Selecting Your Courses

Selecting Your Courses

Part 5

The Art

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 college-level work, enroll in the most challenging courses you can in high school, such as honors or AP courses. Research consistently shows that student who score a 3.0 or higher on a 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 a job satisfaction. Don’t take shortcuts just to “get by”, instead, take challenging and difficult roads (courses) and reach higher mountain peaks of achievement.

Choose the right !!!

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 semesters 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 subject:

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

·         Advanced biology

·         Advanced chemistry

·         Advanced physics

Choose the right !!

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 competivie 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

Choose the right  .

Selecting Your Courses Recommended Classes for college Success

Selecting Your Courses

Recommended Classes for college Success

Part 1

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/33.html

The academic rigor of your high school courses is an important factor in the college admission officers sees your high school course schedule as a blueprint of your education. They’re looking for a solid foundation of learning that you can build on in college

To create that foundation, take at least five solid academic classes every semester. Start with the basics and then move on to advanced courses. Challenging yourself is part of what makes school fun; but you need a firm grasp of the fundaments before going on to more advance work.

Choose the right .

The Power of Study Groups

The Power of Study Groups

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/50432.html

Part 4

Getting the Most Out of a Session

Here are some tips to help your group get the most out of each study session:

·         Decide what you’re going to do in advance.

·         Prepare for the session, so you can make the most of your time together.

·         Take turns teaching, to reinforce your own knowledge.

·         Stick to the session topic.

By supplementing your individual study with a study group, you can reinforce what you’ve learned, deepen your understanding of complex concepts, and maybe even make a few new friends.

Remember that a friend is a person who encourages you to do your best and to achieve on a high level, one who pushes you to try a little harder and be a litter better. If someone pulls you down the wrong trails of life, then those people are not friends, (they are actually your enemies), and you must avoid them at all cost. Whoever said learning can’t be fun? Learning is enjoyable and exciting when you study with others.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!

The Power of Study Group (Part 3)

The Power of Study Group

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/50432.html

Part 3

Guidelines for Getting a Group Together

Here are some guidelines for creating and running a study group: How many?

 Create a group of four to six people. In a larger group, its easy for someone to get left out and smaller groups can too easily get of track.

Who ? 

Pick classmates who seem to share your interest in doing well academically. Look for people who stay alert in class, take notes, ask questions and respond to the teachers questions. Include someone who understand the material better than you and can explain the concepts and someone who dosnt understand it as well, to whom you can explain the material.

Where ? 

Hold study group sessions in a place that is free of distractions and that has room to spread out books and notes.

How long?

 Meet for no more than two to three hours at a time. Having a time limit helps the group focus. If you know you only have an hour, you’re more likely to stay on task.

When? 

Try to meet regularly, on the same day and time each week. Treating the study session as you would other activities helps you to keep to a schedule and ensures that everyone attends. 

Choose the right !!

The Power of Study Groups (Part 2)

The Power of Study Groups

(Part 2)

The Benefits of Study Groups

Group study offers other advantages in addition to gaining a deeper understanding of class material. These include the opportunity to : Reinforce note – taking. If your AP Biology notes are unclear, you can ask a member of your study group to help you fill the gaps. Share talents. Each Person brings different strength . Cover more ground. Group members may be able to solve a calculus problem together that none would have solved alone. Benefit from a support system. Members often have common goals, such as good grades. Each person’s work affects the other members, which results in making members supportive of one another. Socialize. Its more fun to study with others; the give –and-take makes it more interesting. And because its more fun, you spend more time study!

Choose the right!!

How to Take on College Studying (part 3)

How to Take on College Studying

Part 3

Do the Reading.

You need to do more than just read the chapters you are assigned---you're expected to understand them thoroughly. Here are some tips:

·         Don’t skim. Read all the material carefully.

·         Break up difficult assignments into sections you can digest--- chapter, subsections or even paragraphs,

·         Look up any words that you don’t understand.

·         Pause to think about whether you understand the material ; ask questions in class about anything that is unclear.

·         Take notes instead of highlighting--- this makes you think through and rephrase the key points.

·         Create a summary sheet of what you learned from each assignment you read.

Choose the right!!

How to Take on College Studying (Part 2)

How to Take on College Studying

Part 2

http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/school/studying.html

Choose where to study

Where you should study depend in two factors: the environment in which you are best able to concentrate and the type of work you are planning to do.

·         The best place to study have good light, a comfortable temperature and enough dark space-usually your dorm room, your apartment or the library.

·         For completing problems sets or brainstorming possible test questions, you may want to study with a group or at least in a setting where fellow students are available for discussion.

·         When you are reading book chapters or working on a research paper, you are probably better off in a less social environment.

Improving Your Study Habits

Here are simple steps you can take to help you get a handle on studying:

·         Have a routine for where and when you study.

·         Choose reasonable and specific goals that you can accomplish for each study session.

·         Do things that are harder or require more intense though at your most productive time of the day.

·         Take breaks if you need them so you don’t waste time looking at material but not absorbing it.

·         Get to know students whom you respect and can study with or contact to ask question.

·         Keep up with the workload and seek help when you need it.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!

Tip From College Students

Tip From College Students

Tips for High School Students to prepare for College.

1.       Be prepared to do a lot of reading in college .

2.       Learn time management: use a calendar and plan how to use your time. Learn learn to manage your time while still in high school, keep a calendar of all exams and paper due dates.

3.       One of the biggest transition between high school and collage is development of time management skills-students must learn to balance school and social life.

4.       Be prepared to discipline yourself , as the temptation to slack could be great. If you miss 4-5 classes in a semester you may not make it through the semester, you may not make it through the semester successfully.

5.       Being sick affects your ability to be a student- and remember that community living contributes to the cold/flu season.

6.       Learn to read- summarize and outline  reading.

7.       Learn to take notes in class.

8.       Learn to study

9.       Start the collage and scholarship search as early as possible.

10.   Take as many science, math , English , and foreign language courses as you can: they build a foundation for collage.

11.   Participate I volunteer and community service programs. It helps with schoolarships!

12.   Take advanatage of the advanced classes offered in high school.

13.   Thinking about what characteristics in a university are of most importance to you (climate, enviorment, degrees offered, size, location, etc.) before making a final decision about attending college. Visit them if possible.

Advice from University of Portland Students

1.       “ I think the most important thing to let high school students know is not to overlook anything. When I was in high school I often asked myself, “Why do I need to know this?” then if I didn’t think it was pertinent , I wouldn’t bother to study it. But in college, all those seemingly unneeded tools come together in the real life (e.g.: finding an intersection of those two lines in algebra is later important in cost/revenue calculations.) In the way of classes learning to read and write well is very important. The focus should be on the format and clarifying ideas in writing, and being able to pick out the important parts of writing (the testable facts). Volunteering and joining clubs are important to get into the collage of your choice.”

2.       “ I’d advise the students to take as much math as they can in high school and to take as many classes as they can in field that they’re interested in. For example , if you are