<p>I've always wondered, how do people manage to get straight A's, perfect scores, etc and yet still manage to do the tons of activities, community service, clubs at the same time? </p>
<p>What is your routine? When do you do homework? How much time do you spend on it? Do you ONLY do school-activities-homework (like no TV or phone etc?)? How efficiently do you study? Like, do you have a sort of system for learning your subjects? And finally, how do you fit in all your clubs, activities, and sports?</p>
<p>I do homework whenever I get the chance (in class, during free periods, at home). There isn't a system...just get everything done!
One tip is never to do homework past 11pm. You will severely compromise your productivity the next day. A ton of people on this forum will probably think I'm stupid for saying that, but I've managed to get straight As at an extremely competitive private school (~20 students accepted to Ivies every year) and get perfect test scores...I don't attribute it to any sort of innate genius (I'm really not that intelligent) but I get my work done whenever possible and I always am in bed relaxing by 12, which means I'm relatively alert the next day.
I don't play sports...I decided when I started high school that it was just too much of a commitment to do sports practices every day after school.</p>
<p>My schedule is kinda weird this semester, but it actually makes my life a lot easier.</p>
<p>I go to school, go to three classes for three hours, go to my college class for an hour, go out with friends/come home to eat lunch, go to lab or club meetings, go out/come home, twice a week I tutor in the evening for a couple hours, then eat dinner and do homework at night. I also do homework during other classes the day it's due. I'm big on procrastination. Oh and I use Friday and Saturday to relax and recuperate, then do all my homework on Sunday afternoon/evening. (I should start soon...). The most important thing, though, is not to feel stressed out or like you can't do everything.</p>
<p>Hmm I'm not big on TV for some reason (I used to watch it religiously, but it's mostly boring now). I'm big on hanging out, though. And AIM.</p>
<p>As for studying... for math it's just a matter of understanding how you solve the problems you did in class and for homework; for history it's a matter of doing the homework and listening in class, then refreshing your memory the day before and of the test; for science I just pay attention in class and maybe skim my notes/the text the morning of a test; for LA you just have to know what you're talking about in essays and know how to organize your thoughts, but that comes through practice.</p>
<p>Well I don't do very many activities at all, but like people have said, it's about getting your work done. I get home at about 12:30 and start my homework by 1. If there is a TV show I want to watch at night, I make sure I make time, but I am always in bed by 10. I think a curfew is very important, since most people I know don't really have a time they go to bed so they just wait until they feel like doing homework.</p>
<p>Paying attention in class is seriously 90% of it. Then just do your homework, and it gets done so much faster because you already understood most of it during class. Also, turn off everything except mabye music when you do homework. None of that Hw while tv/aim/myspace crap, or it'll take forever.</p>
<p>Yes, time management is really the answer. Give yourself a strict schedule for when you get home. Include dinner, 30 mins of exercise, time to talk online, time to do homework, and a set time that you will always get to bed by no matter what. This does wonders for me. I know I have to go work out at 9:45 every night. That means I need to get the majority of my homework done before that if I want to get in bed by 11:30.</p>
<p>I procrastinate a lot and have plenty of distractions (phone, tv, computer, sometimes all at once)...I procrastinate, then I go to sleep really late, then the next day I compensate with a big nap....yeah, okay, I may not be the best example to follow....oh, I guess it helps I don't do sports, just clubs.</p>
<p>I agree with everything said above. Many people think that staying up later to do more studying (or finish their work after spending hours on AIM) is the right thing to do, but it is definitely best to be more efficient and get to bed by a decent, scheduled time. If 11:00 rolls around and you're just about done with your math homework, just finish it and go to bed. It doesn't have to be superstrict.</p>
<p>Being better rested helps with paying attention in class. A good tip I have here is to maintain eye contact with the teacher. This accomplishes 2 very important things:</p>
<p>1) You will learn MUCH better this way. I find that if I look away for a minute, I did not absorb a thing. Please try it. It works wonders.</p>
<p>2) The teacher will start looking at you, further reinforcing the silent communication while he/she is lecturing. It's easier to pay attention and learn if you feel like the teacher is talking to you. The best part of this is that the teacher will think of you more and more as a good student, which is invaluable for letters of recommendation.</p>
<p>By no means do I have just school-activities-homework... on the weekends I went to the movies, and several times a week I spent a couple hours with my bf. I also spent quite a bit of time on the phone and AIM. I didn't watch a ton of TV, maybe Jeopardy! and The Simpsons =p</p>
<p>I also find that motivation is a big part of it. You have to WANT to do well and excel in everything you do. The way I see it is, why would you do something if you're going to do it half-assed? Have some pride and give it your all because you can.</p>
<p>Start homework as soon as you get home. Always stay after school for a club, activity or extra help. I often do math/science work while watching Around the Horn or Jim Rome is Burning, but for the Eng/S.S. I have to lose the distractors. You have to look at risk/reward in terms of essess studying. If I don't do any studying how high of a grade can I expect to achieve? Is it worth me putting in effort? If so, how much? Sports do eat up a lot of time. </p>
