Guest Blog Music and Mayhem by Jess 12

Guest Blog Music and Mayhem by Jess ‘12 Hi, Im Jess L. 12. I met Yan during our freshman year (she even unwittingly snapped a picture of me in Diff Eq. around Valentine’s Day http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/life/student_life_culture/valentines_day_special_1.shtml) and continued to run into her with increasing frequency until we were living under the same roof this summer at pika*. You might recall we journeyed to New York City at the end of July and survived a gastronomical bildungsroman**. *In all prepositional honesty, at least half of the living at pika happens on the roof instead of under it. Pikas homemade, impeccably sanded (by Yan Co.) roofdeck is a full-service pit stop on the road to cozy summer skylines, breezy sunsets, and barely-interpolated constellations swimming in celestial gutters cluttered with light pollution. As I shiver in the dregs of December and qwertily exercise fingers unwarmed by penurious radiators, I cant help but rhapsodize my midsummer memories of coarse-grained films splattered onto a makeshift screen on the roofdeck, froth-tipped banana-sweet smoothies on the roofdeck, impromptu rope-climbing on the roofdeck, reading books in eye-frazzling noon sunlight on the roofdeck, listening to Jess discover the 2934829th normal mode of her violin on the roofdeck, absorbing plenty of delightful UV radiation on the roofdeck . . . anyway, I digress. **Way to steal my polysyllabic descriptors, Jess. For kicks, I asked to borrow five minutes of her fame, and she gave me a guest blog entry. Yans pretty generous.* *Jess, I could use a little more specificity here. Remember the time you gave me two entire packs of gum because I mentioned that the kind you had in your backpack was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten instead of breakfast while trying to catch a bus? And remember how I was so Oprah-gasmically grateful that I gave you one of my granola bars from Trader Joes? Anyway, I think that would have made a fine anecdote about the value of friendship and generosity, etc. Im Course 6-2 (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) and live on Conner 4 of Burton-Conner. Basically, Ive got a run-of-the-mill major and live in a dorm populated by a glut of bloggers, past and present. There are a few unusual things I can share about my experience at MIT, though. For one, I have a UROP (a research job) that’s in a field totally outside my major and so non-technical that it’s slightly blasphemousâ€"it’s in Course 21W: Writing and Humanistic Studies.* *What in the world is a writing UROP, Jess? “What in the world is a writing UROP?” you ask.* *Way ahead of you, Jess. I’m working as an editorial assistant for Angles (http://web.mit.edu/angles/), a magazine of exemplary work written by students in MIT’s introductory writing classes. The authors here aren’t the most polished, professional writersâ€"these are the voices of regular MIT students who take the introductory classes to improve their writing, or out of interest in a particular class’s topic, or even because they are required to by the results of the Freshman Essay Evaluation. Regardless, the essays students produce in these classes are thought-provoking and even intensely personal at times. In the course titled “Writing and Experience,” people have written on topics ranging from coming to terms with their racial identity, to the death of a brother, to ethical vacillations about vegetarianism.* *Jess, alliteration with the letter V is so passe. Ever since that movie came out that began with the letter V and ended with the letters “for Vendetta,” you cant say phrases like “vacillations about vegetarianism” anymore unless you wear a plastic halloween mask. So, there you go, UROPs don’t have to be in your major, or even technical. I also do quite a bit of music in what time I can squeeze out of my life during the school year. And here’s a not-so-big-secretâ€"the music department at MIT is a gem.* *Mohs def, Jess. (Mineralogy puns are hard.) I started piano in kindergarten, violin in third grade, and played in the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras from middle through high school. When it came time to choose a college, music was an important factor in my decision. What initially drew me in about the MIT Music Department was the Emerson Scholarship Program, which funds half to all of students’ private instrumental or voice lessons if they pass an audition. MIT has a variety of musical ensembles, from the standard to the exotic: the MIT Symphony Orchestra; Chamber Music Society; Wind Ensemble; Concert Choir; Festival Jazz Ensemble; Rambax, a Senegalese drumming ensemble; and Galak Tika, a Balinese gamelan. There are many fine musicians* here (especially pianists). Some people here go to Aspen Music Festival and other competitive music programs over the summer. *Did you know that Feynman played the bongos? This term I took two and a half music classesâ€"Musical Improvisation, Harmony and Counterpoint I, and Chamber Musicâ€"which combined with last year’s classes finished up my humanities concentration in music. My favorite class was Musical Improvisation, which was taught by a visiting professor, Donal Fox. As a classically-trained musician, I had always played the notes on the page. The professor asked us to keep a journal through the class, so I started a blog for it. The last entry pretty much sums up what I want to tell you about that class. I would just copy/paste. Although HASS classes are considered by some to be exercises in irritation*, there’s a benefit people don’t talk about muchâ€"you make friends through these classes. At least in freshman and sophomore years, when the courses you take tend to be large lectures in which you’re one in a relatively faceless crowd, HASS classes are a good