Making the Most Out of Class Time

Hey Everyone!

My name is Jennie and I'm a volunteer coach over at the Academic Achievement Center located on the bottom floor of the CUE building. This semester has already picked up speed and is in full swing. Now that schedules are set and you've gotten used to the classwork and requirements for this semester it's a good time to take a look at how you've been doing so far. You may even have a couple grades already. How are you doing? Even if you are doing stellar, there are always ways to do things better and more efficiently. One way to make the most of your time is with what you do with your class time.

Sure, everyone misses class from time to time but I think everyone here at the AAC agrees that actually getting to class 95-100% of the time is a great way to boast that GPA. For those of you rolling your eyes just hear me out. There is a study called Effort and Reward: The Assumption That College Grades Are Affected by Quantity of Study done by Schuman et al.(http://www.jstor.org/stable/2578600?cookieSet=1).This study found that GPA is actually not strongly predicted by quantity of study (not to say that you shouldn't study because quality studying is a great way to help out your GPA. For more information about quality studying or studying more effectively see some of the other blog posts or stop in the AAC Sunday-Wednesday nights from 4-8). The study did, however, find that class attendence is actually a very good predictor of grades in college. Something as simple as going to class can get you on track for success!

Handling the stress of midterms

It is about that time in the semester when midterms are approaching. Many students start to feel overwhelmed and just plain stressed out. However, it is important to realize that there are plenty of ways to make exams less stressful.

When I was a Freshman I took an introductory biology class that was extremely overwhelming. I made sure that I attended all of my lectures and kept up with my assigned readings. When it came time for the first exam I started studying two weeks before by making hundreds of flashcards and quizzing myself. The night before the exam I felt really ready and confident that I would do well. However, when I sat down to take the test it felt as if I had never studied. I ended up getting a D+ on my first test, which was a grade I had never received before. I realized that using flashcards was not the best way to study and it was time for me to develop some new skills to help me succeed on my next two biology exams as well as all of my other future tests at UConn.

I got a WHAT?!?!?

Early last semester, I received a huge shock in the form of a big red "D" on the front of my Philosophy paper. When I saw it, it felt like the wind got knocked out of me and a lump the size of Texas rose in my throat. And then I thought, "How is this possible? I don't get D's!"

It was true, I had never seen that grade before, except once on a high school Chemistry test that I had not prepared very well for. I reinvented myself at UConn as an "A-student" and I couldn't believe that I had earned such a terrible grade. Up to that point I had a 4.0 in my Philosophy Major and hadn't considered that it could change. "As and AAC coach, I'm supposed to be an expert at this, not someone who gets D's!"--I thought.

After a night of feeling sorry for myself and coming to terms with the fact that the paper I thought was "not my best, but good enough" really was pretty awful, I remembered a few important things.

Putting the Pieces of the Puzzle Together

Hey Everyone!


My name is Mike Nelson, and I am one of the coaches here at the Academic Achievement Center. I'm a senior majoring in mathematics and statistics, and have been a coach for two semesters.


Today marks the beginning of the 4th week to the semester, and I hope people have started settling into their spring schedules. This could be a great thing if you are a student who is well organized and is able to juggle all that life has to offer them. For the majority of us though, we are still trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together...


For me personally, it really took me two years to truly figure out how to balance school, work, and extra curricular activities. During those two years, I would always feel like I was getting off to a great start each semester. I had fun hanging out with my friends, going to classes, doing most of my homework, but did not always find enough time to prepare for exams. Towards the end of every semester, I always had a lot of anxiety about finals, because I knew I had not prepared enough throughout the semester. That's why I always promised myself I would not get stuck in this mess next semester, but it continued to happen.