The beginning of a college student’s junior year brings about a multitude of important questions regarding one’s future that many students are often unprepared for. When should I begin applying for jobs? Do I have to go to grad school? Which entrance exam do I take? Where do I even take it?

The idea of graduating and suddenly morphing into an “adult” leaves many students feeling anxious and overwhelmed as they are forced to fast-forward into the future. The key to making this process the least stressful as possible is to create an organized schedule to help a student better manage his or her time.

The first thing a student should do is look at their options. By the end of sophomore year, a majority of students have declared their major and have a better sense of what interests them and what they are passionate about. Depending on a student’s major, some paths may be more defined than others. For example, business majors have many options. Since there are multiple career options that don’t require a student to obtain a master’s degree, a student can choose to continue either their education immediately or apply for jobs that only requires a bachelor’s degree. Even if a student chooses to enter the work force immediately after graduating, there is always the option of attending grad school after a few years of experience is gained. There are even an increasing number of companies who will offer financial support if an individual chooses to go to grad school to further their academic career once they begin working for that company.

Unfortunately, other majors don’t leave as much room for creativity and a student’s options may be more confined. For example, a speech pathology/audiology major’s options are considerably more restricted with only a bachelor’s degree. According to the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Penn State, “a master’s degree is the minimal entry-level degree to work as an Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) and a doctoral degree (Au.D or Ph.D.) is required to work as an audiologist in the profession because every state requires that SLPs and audiologist to be licensed to practice” (College of Health and Human Development 1). That being said, students considering a career in either of these fields must be prepared to obtain a master’s degree.

In the case of a more confined path like speech, a student should meet with his or her advisor by the middle of junior year to create a schedule that will help map out the next few semesters. On top of a full course load, many students take on a plethora of extra-curricular activities that take up a large portion of time. Meeting with an advisor can help a student prioritize their activities and set aside the appropriate amount of time to devote to the process of applying to grad school. Many advisors will likely have first-hand experience in the field the student is considering entering. The knowledge, experience and advice an advisor has to offer can help the student achieve his or her goals. Also, advisors often have easy access to important information such as test-prep courses, testing locations and tutors that students may be unaware of.

Planning ahead can make a student’s load a lot less heavy. By attending a prep course and studying for a graduate entrance exam in the spring semester of junior year, a student will have the option of taking (and re-taking) the standardized tests over the summer. By doing so, students will have a better idea where they stand and their scores will help guide them towards choosing the right schools that match their academic achievements. With the test behind them and a new and beneficial relationship with their advisor already developed, a student will be better prepared to apply to their chosen graduate programs come senior year.

Source:

“Undergraduate Programs FAQs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at Penn State.” The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) at Penn State. The Pennsylvania State University. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <http://csd.hhdev.psu.edu/undergrad/ugrad_faqs.html>.

Ever wonder why some things are just so difficult to do that it literally makes your brain hurt?  It has to do with the way you think.  There are two major “thinking types,” creative and analytical.  They are, as you would think, opposite of one another and with that being said they reside in opposite parts of the brain.  People who are “creative” use the right side of their brain more than the left and those who are “analytical” use the left side of their brain more than the right side.  Creative does not necessarily mean you have an amazing artistic ability (though that is common), it is more of a way of thinking, originality or being imaginative.  Analytical is “using analysis, especially in thinking” (Dictionary).  One is not better than the other, in fact they are both great in their separate ways.

Think about majors at school.  You may have Bio and Chemistry, Finance, Marketing, Philosophy, Music, Art, Accounting and many more.  The people who chose these majors are all very different; among those differences is the way each one thinks.  Which of these majors do you think would be creative or analytical?

It is easy to assume that Finance, Biology, Chemistry Accounting, and possibly even Marketing would be Analytical and Philosophy, Music and Art would be considered Creative.  But if you think about it, Biology, Chemistry, and Marketing all have ‘creative, unique, and original’ thinking involved, which allows them to fall in between Analytical and Creative.  Music and Art would be assumed to be Creative and for the most part, they are, however analysis is required when reading and deciphering music.  But the overlaps between the two groups are generally minimal.  Most of the time you are one or the other, yet if you stretch your brain to work the “non-dominant” side, there can be side effects.

From a Fine Arts Major’s point of view, “studying for tests is the hardest thing for me to do.”  It requires this student to sit down, take the time to analyze and work with the information necessary to regurgitate back on the test.  The monotony and lack of freedom is what bothers and restricts her the most.  When she is working on art projects, she has all the freedom she could ever need to perform.

On the other hand, an Accounting Major’s view on all the “freedom” is frightening.  With Accounting, it is numbers, rules, information, analysis, etc. and that is what works and processes in this student’s brain.  When thrown into a Fine Art’s Class such as Piano, or 2-D Design, this major struggles with the amount of ‘freedom’ and especially the use of the “right” side of their brain.  They tend to look for guidance or make their own rules to help themselves cope with the difference, but they should embrace it and try to work with it.

Different thinking styles define different people, which also results in different studying habits.  Creative, as mentioned above, do not enjoy studying because of the monotony, and Analytical, though they may not like studying either, is more comfortable with the idea of the monotony.  TestSoup is very helpful in terms of studying because it allows you to study on the go, whether you are Creative or Analytical.  You can have the app on your phone and when it gets to be too much (too tiring, too boring, etc), just switch it off, and come back to it another time.  The on-the-go flashcards accept your thinking style, no matter what it may be.

I frantically tap my pencil as I stare at the question ahead of me. I know I am running out of time and I have 7 questions left to answer. I skip it and move onto the next question without much hesitation. Fifteen minutes left. I read the two page passage quickly and efficiently, writing down the major ideas of each section in the margins. Twelve minutes left. I answer the next six questions with ease because I could efficiently refer to my notes to see where each idea lay. I go back to the question I skipped and stare to try to have some sort of revelation as to what the answer is. “Labyrinthine” What did it mean? I remember seeing the word in my set of flashcards right behind “convoluted”. Oh! I remember now, it means complex and complicated! I rapidly solve the last question in the section before the proctor calls out to put our pencils down. All that I can think of now that it is finally over is how relieved I was.

This was my first experience with the SAT. I had taken a preparatory class in anticipation of taking the SAT in the spring. They taught us many techniques that I still use on my college exams today! Skipping questions is a great way to efficiently take a test because you are not wasting time trying to come up with an answer you might simply not know. After all, you cannot know everything. Skipping questions also helps because it is possible for one to get stuck on a question and become instantly panicked which may interfere with the future questions on the exam.

Another helpful technique in test-taking is to pace yourself. Give yourself enough time to read each question thoroughly as well as any sections the question might require you to read. You do not want to feel pressured to finish in time by any means, and I may have had a problem with this the first time I took the SAT, but resolved my issue by practice.

If you are stuck on one question, try to think of anything that might help you be reminded of what you need to know. This worked for me because I thought of “convoluted” being right next to the word I needed and since they almost have the same definition, I could remember the word. All in all, try to be relaxed and take your time, but be mindful that there is a time limit!