way to meet new people. By virtue of being HASS, they tend to involve more discussion and interaction. All the ones I’ve taken have had fewer than twenty people, and I’ve met a range of students from different backgrounds**â€"from different majors, living groups, and graduating classes. *No kidding. Nothing quite jerks your stomach into your lungs like spending two hours fleshing out the harmonic nuances of a Bach chorale in Harmony and Counterpoint II only to discover that you missed the key signature that Bach intended by an angle of pi/2 on the Circle of Fifths. Trignometry hurts. **Speaking of diversity, I met someone in one of my HASSes who didnt like any sauces with tomatoes. And hey, chances are I’ll meet none of you reading this, unless we take the same HASS*. *Jess is being humble here. Other ways of meeting Jess include but are not limited to: living at pika over the summer, working for the Tech, playing in MITSO, joining the Sport Taekwondo team, spending all your time in Course 6-2 classes, letting me have your gum, writing a guest blog for MITadmissions, spending a happy new year (hopefully) with your family in Massachusetts, and visiting me over IAP because we didnt spend nearly enough time together this term, right, Jess?

The Reality Of Reality Television - 882 Words

What is it about these reality shows such as: Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Bad Girls Club, and The Real Housewives that we cannot stop watching? After watching reality shows like this, it leaves people craving the next episode of the next week. Reality television producers are exploiting people by giving the public a â€Å"sense† of reality but not the real version of it, but rather exploit people and use stereotypes to make money for entertainment. The specific points of this argument is: the excessive amount of reality TV that can result in an extreme amount of trash, the producers that present these shows with specific good and bad characters, the social world around us gives us an idea of â€Å"real† with different relations in the media, how race is used a positional place in some reality shows, and the expectations and image that you would usually see out of a black male in college. An excessive amount of reality TV equals an extreme form of â€Å"T rash† television. Reality TV claims to present the â€Å"real† human interactions but they are really just being crazy and making fools out of themselves. When people sign up for a reality show, they know that this is not what they do every day. Viewers like you and I, are constantly glued to the TV, when a reality show comes on, why is this? Because it provides a representation of what â€Å"real life† is like. We live in a very complicated world and reality TV is garbage and we still continue to watch itShow MoreRelatedThe Reality Of Reality Television936 Words   |  4 PagesThe reality show phenomenon Have you ever wondered what attracts millions of Americans each week to watch this cultural phenomenon know as reality television? It first started in 1948 when Allen Funt created a TV series called Candid Camera, this is the first known reality television show series. â€Å"Reality television episodes have increased up to 57% of all television shows that can be found on your TV guides† (Shocking). Big Brother was one of the first successful and most viewed reality televisionRead MoreThe Reality of Reality Television1699 Words   |  7 PagesThe Reality of Reality Television Jacqueline Knudsen ENG122: English Composition II Jenna Fussell February 2, 2013 The Reality of Reality Television Have you ever set there watching your favorite reality television show and wondered what effects it could have on you, your family or your friends? Truth is most people do not think about the effects television shows can have before watching them or allowing their children to watch them. ThisRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television1499 Words   |  6 PagesAgainst Reality TV For close to a decade, the ethics behind the existence of reality TV have been questioned. While there are ardent viewers of reality TV, researchers and other scholars disapprove them, and claim that the world would have been in a better place. Reality TV shows, especially in America, are extremely profitable to media owners, and this has increased their popularity in the recent years. The main target audience for these shows are teenagers and women, who spend a lot of time discussingRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television927 Words   |  4 PagesBehind the Reality of Reality TV There are many different opinions when the subject of reality television is discussed. Although reality television shows are thought to be negative they really are just mindless entertainment. Many can argue that these shows are misleading and disturbing. On the other side of this, people merely use these shows for entertainment and allow people to forget about stress in their lives. The cause of these different opinions is a result of different age, gender, religionRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television1511 Words   |  7 PagesReality TV is defined as television programs in which real people are continuously filmed, designed to be entertaining rather than informative.