<p>Eat a good breakfast. wake up a 6:00 every morning. First get a shower to help me wake up. Then to supplement that, drink a big (like 16oz.) glass of OJ. I also eat a bowl of Rice Krispies or Corn Chex. Stay away from sugar cereal. A lot of people swear by having a studyhall, but if you need to get things done without interruption like me, drop it like its hot, and take another class. </p>
<p>Kiss Ass (of teachers) but not blatantly. Don't give em apples, but particiapte in class and ask questions whenever you don't understand something. Focus on what they are saying in class, don't go off and have conversation with your friend or play a game of chess while you are supposed to be learning about the 5 circle of Hell. </p>
<p>Make sure you go to bed during the same day you wake up. 12:00 is my curfew. Read a book while in bed to fall asleep, or listen to economics tapes which can be obtained at <a href="http://www.teach12.com%5B/url%5D">www.teach12.com</a> . </p>
<p>Do your homework! I can't stress this enough in High School. This is free easy grade inflation. I would stay away from working a job while in school. </p>
<p>Perfect scores are acheived because a person is naturally smart, or has taken a lot of time to prepare for a test. It takes different skills to get straight As and perfect scores. </p>
<p>Don't do any homework on Friday. Relax and have fun that day. Last friday I went to bed at 7:00 PM. That was very nice. I got 12 hours of sleep, and got a lot commplished yesterday. </p>
<p>I also take 30 minutes out of everyday to watch Jeopardy (except on last friday). Drop whatever you are doing and watch it. Its good for the brain.</p>
<p>No way, you can't go to sleep at 7:00 on a Friday night.</p>
<p>Getting A's is just a matter of wanting to learn and trying your best to learn it. I think the difference between A students and C students is two things: motivation and attitude. Once you believe that intelligence is inherent and that there's no point in doing or learning the work, that's when you guarantee yourself a low grade.</p>
<ul>
<li>What system to you actually use in learning? Like do you memorize with repetition? Or do you just take outline notes for everything? Or do you reorganize your notes, make tables, synthesize, etc? </li>
</ul>
<p>-Do you manage to do any personal reading, or personal hobbies that are not related to school or EC's? </p>
<p>-How do you schedule your particular EC's? Because I doubt that many people who have tha laundry list of EC's, or the really high commitement EC's are really doing the EC's each day while finishing AP homework, AND probably even doing sports. </p>
<p>I am interested in getting involved with history research and probably even self learning a new language, but I have no idea how I will find the time for these types of things! Not to mention I want to enter some essay contests... </p>
<p>Btw, @ chris, I totally agree with you about motivation and attitude, and thinking intelligence is inherent, because its not, you are as intelligent as you think you are - confidence has alot to do with how successful people are. </p>
<p>I also agree with the sleep question. Unfortunately, I have yet to get a sleeping routine, but my goal is to get atleast 7 hours every night. I read an article in American Scientist which basically was about how the smartest people benefit most from good sleeping habits, and naps especially - and how sleeping has a large effect on memory processing and learning.</p>
<p>physically prepare youself for success.
- get ur 8 hours if u can, or else as much as possible, otherwise the next day u might be MORE tired when u get home, MORE will be left undone, ur week is screwed.
- You are 1000x more productive during daylight hours.
- If you work near a TV, computer, or friends, you will not do very much hw.
- Work / study in a room so boring the most interesting thing to do is the assignment.
- Use weekends to catchup on reading chapters + learning material if u have to.
- If ur dead tired at night, set alarm for 4:00, 5:00 or 6:00 to do work when ur awake b4 school.
- Set aside time to ‘do nothing’ for mental health / sanity. (I mean each day</p>
<p>it's mostly all about balance and getting a good nights sleep everyday.You don't have to be the most intelligent person to maintain straight A's at a competitive school, but you do have to work hard and get your homework done every night. i might be wrong, but this all works for me.</p>
<p>I don't agree wih schmivy =] I hate caffeine. I'm a relatively successful premed at Stanford. Caffeine makes my body unhappy. Treat your body well. I agree with showering in the morning and having a bite to eat, whether it's pancakes and eggs or just a banana and some orange juice. After studying biology/neuroscience/psychology for 2 years, I am coming to understand how important the state of your mind is to learning. Trust me on this... or look up long-term potentiation if you're bored.</p>
<p>On the same track, a professor at Stanford does research on how one's perspective of intelligence affects learning and performance (is intelligence inherent, or can it be altered?). Believing that good marks in school is due to hard work gets you a lot farther than just thinking you're inherently smart! The hard work perspective gets you flexibility in meeting new challenges... look up Carol Dweck's work because it's really interesting.</p>
<p>I think study methods vary quite a bit from class to class as well as person to person. Sometimes it helps to do flashcards; sometimes it helps to read a page and then paraphrase it in your notes to make sure you absorbed the information. In high school I think you have the freedom to try different methods... unlike college, in which you have a midterm and a final and that's it for your grade.</p>
<p>My caffeine addiction is actually worse for me, because in the cases that I do need an extra hour (or three) to finish a paper, caffeine doesn't have the effect on me that it should (I can drink espresso and go to sleep. Don't want an addiction? don't work at a coffeehouse)</p>