Many students have never learned to study effectively and just get by on native smarts. Before a test they review their notes, the book, and their homework. It feels like they really know it and are ready, but often they are confusing recognition with recall. In most classes their verbal skills let them pad out essays, but on math/science tests they find out they can’t recall enough to solve many problems. Unfortunately once they get to college this cursory study approach won’t work even in subjects where it was enough back in HS, since the expectations will be higher and the questions on tests more challenging.
There is a recent book out that you should read this summer to understand how to learn effectively, titled “Make it Stick”. It will discuss techniques you need to use such as distributed practice and self-testing.
Two links you can read now are http://calnewport.com/blog/2011/04/28/on-becoming-a-math-whiz-my-advice-to-a-new-mit-student/ and http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/11/14/how-to-ace-calculus-the-art-of-doing-well-in-technical-courses/ Read thru the story athttp://bentilly.blogspot.com/2009/09/teaching-linear-algebra.html and see how that prof forced students to rehearse material with great results
@Cheolf unless you find a dedicated one! I’ve had some really bad counselors at my cc. They literally just read off of assist, tell me wrong information, or just tell me “it’ll be fine.” But I do have one counselor I really trust, she even emailed UCLA to change a course equivalent when I pointed the error out to her (and it did change). Good counselors are out there, you just need to find them!
re: personal statements
I applied to UCD, UCSD, UCSC, and UCB.
I only cared about getting into UC Berkeley, specifically into Haas. Haas, obviously, was Business Administration. The other 3 UC’s were some form of economics.
My personal statements specifically mentioned Haas and Business Administration, as if they were written specifically for Haas. In my eyes though they were. Despite that, I got into the other three as well.
Just a bit of perspective.
@goldencub I just meant that no matter what anybody may tell us, only admissions counselors really know what goes on inside the reading room.
Aside from that, I wish I would’ve known about that info booklet a year ago! Very helpful guidelines for who requires what.
@Cheolf Yeah, I’ve read that despite Foothill being a really great community college for transfer hopefuls, the counseling department is supposed to be very inaccessible and inefficient.