(Dictionary) As we all know, in today s world we are presented with numerous Reality TV Show such as Keeping up With the Kardashians, Basket wives and The Real Housewives of Miami. These shows give a false message to their viewers of what is reality and what is purely entertainment. Many reality programs create an artificial environment for the show thatRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television991 Words   |  4 PagesWe see content on television every day either to see the news, watch a movie, series or any program we would like to watch. Television give us a different and visually perfect way of entertainment. Reality television is a genre of television which seems to be unscripted showing actions of â€Å"real life†. The viewer sees the reality shows for entertainment but neither the pressure, competitiveness nor loneliness that lives in imagines. To be real -time and people- admiration from viewers, thinking thatRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1287 Words   |  6 PagesReality television is now one of the most consumed television genres broadcasted to the general public. Reality television has become more about mindless watching and creating the most unrealistic environment possible, rather than creating a show for an important purpose. Today, shows like Beauty and the Geek, Big Brother, and every other reality show fit into this mold, but when viewed critically lessons appear. In the case of TV today, reality shows depict an altered reality because of the unrealisticRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1973 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction Reality television has turned into a noteworthy piece of our way of life. The shows are described to be fun, engaging and acquaint society with new points of view. In the wake of a monotonous day at work, it s decent to return home and watch something careless on television, while unwinding. While the debate that violence in the media is making for a brutal culture has been made a million times, sometime recently, I am striving to make an alternate relationship. As we are aware, theRead MoreReality Television : Is It Reality?849 Words   |  4 PagesIs it Reality? Pop culture is popular culture that dominates a society at a point in time. Today, reality television is a part of the society’s popular culture (Johnson 289). The question is why? Reality television is a genre of television programming that focuses on members of the public living in conditions made by the creator, and displays how people are intended to behave in everyday life (Johnson 290). Reality television is debasing and should be strictly controlled, if not banned altogetherRead MoreThe Reality Of Reality Television Essay1697 Words   |  7 PagesReality television has taken off over the past few years bringing shows to the airwaves such as the Bachelor and Breaking Amish. One of the more successful reality television shows, which is going off the air after this season, is Duck Dynasty. The show features a cast of redneck white males who have created a fortune making handmade duck calls. Their wives are the typical stay at home moms who cook and clean the house, or as Uncle Si would say, wifely duties. The show is shot in West Monroe, Louisiana

World War I And Its Concequences - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 468 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2019/05/17 Category History Essay Level High school Tags: War Essay World War 1 Essay Did you like this example? Throughout history, there have been many, many wars. So many, in fact, that its hard to even keep count. There are currently still wars going on, and that will probably never change. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "World War I And Its Concequences" essay for you Create order For humanities entire existence, there will forever be war. It will never end, and as sad as it may sound, there will most likely never be world peace. Wars have caused several billions of fatalities, but nothing can compare to the lives that were lost during the World Wars. Both wars resulted in the death of many, and all of those lives were lost because of small, minor events that had occurred beforehand, and all of these small, minor events could have easily been avoided. On June 28, 1914, a man by the name of Gavrilo Princip made one very terrible mistake. Gavrilo assassinated a man named Archduke Franz Ferdinand. This was the event that mostly led to World War I. If this man had not been assassinated, the war may not have ever begun in the first place. However, there is no way to know that for sure. Though the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand may have been a major cause of the wars beginning, it was most certainly not the only reason the war began. World War I began on July 28, 1914. Just one month after Archdukes assassination. That led people to believe that the assassination of this man was the ultimate cause of the war. It was not. There were several ultimate or leading causes of the war. Some examples of this are alliances, imperialism, militarism, nationalism, and crises such and the Moroccan Crisis (1904) and the Bosnian Crisis (1908). The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was not the one and only cause of World War I. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a member of the House of Hapsburg, which was filled with rulers of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Spanish Empire. He had become a major general by the age of 31 and began his military career at age 12. He was then quickly promoted. In June of 1914, he traveled to Sarajevo. He did this because he wanted to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina were both annexed by Austria-Hungaryin 1908. This annexation had infuriated the Serbian nationalists, so a group of these nationalists came up with a plan to kill the Archduke during his visit. One month after Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot, the world broke out into war. This war consisted of Britain, France, Russia, Italy and the United States all fighting against the Central Powers; which was made up of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. About four and a half years later, (five years exactly after the Archdukes death), on July 28, 1918, Germany and the Allied Powers made and signed the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war.

