A lot of people really struggle when they begin the school year in an academically advanced program for the first time. Succeeding in these programs will usually require a higher level of focus, organization, and diligence than you needed in mainstream classrooms, so it can be a big adjustment that needs to happen relatively quickly. As a student currently in my fifth year in Saskatoon’s SAGE program, a program for academically gifted students, I know that it took me some time to adjust too. What it really comes down to is simply being able to develop good study habits and finding the most efficient and effective way to study, work, and progress. Everyone learns best in different ways, but there are still some guidelines that will help you succeed no matter your learning style. What I am going to do for you here is explain some of these guidelines to help you adjust faster, advance farther, and succeed in both regular classes and academically challenging programs.
The first and foremost thing to remember in an academically challenging program, is not to procrastinate or underestimate time limits. It seems blatantly obvious, but many people fall behind because they procrastinate in programs with a larger workload. If you want to succeed, you want to get ahead and stay ahead. Staying ahead means less stress on you, and it means you will have more time to either improve your assignments, study more, or work ahead on class material. As Mark Twain once said: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” So have a good initiative to begin projects on time rather than procrastinate, and you will stay ahead. If you do procrastinate and don’t maximize study time or work time, you may not allow yourself to fully remember the information you need to know. Especially in IB- you need to consistently study subject content for two years, rather than just a few weeks. Not procrastinating in SAGE, IB, or other academically challenging programs will help you to get assignments done thoroughly but quickly, and help you complete tests with the best of your ability.
That being said, you also want to get things done comfortably and without rushing. Set organized schedules and goals for yourself to complete tasks on time, and try to budget your time based on how long you think certain assignments will take you. This is especially important in the SAGE program since we often have quite a few large projects on the go. I don’t work well under pressure so I like to get things done in a good time, but of course, you can try different ways to plan your schedule and find what works best for you. You can balance your workload by determining what subjects you find hardest, or which ones you may need to put extra effort into. Set goals for what you want to complete every day, and make more time for assignments that will take you longer to complete. Goals should help you by providing direction to your work as well as increasing motivation, focus, and confidence. I like to use the acronym SMART to establish goals that are specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and timely since keeping these elements of a goal in mind will make your goals most effective. You might like to try and break larger, complicated tasks into multiple smaller and simpler ones to help fit each piece into your schedule. In this way, you pace yourself and ensure that you finish the entire project on time. Setting schedules for yourself will also ensure that you get the most out of your study time or time you have for homework. I used to hate setting schedules for myself because it felt too restrictive, but in the end, it was always worth it and it greatly reduced my stress over assignments and exams.
The next most important thing that I like to remember in order to do well in my academically rigorous program, is to think about all of your work in a constructively critical manner. If you want to succeed, you have to get high marks. If you want to get high marks, you have to make your assignments the best they can be. In order to do this, you need to recognize the weak parts in your essay, in your project, or your assignment, and determine how to make it better. How can you make your work more creative, effective, original, informative, engaging, clear, etc.? Remember that there is a fine line between constructive criticism and simply degrading your work. If you are always thinking about where you can improve in your work or how you can study better, you know that each of your assignments or tests were completed to the best of your ability.
You can improve your work a lot with your own constructive criticisms, but the second set of eyes and opinions will always catch something you missed. Don’t forget to ask for help and advice from peers, teachers, friends, tutors, or anyone you feel comfortable asking. This will not only improve your work and assignments, but it will also ensure that you don’t miss any important concepts that you will need for exams and future learning. STEM for FEM is a great resource to utilize in this way- you can post your questions, get some tutoring help, or check out more blog posts for effective study tips and tricks. You will definitely struggle with units and assignments if you aren’t confident about the instructions and concepts, so by learning to ask necessary questions, you will be able to easily progress towards and past curricular expectations.
So to summarize: Don’t procrastinate and you will stay on top of your schoolwork; set organized schedules and SMART goals for yourself to follow; always think constructively critical about how you can improve your studying habits or assignments, and never forget to ask for help and advice when you need it. If you remember these four easy tips and adjust your habits accordingly, I think that you will find a vast improvement in your assignment quality and test scores. It will also make you feel less anxious and much more confident if you are new in an academically challenging program. These tricks certainly help me to do well in the SAGE program, and I hope that they will benefit you and your learning too.
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