<p>No i don’t cramm for tests, umm noo…But how are you suppose you have a test when the teacher tells you a day before the test. Our teachers don’t tell us when we having the test, they tell us the day before…my school is weird…</p>
<p>I’m quickly losing sympathy in light of the fact that you’re disregarding everyone’s advice and help. I refuse to believe that on a regular basis, 4 of your 6 teachers inform you that you’ll have a test the very next day in their classes. It’s time to take some responsibility. You can either whine about how unfair your teachers and school are or you can learn to deal with your schoolwork and study effectively.</p>
<p>People here have given you very good advice- I’d suggest you follow it.</p>
<p>My D goes to a very competitive college prep high school, she has max 4 hours a night and that is when she has a big paper, midterms, or the like. Having a test 4 almost everyday in most subjects, is in fact, hard to believe. What could they possibly be testing on? Unless you are doing a chapter every few days…and if you are taking a TEST that often, there is no classroom learning going on, see if class time is spent taking the test, then when does the teacher teach? And do you go over the tests to see what was done correctly? That takes more class time…It almost sounds with that many tests all the time, you are self studying and little actual teaching going on…</p>
<p>In college they may or may not tell you either. Some prof’s put tests days on the syllabus so you know when they’ll be in less something comes up (like the prof has a family emergency or gets sick and has to change the exam date to after they are well or done dealing with an emergency) and they expect you to study your notes and readings a little bit everyday. So, like if the prof gives you notes covering the first 10 pages of Chapter 1, they expect that you will study those notes after they lecture (not immediately, but during that day after the class or at least before the next class meeting) instead of waiting until they announce a test on chapters 1-6 and then you have to cram in 6 chapters worth of notes. See what I mean? I think this is also what NorthStarMom was getting at. NorthStarMom, is this what you meant?</p>
<p>I also wonder why they are giving you tests so often, as citygirls mom pointed out that it is just strange.</p>
<p>Yes, bluealine01. That is what I meant. If one goes over notes after class, and studies each class a bit each day, one doesn’t have to cram for tests. Daily studying of each subject also leads to better retention of material over the longterm, so one does far better on semester exams.</p>
<p>My impression after reading Columbia4life’s posts over the past 4 months is that she is studying very inefficiently and could benefit from instruction in study skills. I also think that she could benefit from screening for learning disabilities. </p>
<p>There’s a possibility that she has difficulty processing informatino depending on how it is given. Perhaps, for instance, she more easily understands information that she hears, and has some trouble understanding information that she reads. If either is the case, she could learn ways of compensating for these difficulties, which are not related to intelligence, but to how the brain processes info.</p>
<p>If you find you’re not ready for tests at a moment’s notice, you are doing something incorrectly. Not for anything, but I never crammed for a test in high school because I found that paying attention in class and doing the assignments diligently constituted more than enough preparation.</p>
<p>If you want Columbia or any top school, you need to start revamping your study habits. There is quite simply no way that a high school doles out 7 hours of work a night. It’s possible that you <em>take</em> 7 hours to do it, but that’s because you’re doing something wrong. If you’re taking that long to do high school work now, you’re going to have a hell of a time in college. I rarely dedicated more than an hour to high school work and now I’ve got hours daily.</p>
<p>Columbia, how much time do you spend on each subject a night?</p>
<p>I agree with Achilleus also on the time thing–especially if they are going to Columbia–which is where you want to go. Achilleus, maybe you can tell Columbia4life more about the coursework.</p>
<p>I have fallen many a time into the trap of cramming. Even if the teacher does not tell you when the tests will be until the day before, aren’t you able to go over your notes every day? What are you doing to prepare for the tests (specifically)?</p>
<p>I guess Columbia has checked out.</p>
<p>I wonder whatever happened to the OP.</p>