Blood and Thunder Indians and Manifest Destiny Free Essays

Perhaps the most striking part of Blood and Thunder is the famed and fabled Kit Carson himself. He begins the book as a duty-driven youth who is able to kill anyone or anything without a sense of remorse, likely because of his experiences with the harshness of life as a child. However, once he begins to have a family—a real family, one he raises and takes care of and looks after—he begins to shift. We will write a custom essay sample on Blood and Thunder: Indians and Manifest Destiny or any similar topic only for you Order Now Carson begins to balk at some killings, even going so far as to decry the killing of indian warriors at Carleton’s order. Whether it was the need to take care of his family or the need to find peace in the face of his increasingly failing healthy, Carson provides a look at the changes a man can undergo over the course of his life. He starts as one man, filled with certain ideals and desires, and over the course of his life, his goals and priorities shift. His sense of duty that was instilled in him from his childhood days fails him in his older age, leading him to increasingly attempt to leave behind the front lines and seek solace at home. This shift in character seems odd when the book is merely skimmed; however, the book structures Carson’s life in a way that provides clear understanding of the changes. This was not an abrupt shift, nor was it a conscious one. This change, rather, came as a result of the overall human need to adjust, to shift with the changes that life presented. This change makes Carson truly feel like a â€Å"real person,† someone who isn’t merely a character from a book. It makes Carson human, and thus served to catch my attention. The second part of Blood and Thunder that caught my attention was the conflict between the American mentality and the mentality of the Native Americans who already lived in the area. As is noted throughout the book, the Native Americans could not understand the point behind many of the â€Å"white† traditions that men like Carleton tried to impress upon them. The â€Å"white† ways had no resonance with the Native Americans because everything differed between them. The concept of â€Å"ownership† of the land meant nothing to the Native Americans because they saw themselves as stewards, caretakers of the land. The concept of Christianity meant nothing to Native Americans because they came from a rich, diverse, usually polytheistic religion that held nothing that mixed with Christianity. The concept of a single spokesperson for an entire race of Native Americans (i. e. for the entire people [Navajo, Ute, Kiowa, etc. ]) broke the tradition of having spokespeople from many tribes forming a council for the people. This imposition of mentalities on Native Americans caused at least some of the breakdown in communication; however, there were some aspects that the Native Americans chose to learn and accept in order to deal with the white men. Showing their ability for change, the Navajos elect Barboncito, at the end of the book in the epilogue, to serve as their spokesperson to Gen. Sherman. This collaboration between the Navajo need for the separate tribes and the white men’s need for a single person to deal with led to the eloquent plea to Sherman that ended with the Navajo returning to their home lands. How to cite Blood and Thunder: Indians and Manifest Destiny, Papers

Seven Eleven Japan Essay Example

Seven Eleven Japan Essay Study question 1. A convenience store chain attempts to be responsive and provide customers what they need, when they need it, where they need it. What are some different ways that a convenience store supply chain can be responsive? What are some risks in each case? 2. Seven-Eleven’s supply chain strategy in Japan can be described as attempting to micro-match supply and demand using rapid replenishment. What are some risks associated with this choice? 3. What has Seven-Eleven done in its choice of facility location, inventory management, transportation, and information infrastructure to develop capabilities that support its supply chain strategy in Japan? 4. Seven-Eleven does not allow direct store delivery in Japan but has all products flow through its distribution center. What benefit does Seven-Eleven derive from this policy? When is direct store delivery more appropriate? 5. What do you think about the 7 dream concept for Seven-Eleven Japan? From a supply chain perspective, is it likely to be more successful in Japan or the United States? Why? 6. Seven-Eleven is attempting to duplicate the supply chain structure that has succeeded in Japan in the United States with the introduction of CDCs. What are the pros and cons of this approach? Keep in mind that stores are also replenished by wholesalers and DSD by manufacturers. 7. The United States has food service distributors that also replenish convenience stores. What are the pros and cons to having a distributor replenish convenience stores versus a company like Seven-Eleven managing its own distribution function? We will write a custom essay sample on Seven Eleven Japan specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Seven Eleven Japan specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Seven Eleven Japan specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Justify Expansion over 5 Years Essays

