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reposting as ap szn is upon us

ap spanish lang: a guide

hey y’all! this next post in my “back to school” series is all about ap spanish. now to be honest, this was the hardest subject for me last year, but here are some tips and tricks to help you get through the class (and exam if you are reading this in may!)

general class tips

PRACTICE THE FRQs: Do as many emails, persuasive essays, conversations, and presentations throughout the year so you know how to do them on exam day. I would stress the email, conversation, and presentation more than the essay just because the essay is the same thing you would do in your english class but in spanish ;)

LEARN ABOUT SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES: This is so important for the presentation part of the AP. The way my class did it, everyone learned about Spain and we all did in class presentations on a specific country.

PRACTICE THE MULTIPLE CHOICE: i am not going to lie, i did not practice the multiple choice until  April and I had to cram study. Try to do one a week starting in January so you don’t end up like me lol.

DON’T STRESS THE VOCAB, BUT DO STRESS THE GRAMMAR: there are going to be words you don’t know on the ap exam. that’s ok, you can gain the definition from reading the context and circumlocate in your writing. but grammar is EXTREMELY important. In all the FRQs, they will grade heavily on grammar so be sure to freshen up on that.

resources i used

ap central

listening practice

practice for all the sections of the exam

albert.io practice

sample barron’s test

exam day tips

just like ap us, i will definitely post a whole thing closer to the exam next year, but here are some things to remember

BRING SNACKS AND A WATER BOTTLE! this test is 3+ hours. make sure you have eaten and slept before you go to the exam

ON THE READING MULTIPLE CHOICE: take your time and read carefully. there is always an email, pamphlet, prose, and data w/ article reading. pick your strongest to do first and do your weakest last.

ON THE LISTENING MULTIPLE CHOICE: gonna be honest, the audio quality is so bad on the test (especially if you take it in a gym), so just trust your gut, answer as many as you can after the first listening and then try to absorb more from the second. if you don’t understand anything, take a guess from the general gist of the audio. also, if you finish a prompt early, go back and check the reading/listening prompts so you can maximize your points

ON THE EMAIL FRQ: use this canned intro to impress the readers (not gonna lie, an actual lifesaver): quisiera darle las gracias por haberme escrito este correo. don’t forget to ask a question!

ON THE ESSAY FRQ: write it just like you would in english and use all the sources!

ON THE CONVERSATION: use the subjunctive whenever possible and do what the prompts tell you to do.

ON THE PRESENTATION: make sure you have a watch to time your 2 minutes. pick a country you feel comfortable talking about. you can kinda bs it, but don’t make blatantly wrong statements :)

best of luck to everyone taking ap spanish lang next year! let me know if you need any advice. get that pan!

[studystarss]

reposting as ap szn is upon us

apush: a guide

hey y’all! school is just around the corner and I have decided to post a couple of tips for some of the classes i have taken in the past. this first one is going to be about apush because i did a lot to study for it and i also loved the subject!

general class tips

TAKE NOTES! TAKE NOTES! TAKE NOTES! Whether it’s on lectures or textbook readings, be sure you have a good system of note taking that is organized. The easier your notes are to read, the easier it is to study the material you learned in september for the may exam

PRACTICE WRITING! my apush course was very writing heavy, and that really helped me on the exam. make sure you take advantage of improving your essay writing skills and take criticism and improve upon it

IT IS NOT ONLY ABOUT THE TERMS! the apush exam is very analysis based. so while it is nice to know a lot of terms to throw into your DBQs, SAQs, and LEQs, make sure you can analyze them. a great way to focus on the analysis is to read HISTORIOGRAPHIES. essentially, these are nice long essays that show different perspectives of history and are a great way to improve your analysis skills.

resources i used

ap central (lots of FRQ practice)

gilder lehrman (lots of historiographies and review sheets)

chapter outlines

cram packet (made by yours truly!!!)

khan academy

practice questions (lots of chapter quizzes linked here)

dbq guide

review packet

a sweet quizlet

review guides from tumblr

exam day tips

i’ll probably post a whole separate thing closer to the exam next year (lol it is a bit early!) but here are just a few things to remember

BRING SNACKS AND A WATER BOTTLE! this test is 3+ hours. make sure you have eaten and slept before you go to the exam

ON THE MULTIPLE CHOICE: remember it is mainly analysis based. don’t overthink anything and derive your information from what is given. again, it may help to study terms, but ultimately the analysis is what helps on this section

ON THE SHORT ANSWER: you do not have to fill up the entire page! make sure that you answer each part of the question (you can divide it out by A. B. and C.) and remember to analyze what is given. this is the section where the terms you study will play in, so make sure to toss the ones you know in

ON THE DBQ: this is the hardest section for everyone. answer the question before you read the documents and then figure out where they play a role in your arguments (at least that helped me). don’t forget to include POV, it can be as simple as saying “this person was conservative” or “he started this thing during this time”. you got this!

