Study Tips From A 90RPer

Junior College (JC) is going to be one of the craziest times of your education, maybe even of your life. Having gone through that experience, we’d like to share some tips and tricks we wish we knew to make this a more manageable and less stress-filled journey for you!

Study Tips from a 90 Rank Pointer

Here are some general study tips that are broadly applicable to most subjects:

Tip 1: Plan out your time

This is especially important in the busiest periods of JC, such as exam seasons. Allocate enough time for each subject, demarcate which subjects and which specific chapters or subtopics you intend to study on a particular day. Try to ensure that there is some continuity (don’t jump between a panoply of different subjects within a short time, unless the situation really calls for it). I like to study two subjects within a full day, just to keep things interesting enough with different subjects that use different parts of the brain (e.g. pairing humanities subject with STEM subject), but still have some focus. Try to keep to that schedule, but allow room for adjustments because there will inevitably be unexpected events and disruptions that require changes in schedule, and sometimes, you move faster or slower than you expected.

Tip 2: Sleep sufficiently (no, seriously)

Your teachers and parents have probably told you this already, and maybe you instinctively cringe at this. Maybe it doesn’t sound realistic, especially for night owls. But we cannot emphasise enough just how important a good night’s rest is in your studies, because it ensures that you’re getting the most out of school lectures and tutorials. It means spending less time playing anxiety-inducing catch-up just before examinations, because you’ve already absorbed the lesson content the first time it was taught. It also helps with your memory, clarity of thought and critical thinking, the latter two being important if you wish to avoid careless mistakes.

Believe me, this is one of the best things you can do for your studies. Besides, you'll feel much better. Try to sleep by 11pm, or maybe 12am. If you have a messed up sleep schedule, it cannot be fixed overnight. So don’t try suddenly sleeping at 10pm the night before your exam when your body is used to sleeping at 3am. Start fixing it early, and do it incrementally (maybe 15-30mins earlier with each night). If you're sensitive to caffeine like me, avoid caffeinated drinks like coffee, bubble tea at night. Try not to expose yourself to digital screens past a set time, because the blue light might affect your ability to sleep.

Tip 3: Take breaks

No one's an invincible machine that can study 24/7. There are two possible parts of your body that can get tired after an extended period of study: your brain and your eyes. If either one of them feels tired, it's best to take a break. Go out and take a stroll in the neighbourhood park, or look out at the window to rest your brain and eyes. Catch up with your friends over text and watch a YouTube video if it's only the brain you need to rest. Don't be afraid to go out with your friends for a meal or some play once in awhile; it will keep you mentally healthy. You’ll find that relaxing actually increases your productivity in studying. Just don’t break too long such that relaxation becomes procrastination :P If time is tight, I find it handy to set an alarm (e.g. 15 mins of rest in between study sessions).

Tip 4: Use night light and dark mode

To study a little longer with online materials before needing an eye break, you could set your digital devices' display settings to night light and dark mode. This can reduce eye strain, and blue light exposure, the latter being an impediment to your ability to sleep. Apps like Google Docs and web browsers allow for dark mode. However, not everyone likes these modifications, and they read more comfortably in regular mode. I encourage you to try this and see if it works for you.

Tip 5: Keeping distractions away, especially phones

The extent to which one should shut out distractions depends on the intensity of concentration required by your study session. Often, when we are revising topics (memorising humanities texts, or scientific/mathematical definitions and formulas, revisiting key concepts to make sure we understand them etc.) a higher level of concentration is involved. In such situations, it is best to not allow yourself to use your phone for texting, or listen to music. In fact, some of us get distracted by the mere presence of the phone, even when not in use. If this describes you, a pro-tip would be to keep it out of sight in a cupboard or underneath a piece of paper, set to silent mode. However, in other situations that require less concentration, like drilling math problems, it may be permissible for you to listen to music from your phone to keep you entertained and motivated, if that suits you.

Another potential distraction might be noise, and you can use any combination of the following three strategies which suits your situation to mitigate this. Firstly, control your company. If you’re studying with a group of friends, pick those who are least likely to distract you, especially during exam periods. Secondly, control your study setting. If your house is too noisy, you could ask your family members to lower their volume, close the door or study at school/public libraries. Thirdly, you could use noise-cancelling earphones, or if you are antiquated (and broke) like me, consider getting noise-reducing earplugs.

Tip 6: It's okay to not do well initially

There is an undeniable hike in academic rigour from secondary school to JC. New concepts and skills are demanded of you, and it's okay to not be great at them when you start. I failed some of my Application Questions (AQ) - a novel 10 mark monstrosity in GP that requires students to make critical assessments of the arguments made in comprehension passages (which is not found in O Level English). Getting an A for the GP essay can also be rather challenging, given the higher standards demanded and the tendency of certain teachers and schools to set expectations that exceed those of the markers at Cambridge. I took a whole year of learning and experimentation to get these skills right. That's 100% normal. I still managed to pull through in the end. It is my firm and informed belief that though the vast majority of us aren’t going to be chart-topping academic geniuses, everyone has the capacity to improve significantly from where they start. I see this in the experiences of my friends as well. One of them struggled with O Level English and subsequently General Paper because she came from a Chinese-speaking family. She consistently scored Sub-Pass or Fail, but she didn't give up, learnt best practices from model answers and consulted her high performing peers and teachers whenever she was in doubt. She eventually pulled her grade all the way up to a B at the A Levels. So even though its cheesy, don’t give up.

Tip 7: There are resources out there. Make use of them!

One of our more significant regrets would be not finding out earlier about the wealth of information and resources that are available online, ranging from resource banks earlier, to free online academic consultations, to advice about special programmes. Consider websites and initiatives like SGExams, Smart Guppy, JC Starter Pack, EduHope and Taster Course SG. Here’s a list of resources we’ve compiled.

Your respective JCs also may also provide free Straits Times subscriptions. My JC subscribed us to The Economist too. Both of these publications are useful reading materials for GP. JCs should also provide you Education and Career Guidance (ECG) services, which include consultations about your future career and education, information sessions from universities and industries, and some may even link you up for internships. Don’t miss out on these opportunities.

Tip 8: Do not be afraid to seek help from teachers / go for consults

One of the best ways to sabotage your studies is to convince yourself that it is too “paiseh” to reach out to your teachers and tutors for help to resolve certain doubts and misunderstandings you might have about the subject, increasing the risk of them snowballing. Introverted as some of us might be, please do not be afraid to consult your teachers when you have questions. They are there to help you and unlike tuition, it's completely free. Make use of that. And start asking your questions as soon as they come up, because teachers get more busy towards the examination period as demand for consultations increases. Of course, don’t hound them in the middle of the night; teachers are humans who deserve breaks too!

Conclusion

No doubt, JC is going to be tough. Even those with truly exceptional academic abilities also struggle. But with these tips and tricks, it can be a lot more manageable. Good luck out there!

By JC Starter Pack Team (Anonymous and Alyson)

For general JC tips, see our other blog post here.