Justify Expansion over 5 Years Essays Justify Expansion over 5 Years Essay Justify Expansion over 5 Years Essay CASE ANALYSIS: SHOULDICE HOSPITAL LIMITED Shouldice Hospital Case Question #1: How well is the hospital currently utilizing its bed? 90 beds x 7 days/ week = 630 beds available in a week 30 patients x 3 days x 5 days per week = 450 beds utilized 450 beds utilized / 630 availble beds = 71. 43% The hospital is currently utilizing 71. 43% of their beds, this is actually an ideal operating point. To increase its rate of utilization might decrease the service quality. Question #2. Develop a similar table to show the effects of adding operations on Saturday. (Assume that 30 operations would still be performed each day). How would this affect the utilization of the bed capacity? Is this capacity sufficient for the additional patients? Check-in day| Mon| Tue| Wed| Thu| Fri| Sat| Sun| Mon| 30| 30| 30| | | | | Tue| | 30| 30| 30| | | | Wed| | | 30| 30| 30| | | Thu| | | | 30| 30| 30| | Fri| | | | | | | | Sat| 30| | | | | 30| 30| Sun| 30| 30| | | | | 30| Total| 90| 90| 90| 90| 60| 60| 60| The total beds used if the hospital adds operations on Saturday: 540 beds The utilization rate = 540/650 = 85. 71% So with the addition of one more day operation will increase the utilization of bed capacity. With this rate of capacity utilization, it will be risky for the hospital in coping with the immediate changes in demand. With this adding one day operation, but without increasing facilities and labor, the capacity is less likely sufficient for additional patients. Question #3: Now look at the effect of increasing the number of beds by 50%. How many operations could the hospital perform per day before running out of bed capacity? (Assume operations are performed 05 days per week, with the same number performed on each day). How well would the new resources be utilized relative to the current operations? Could the hospital really perform this many operations? Why? * In case of increasing the number of bed by 50%, the total bed available will be: 90*1. 5 = 135 beds. This means the hospital could perform maximum 45 operations per day before running out of bed capacity. * With this new resource, the total bed capacity will be: 135*5 = 675 beds Relating to the current operation of 30 patients per day, the bed capacity utilization rate will be: 450/765 = 66. 67%. *It will be hard for the hospital to perform 45 operations per day due to the limitation in their surgeon force and operating facilities. Firstly, they have only 12 full-time surgeons. Each surgeon can operate on 4 patients per day. At maximum, 12 surgeons can perform total 48 operations. Secondly, there are only 5 operating rooms. Each operation needs 1 hour, so each hour can maximum perform 5 operations. The operation time is from 7:30am till 4:00pm, there will be about 8hours, then the maximum number of operations per day is 5*8 = 40 operations. Combine these factors, we conclude that the hospital can operate 40 patients per day at maximum. Therefore, the hospital couldn’t perform 45 operations per day.

SAT Prep

How to Beat Procrastination in Your ACT/SAT Prep SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Not on our watch. To do well on the SAT/ACT, you need to commit to a certain amount of study hours. The higher the score you want, or the more points you need to improve, the more hours you need to put in. (Read more about how long exactly you need to study for the SAT or ACT here.) If total hours is your main goal for studying, then procrastination is what you need to defeat to be successful. So we’ll talk a bit about why procrastination happens, and then give actionable advice for fighting it. Read in to conquer procrastination once and for all! Why Do We Procrastinate? Before we can discuss how to fight procrastination, it's helpful to understand why we do it. You may be surprised what causes you to put off important work like studying for the ACT/SAT! The common wisdom is that procrastination happens due to a lack of time management skills. According to this theory, students don’t realize how much time a task will take, so they don’t start it until it’s too late. This might explain some students who frantically cram for the SAT or ACT the week before the test. Another theory is that procrastinators underestimate the importance of a task in the long term (say, a high SAT/ACT score) versus the importance of tasks in the short term (homework, extracurricular activities, friends, sleep, etc). This could explain why a well-meaning student keeps avoiding studying for the ACT/SAT, because other tasks, like homework and social events, keep distracting them. But are these the only reasons we procrastinate? After all, most teenagers understand that the SAT/ACT is important – in fact, as colleges get more competitive each year, you could argue teenagers have never been more aware. So why procrastinate on SAT/ACT studying? Another theory, as reported in The Atlantic, explains why even highly motivated students could procrastinate on their SAT/ACT studying: â€Å"Scientists have begun to think that procrastination might have less to do with time than emotion†¦ Instead, Ferrari and others think procrastination happens for two basic reasons: (1) Wedelay action because we feel like we're in thewrongmood to complete a task, and (2) We assume that our mood will change in the near future.† Procrastination: more about your mood than your time management skills. And that, in turn, leads to a vicious cycle: â€Å"Putting off an importanttask makes us feel anxious, guilty, and even ashamed, Eric Jaffe wrote. Anxiety, guilt, and shamemake us less likely to have the emotional and cognitive energy to be productive.That makes us even less likely to begin the task, in the first place. Which makes us feel guilty. Which makes us less productive. And around we go.