ON THE LEQ: phew! the final section. don’t give up! answer the question you can easily form an argument with. often times the essays on earlier time periods are less specific and easier to answer (my teacher told me this). this is another section where it is essential you have terms and analysis.

best of luck to everyone taking apush next year! let me know if you need any advice. get that made in the usa bread!!

[studystarss]

reposting as ap szn is upon us

ap bio: a guide

hey everyone! i am back with another subject master post, this time on ap bio. i took ap biology because i loved the non-ap class and because i was excited about the subject, so here are some tips and tricks to survive

general class tips

TAKE LOTS OF NOTES: one of the best decisions i made was to take notes online then rewrite them in a little notebook before tests. it helped me review the content  while also compiling information before the ap test

PRACTICE THOSE FRQs: we had frqs on every test within the class and it helped a lot for the ap. my teacher also made us do an frq a week before the exam. overall: just practice them so you know how to apply theories and concepts to questions

KNOW GENERAL SCIENCE SKILLS: as boring as it seems, make sure you know the scientific method and how to graph. they are so important for the test and show up much more than you think.

USE OUTSIDE SOURCES: use khan academy, use bbc bitesize, use a princeton review book. they are all really great ways to quiz yourself before tests in class and also the ap. they also help re-outline concepts if you do not understand them. speaking of which…

resources i used

ap central

question bank (for igcse, but equally as helpful)

khan academy

bbc bitesize (for gcses, but also helpful)

practice questions

more practice questions before in-class tests

cram packet

lecture slides

masterpost with resources for specific topics by @study-well

exam day tips

i’ll probably post a whole separate thing closer to the exam next year (lol it is a bit early!) but here are just a few things to remember

BRING SNACKS AND A WATER BOTTLE! this test is 3+ hours. make sure you have eaten and slept before you go to the exam

ON THE MULTIPLE CHOICE: take your time (you have 90 minutes). if you get stuck on a problem, come back to it. remember, there are no questions that blatantly test your bio knowledge without context so use the clues around you when guessing

ONE THE FRQs: answer the questions in the order you want. i personally answered the two biggest ones first and skipped around on the back end. you also have a lot of time of the FRQs so use it to your advantage. also don’t be afraid to describe something if you don’t know the word for it. and don’t forget to label your graphs and stuff :)

best of luck to everyone taking a bio next year! let me know if you need any advice. get that carbohydrate!

[studystarss]

{10.14.19}

september was a hard month for me. i failed my first computer science exam, i didn’t get into my first choice study abroad program, and i didn’t do well on the lsat. i’ve had a lot of time to reflect on many life decisions and it’s been difficult. but even amongst all these things, i’m still here. i saw bastille and maggie rogers live - they were both INCREDIBLE (and I SANG/DANCED WITH DAN SMITH)

click for better quality

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final day of studying for midterms ft cute pizza place (with really nice hot chocolate); borrowed my friend’s midliners until mine arrive! finally ordered them and i’m so excited.

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1.12.18

A week ago I was in London and hours away from seeing Hamilton (!!!!!!!!!) and now I’m at home buried under a pile of uni work. Take me back 😭

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my nice handwriting is disintegrating HAHAHA

[studystarss]

hey!! to celebrate my birthday month and autumn in general, i thought it would be nice to post a challenge! i always wanted to do my own one. anyone can join, you don’t have to do every day and it’s okay to switch days if the challenge is inconvenient that day. don’t forget to use #nostalgicautumn so i can find your posts. I would appreciate a reblog so as many people as possible can join! so here it is:

let’s get it! set some goals: what do you hope to achieve this october? include some autumn activities.

create an autumn playlist to keep u company this month! (on spotify and post the link, or just write down the songs on here)

what’s your favorite drink for autumn and why? post a recipe if it’s something fancy.

light a candle for today’s study session & post a pic.

write a short love letter to yourself and put it into your jacket pocket to be your lucky charm. if it’s not too personal, post it on here to. otherwise just recap how it was writing to yourself: was it easy or did you struggle a bit?

how do you say “autumn” in your native language / the language you’re learning? plus points if you google the origin.

read this poem. what did you think of it?

give your notes / your bujo some autumn vibes: doodles, autumn colors, … be creative & post a pic.

