has been snorting.

From what I know, I think she is snorting off the toilet seats because she goes to the bathroom. It's atrocious. She's crazy.

Since I know that the police have already been alerted, I won't do anything else. However, I hope that girl gets in A LOT OF TROUBLE. I don't know if it's considered spiteful if people get the punishment they deserve, but if it is, I AM SPITEFUL!

If you don't report it to the police, something else happens, like your roommate puts his/her stash in your room, and when the cops raid your place, you get arrested too. Keep that in mind.

Try your best to avoid all nighters

My friend B. told me that he accidentally pulled an all nighter just two days ago. I shook my head and reminded myself to post about it. He told me that he was studying for Inorganic Chemistry until 4 AM and after 2 more hours of playing video games (boys will be boys), he looked at the clock and finally went to bed and woke up at 11 AM. Nice work, but you're not getting enough sleep (naughty!).

All nighters usually mean that you're typing up a paper due the next day (or a few hours later...at 8:30 AM) or studying like crazy. Try to manage your time a TINY bit better to avoid be cranky and running on Red Bull/Coffee/Ritalin/Chocolate(??? j/k)/etc. By the way, illegal means of staying up is never a good idea. And do I even need to repeat that you should avoid anything illegal? I'll say it again: AVOID ILLEGAL THINGS.

OK anyways, your body will be quite upset with you, and lack of sleep leads to a weakened immune system, crankiness, and bags under your eyes. No one wants to be near you (let alone smell you).

Just use your time wisely, and if you have a big 30 page paper to write, try to space it over a few days or at least dedicate an entire day (that is not RIGHT before the due date) to hammering it out. Most of my Saturdays while everyone is recovering from hang overs (or other things, I suppose) was spent being a good girl and earning my A's. Booyeah! Ok fine, A's and B's. I hate you.

By the way, pulling an all nighter usually means academically-related stress due to procrastination. If you spend the entire night playing DOTA or Halo 3 and are grumpy the next day, no one is going to feel sorry for you. One of my ex-boyfriends plays video games enough that it affects his school work. Use your common sense!! If you don't have any, get someone to smack you and then ask for advice.

Grocery Shopping

Most people don't face the task of going grocery shopping until after their freshman year, but just in case, I will make a post about it for everyone. :)

I used to live in the backyard of Wal-Mart, which is a one-to-one parts blessing and curse. Things were just a quick 3 minute drive away, and that was awesome.

I remember this HUGE guy behind the checkout counter, who was busy eying my purchases. I told him, sheepishly, that you probably shouldn't EVER go grocery shopping while you're hungry (and a small Asian). He laughed, and I laughed. But at the end of the day, Wal-Mart had the last laugh. I easily spent $100 every time I went there. *blush*

Lesson #1: Do not go grocery shopping when you are hungry.

Lesson #2: Try to make a grocery list around the refrigerator to stop from impulse buying.

Lesson #3: Try to coordinate with your roommates (provided that you share your food) because you could save money. Food is surprisingly expensive.

Lesson #4: Last but not least, try to resist the gravitational forces pulling you to the soda and chips aisles. Stay in the fresh produce, dairy and cereal sections. Cereal is going to quickly become your best friend (except for my friend B because he is too picky -_-;;;).