† It’s easy to see how that could happen to a student who needs to study for the SAT. Say she plans to start studying by taking a practice exam on a Saturday. But she doesn’t get around to it because she’s working on other homework assignments. This makes her feel anxious and guilty about skipping the practice test. So on Sunday, she doesn’t take the practice test since she’s still feeling quite stressed and anxious, and instead finds herself studying for AP LIterature and prepping for the next debate tournament. And then the school week starts, she gets a slew of new homework assignments, and she keeps putting on the practice test. Each day she skips it, the more guilty she feels, and the less likely she is to start studying. Sound familiar? You can see how this creates a vicious cycle: you feel guilty for not studying, which puts you in a bad mood and thus makes you less likely to start studying the next time you think about it. Especially given how stressful the SAT/ACT is, the emotions of anxiety and guilt that come with studying for it can be overwhelming. And, ironically, the students who may deal with the most guilt and stress are the ones who are aiming the highest: those who want a 2200 SAT or 33 ACT or higher. So you need to break through the time management and emotion traps to make SAT/ACT studying a manageable, non-stressful part of your life! Sound daunting? It is, but if you follow our advice, it doesn’t have to be. Read on for techniques to cut through the procrastination loop and study successfully for the ACT/SAT. Part 1: Deadlines and Accountability It may sound tedious, but the first way to cut through procrastination is to set deadlines and hold yourself accountable to them. Learn more about why deadline-setting is important and how to create effective deadlines here. Deadlines Every student's favorite word. One factor that almost always defeats procrastination is a hard, unavoidable deadline. Why? A deadline forces you to take action before you face a bad consequence – whether that’s a bad grade or a failed test. The power of deadlines explains why so many students put off work until the night before something is due, and then stay up all night to complete an assignment. Well, you may be thinking that the SAT/ACT has a deadline: the day of the test. However, if your only deadline is the test itself, that won’t help you study meaningfully! In fact, that could lead to last-minute cramming, which isn’t helpful at all. A way to combat this temptation to cram is to set smaller deadlines well in advance of the test. Setting smaller deadlines along the way can help you be productive and hit key milestones in your SAT/ACT studying. For example: 8 weeks before test: take a full practice exam 7 weeks before test: identify major areas to improve and gather study resources 6 weeks before test: put in at least 6 hours of studying weak areas What your deadlines are and how many you set depends on your study goals, the time you have until the test, and where you need to improve. But the key is to set at least some smaller deadlines so that the test date itself isn't your only motivator to study. You can probably see that setting smaller deadlines will take some planning and reflection on your part. You’ll have to figure out how long you want to study for the SAT/ACT to figure out your timeframe, first of all – will you be studying over four months or two? You'll also need to figure out how much you need to improve by, which we'll discuss more below when we talk about goal-setting. But even though it sounds like extra work, setting smaller deadlines is key to avoiding the procrastination trap. By holding yourself accountable to a study task each week, you can make sure you actually study in the run-up to the SAT/ACT. So your first task is this: after deciding how long you’re going to study for, set weekly deadlines. But how can you make sure you actually honor them? Keep reading. Accountability So you’ve set your deadlines and you have a good idea of what you need to do between now and test day. Unfortunately, one thing researchers have discovered is that deadlines are actually more effective if someone else sets them: â€Å"The group withexternal deadlines performed the best. "People strategically try to curb [procrastination] by using costly self-imposed deadlines,† Ariely and his co-authorKlaus Wertenbrochconcluded, "and [they] are not always as effective as some external deadlines."† We’re not saying you should ask your Mom to create a study calendar for you and force you to study each day. In this case, you will still be setting your own deadlines. But if you set deadlines like the ones above, let others know so they can hold you accountable. Involve your friends and family, including parents and/or guardians, in your SAT/ACT study schedule. Put your study deadlines on the family calendar if you have one, and tell your friends about your plans so they can hold you to them. Make your SAT/ACT studying a very public part of your life, so your friends and family can call you out and make sure you're actually sticking to your promises to study. Even though it may seem awkward or embarassing to go on about your SAT/ACT study plan with friends and family, if they can support you and make sure you stick to your deadliens, you're much less likely to procrastinate. Use Reminders A final piece about deadlines is to set reminders so you don’t forget about your weekly study goals. The deadlines won’t do you any good if you forget about them! So ask your friends, family, or parents to remind you to study – this builds on the accountability piece above. You can also set phone or email alarms reminding you to study if you have a planned study block. You can even put reminders, like post-its or signs, around your house if that’s your thing! Find a reminder system that works for you and put it in place to make sure you actually reach your weekly study deadlines. Part 2: Don’t Think of It as Work Even though studying for the ACT/SAT is probably not your idea of a super fun time, if you can manage to think of it as a game rather than a chore, you're more likely to study for it. From The Atlantic: â€Å"procrastinators are more likely to complete a piece of work if they’re persuaded that it’s not actually work. In one study reviewed by Jaffe, students were asked to complete a puzzle, but first they were given a few minutes to play Tetris. 