what’s your favorite quote?

fav study snack this autumn?

today’s to-do: reading! get yourself cozy and enjoy your book.

are you affected by bad weather? what do you do to make yourself feel better?

what’s your morning routine? is there’re something you could do to make it more enjoyable?

night routine?

record yourself explaining your study material and take a walk outside. did this method work for you / will you try it again?

my hands always get super dry when it gets cold outside. so today’s task is easy: use some handcream! any recs?

watch a documentary or a short educational video on youtube. it can be about anything! some ideas: environment, space, crime, famous people (buzzfeed unsolved counts too ;))

what’s your favorite thing about autumn?

stretch when taking a study break today. what stretches did you do? how did it feel?

do you get nervous for exams? what do you do to deal with nervousness?

post a pic of your study space.

collect some leaves, get some fresh air and take some pics. don’t forget to press the leaves!

document your day with some pics. what are you most proud of for getting done today?

describe your ideal autumn day.

how do you study?

get something done today you have been procrastinating on for weeks. it doesn’t have to be study-related and it’s okay if you only spend 5 mins on it! something is always better than nothing.

have you ever had any magical or paranormal experiences?

time to journal! make yourself some tea and let your thoughts out.

give someone a compliment today. what was it?

what was this month’s biggest accomplishment?

time to take a break & enjoy halloween! what are your plans?

[studystarss]

from last week || studying for my canadian lit final exam 🌿

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Kind of my favourite spot for working at the moment / always

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Subject/Degree-Themed Asks

Math - What simple things add happiness/excitement to your life?

History - What is one striking childhood memory that you still have until now?

Science - What comprises a perfect morning for you?

Literature - What’s your favorite book or movie and why?

International Studies - What’s one language you’ve been dying to learn?

Psychology - Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

Philosophy - What’s your favorite quote or saying?

Computer Studies - What’s one gadget you couldn’t live without?

Engineering - What’s one innovation that you wish was invented?

Economics - When it comes to relationships, is surplus or shortage better?

Advertising - Describe yourself in 5 words. May be a phrase or 5 different words.

Architecture - Top 5 cities/countries you want to visit.

Sports Management - What’s your hatest/least liked sport?

Communication Arts - What songs convey exactly what you’re feeling/what you need right now?

Education - What’s one skill/craft that you can confidently teach a group of 20 people?

Writing - What’s one trope/plot line you wish to see in books or movies?

Finance - Give us some money saving tips!

Health Sciences - What are your favorite foods that are considered healthy?

Tourism - How will you advertise/convince people to go to your country in 10 words?

Legal Studies - What’s an unpopular belief you have that you will defend ferociously to anyone when they contradict it?

Music - What are some of your favorite lyrics?

Nursing - What’s the one thing that revives you after a stressful day?

[studystarss]

welcome!!!

Hello everyone! This is my first official post on Tumblr ever so I guess I should introduce myself :) 

My name is Alison and I’m going to be graduating high school and finally entering the university world that I’ve been preparing for. Obviously my dream is to become a vet so I will be going down that path and I’ll be posting about my successes and failures as well as just everyday life too! 

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views from my econ study sesh. elasticity is so confusing omg...

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the first week of classes is over!!

this semester is v different from my first two in college because i feel like i am finally doing something i love and am good at. going into visualization was the biggest regret of my life and took so much out of me, and changing to engineering has been the scariest and best decision i’ve ever made. sooo to everyone who has changed their majors, i’m so proud of you and hope you’ve found your thing!!

[studystarss]

long time no original post! it’s been a hectic summer of me trying to squeeze in all the fun, all the work, and all the review into my days but now it’s officially uni season! i’m already suffering but it’s a joyful suffering. i’m already learning lots and meeting lots of people so i’m happy! 

here’s a quick snapshot of my desk space & the little rainbow that hung over my campus for a bit the other day.

how has your back-to-school been?

sotd: fallin’ all in you- shawn mendes

[studystarss]

day 6/100 september 10, 2019

Like I promised, here are some notes I wrote for my economics class and not gonna like im kinda proud of ‘em like wow aren’t they sexc.

The day isn’t completely over yet so hopefully I’m more productive but I hope everyone else is having a great day!

[studystarss]

6/100

[6/100 days of productivity | 10/09/2019]

Today’s post is earlier than usual because your girl was productive this early in the day! I only had my econ class until 10:50 am and so a friend and I decided to grab coffee and go make notes based on the lecture.

This was the view from where we were studying, it’s been a rainy day here in Edmonton, but a warm cup of Tim Hortons made us feel waaaay better.