The long-term consequences of cramming for tests

A dictionary definition of cramming would be something like this: “trying to quickly force material in a container that cannot hold it.” This definition just about sums up the disastrous “learning” technique that so many students have adopted in recent years. For many, it is the normal way of studying. It’s a habit that will produce dire consequences in college.

Start planning for college in the sophomore year

For the student who is really serious about college, early planning is the key to the whole college selection and application process. How early? During the sophomore year of high school, students should begin the college search process. What does that mean?

Standardized tests require systematic preparation, not a casual attitude

Standardized tests are just a fact of educational life. And it’s a real alphabet stew: SATs, ACTs, APs, IBs, LSATs, MCATs, DATs, GMATs, GREs.

Students get their first taste of bubbling answers with number-two pencils in second grade. Such tests continue through elementary and middle school to rank students and mark their academic progress.

In high school, however, standardized tests take on a new meaning: They become qualifying tools used by colleges to admit or reject students.

Ready, set, college! What you need to know before you get there.

Did you know that 47% of today's college-bound high school students graduate with an A average; 88.1% graduate with at least a B average. Yet most teens earn such grades by studying fewer than five hours a week. Regardless of your grade level, you should really be studying at least 10 hours a week! But students sail through their high school courses by cramming for tests or studying the minimum hours for classes - just to get by. Students rely on the teachers to remind them about tests or papers. High schoolers view learning in the classroom as their 'study time' and any studying at home is just 'extra.' However, when students enter college, these approaches become their downfall. It's the major reason that 63% of students don't graduate in the traditional four years - and nearly 40% don't graduate at all or take longer than six years to graduate.