'Chronic procrastinators only delayed practice on the puzzle when it was described as a cognitive evaluation,' he wrote.When scientists described the puzzle as a game, they were just as likely to practice as anybody else.† So if you can find a way to trick yourself into thinking that studying for the SAT/ACT isn’t work, you may procrastinate less. I admit that you’re probably never going to be able to treat the SAT/ACT just like it’s a game or hobby – it’s a test, after all, and a test that carries a lot of importance for college and scholarships. But still, if you can get into the mindset of treating your SAT/ACT studying like a game or hobby, your day-to-day studying may be easier to tackle. In the short term, the SAT/ACT won’t affect your grades, and only you have to know how well you do. So try and treat it like a game you’re trying to be the best at, and don't worry about what anyone else thinks. Depending on your personality, you may be able to try the following tactics: Beat your high score: if you're competitive and/or a perfectionist, treat the SAT/ACT like a game you're trying to master. Take lots of practice tests and push yourself to improve on your latest score until you reach your desired high score. Play with a friend: another great strategy for competitive people is to rope in an opponent. If you have a friend also studying for the SAT/ACT, consider studying together and seeing who can get the highest score on an individual section or an entire practice test. Race against time: especially if you're trying to improve your speed on math or reading sections, time yourself carefully when you practice and see if you can improve your efficiency each day. Five-minute headstart: if you really don't feel like studying, just get yourself to practice for five minutes. Often once you've started, it's easy to keep going for another ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes . Get feedback: focus on parts of studying, like practice sections or sets of problems, that allow you to get instant feedback on your progress. Work to improve your score each day. Focus on the more game like aspects of studying: If you’re facing a real block, plan a "game day." Use flashcards, do multiple-choice practice, or time yourself, rather than trying to teach yourself a math concept or grammar rule. If you can get through a study block today, even if it's just reviewing some flashards, you can cut through the procrastination loop and be more likely to study hard the next day. Reframing your thinking around studying, and making it a game rather than a chore, can definitely help you put the time in, especially on days where you really do not feel like studying. Even though it sounds cheesy, this technique can be surprisingly effective. When I took the ACT last June, I studied a lot with the goal of beating my high school score. (I’m competitive like that, I guess!) It honestly began to feel kind of like a game to me, which made taking practice multiple choice sections fun, because I was always aiming to beat my old â€Å"high score.† Part 3: Make It a Daily Habit If Possible Just like you improve faster if you practice piano every day, making SAT/ACT studying a daily routine can do wonders for your score, and your ability to reduce procrastination. If you can make SAT/ACT studying a daily (or every-other-day) habit for a few weeks, you’ll study more effectively and it will hopefully feel less like a chore. A daily habit will also cut through the procrastination loop and reset the feelings of anxiety and guilt you get from putting off studying. Even if you can just put in 5 or 10 minutes on a day you don't feel like studying, that could be enough to get you in the right mood to study more effectively the next day. Furthermore, remember that a 15-minute daily study session can feel much less intimidating than a 2-hour weekend study session. If you avoid studying for days on end, the â€Å"procrastination doom loop† will kick in and each day you don’t study will make it even harder to study the next time. Especially if you struggle with procrastination, don’t try to force yourself through a gigantic study block once a week. Daily practice will also help make you a more consistent, fast test-taker. It also gives you more opportunities to practice tricky concepts and let new information sink in. So what's the best way to make daily practice a reality? We suggest breaking your weekly study deadline into daily actionables. Check out the example below. Weekly Deadline: Master Plane Geometry on the SAT Monday: Review plane geometry concepts in SAT prep book Tuesday: Continue to review plane geometry Wednesday: Complete plane geometry practice questions in prep book Thursday: Correct and review practice questions, note mistakes Friday: Analyze mistakes in journal Saturday: Study the areas I still don’t get Sunday: Complete entire SAT math practice section This plan works because we start with one specific goal: learning and practicing plane geometry on the SAT. Each day, we take a small step to learn it, planning on no more than 30 minutes of time, except on Sunday when we take a full practice Math section. These daily goals should be easy and manageable to complete, and will build to a larger achievement by the end of the week. Will creating these daily steps in addition to weekly deadlines take work? Yes. But taking the time to make daily goals will make your study plan much more effective and resistant to procrastination. Also, designate