My school operates on a quarter schedule... Help!

[a_s335]

Hey everyone,

I go to a school that operates on a quarter schedule. My school year is divided into four parts with no summer breaks. In other words, I'm only halfway through sophomore year but I've taken well over 60 credits. My syllabus week, regular exams, midterms, and finals all go down in 11 weeks.

I really need help managing time and getting the best possible grades I can get. So far, my science and nursing classes are all mostly B's and B+ and my electives are all A's. My cumulative GPA is around 3.3

I've gotten a C+ and a B- in critical science courses like nutrition and patho.

Studying a week in advance for exams does not seem to work and many of my friends have racked up multiple C's on their transcript. It's so rare for any nursing major to get this far without getting grades lower than a B+.

What can I do to help my situation? I'd like to consistently make A- grades at minimum!

[Simplistic]

You mention "studying a week in advance does not work". Well then why dont you study 2-3 weeks in advance? Why are you trying to cram all this material into just 1 week? I personally study everyday, even if its just for an hour and my grades have been excellent.

[verene, MSN]

Many, many programs operate on a quarter system (including taking summer classes) and students do just fine. I think you need to take a hard look at your time management , organization, and study skills.

Get organized. Know your schedule for the term, and don't let assignments and exams sneak up on you. It can be helpful to take time at the beginning of the term to plan out the whole term in terms of classes, assignments, exams, study time, and filling in other activities that are important to you so you can breakdown those major assignments, plan out study time, and know which weeks have a lot going on and which have more wiggle room. Consider making a calendar with major assignment deadlines and exams and keep it posted somewhere visible so nothing is a surprise.

Study early and study often. Learn the material well as you go so that when it comes exam time you are reviewing and refreshing not learning for the first time. It can help to set aside study time for each course on a regular basis through out the week so you always feel prepared and on-top of things. Also learn your learning style(s) - how do you best learn new material and cater your studying to your learning. (e.g. don't spend hours making flash-cards if they don't improve your understanding and retention).

Finally, know your resources for support - tutoring, writing center, student support services, instructors and so on. Make a point of getting to know them before it is a crisis. It is much easier to check in and get a little assistance when you don't need much than it is to try and recover when everything is on a crunch time frame and stress levels are high.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

OP: The quarter system has nothing at ALL to do with your difficulties. Studying needs to be an every day thing for you. You should ALWAYS be in test-prep mode. And that means more than practice questions. Deep, repeated dives into your actual textbooks must also happen.

[paisling]

Sorry to hear you are having a hard time. I went to a semester school for my BA and am now at a school that does quarters (like most schools in WA), so I know what you mean about the difference in structure.

That being said, it is not the quarter system that's holding you back. Why are you only studying right before an exam? Its best to be studying from the very beginning- you should be studying the class material every week. Some people study every night! Cramming everything in to study in a week isn't an effective way to learn.

I also wanted to note that quarter credits are not equivalent to semester credits. 1 quarter credit = .66 semester credit so this is not a case of you being overloaded with more material than a semester student.