a specific time of day for studying, if that’s helpful – like right when you get home from school or after dinner – to make it part of your routine. And finally, to build on the accountability section from before, mention to your family and/or friends that you have a daily study block and ask them to hold you to it. Part 4: Remember Why You're Studying Having a feeling of urgency around SAT/ACT studying, and a strong sense of how important it is, can also push you to study when you really don’t feel like it. If you remember every day why you're studying and why a high score is important to you, you're more likely to stick to your study plan. Why is urgency important? Other aspects of your life that compete for your time in high school have built-in markers of urgency. Homework has immediate deadlines that affect your grades, practicing for a sports team at school affects the game on Saturday, and hanging out with friends maintains your social circle. Since the SAT/ACT only happens on one day, and its importance is a few months (or years) down the line – on your college application – it can be hard to have a sense of urgency about it, even if you know instinctively that it’s important. Especially if you’re taking the SAT/ACT as a high school junior, you won’t be submitting it on applications for another year. Plus you have time to retake it. So it’s easy to let yourself think it’s not that important and focus on more pressing tasks. So to build urgency around studying, gather the evidence as to why your SAT/ACT score is important. Finally, set goals to help you achieve your desired SAT/ACT score. This will give you the motivation you need to get through the procrastination loop and start studying, even if you're stressed or anxious. Building Urgency So how do you gather the evience around why your SAT/ACT score is important? First, figure out the target score (ACT/SAT) you need for your top schools! Keep that number in mind as you study – you can even hang it up in your room to remind yourself daily of your goal. You can also find pennants or print out pictures of your top schools to hang up to connect that number to a more concrete goal! Also take a look at the kinds of scholarships you can get for high SAT/ACT scores – a high enough score could make college free. That’s an excellent motivator. Finally, read in-depth about why your SAT/ACT score is the more effective way to improve your college admissions chances. By keeping all this in mind, you can hopefully make SAT/ACT studying a daily reality. Keep your dream school or scholarship in mind, and use that goal to motivate you to open your prep book, even on days where you would rather be going to the football game or working on AP Calculus homework. Setting Goals Earlier, we talked about setting deadlines. Another key component of creating good deadlines is knowing your starting place so you can decide what to work on each week. So first up: take a full practice exam ASAP (here are free SAT/ACT practice tests) so you know your starting score. It’s much more manageable to be thinking â€Å"I need to go from an ACT 26 to 32† rather than â€Å"I need to be studying for a 32.† With that six-point increase in mind, you can begin creating weekly study deadlines and daily study goals. Next, set smaller midway goals, like being able to get a 28 after your first three weeks of studying. By including smaller check-ins during your study plan, you can reevaluate your study deadlines and change things around if you need to. We also recommend youtake a look at SAT/ACT scoring so you can set concrete raw point goals for each section. For example, approaching SAT Math is easier if you know you’re trying to get 45 raw points rather than a more nebulous 670 composite score. By setting clear goals, like â€Å"this week I want to be able to get 40 out of 60 correct on ACT math,† you can make SAT/ACT studying feel less like a nebulous, scary task. The more concrete your goals, the more manageable studying will be and the less likely you'll be to put it off. PrepScholar Can Help! If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by this, or want another layer of accountability, our PrepScholar study program has a bunch of these techniques built right in. We involve your parents, give regular feedback, set goals for you, and analyze your weak points as you study. So rather than worry about implementation, you can focus on the studying itself! Is an online prep course necessary for all students? Nope. Many students can successfully create a study plan and achieve their target score on the SAT/ACT. But if you want extra help or think you would benefit from an additional resource, I encourage you to look into it. Bottom Line Recognizing that procrastination is a result of not just poor time management but a difficult emotional feedback loop can help you fight it. Set deadlines, involve others, make studying a game, make it a daily habit, and remember your long-term goals. Studying for the ACT/SAT is not an easy task. But if you give yourself enough time, bring in family and friend support, and remember your goals, you can cut through the negative emotions that cause procrastination and find the motivation you need to get the score you want. What’s Next? Check out our guide to a perfect SAT score by our top-scorer. This article discusses ways to build motivation and commitment to help you reach your score goal, whether you're aiming for a perfect score or just a personal best (ACT version here). What are good study resources to get started? Get a guide to the best ACT and SAT prep books on the market. Get more in-depth help with our complete guides to ACT ScienceandSAT Reading, and tips from a perfect scorer on ACT Math and SAT Math. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: