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Tips for improving your time management skills

The UCAS deadline has come and gone, and hopefully you got your application in without too much trouble. Remember that even if you haven’t got one in yet, it’s still worth applying (sooner rather than later) as some programmes will continue to review applications and accept students. But just because you’ve got your uni application in (and perhaps even have some offers) does not mean that this is a time to slacken up in your studies. Instead, you should really be concentrating on keeping up with your work so that you can make those expected grades and be a bit better prepared for undertaking university study. This is where improving your time management skills really comes into play. And if you’re already in university and about to start a new semester, improving your time management skills is definitely for you as well.

A great first step in improving your time management skills is to set daily goals for yourself. You can think about what you want to accomplish that day and write it down. There are a few essential things to remember here though. You need to be realistic about what you can accomplish. This is something that will improve over time, but it’s good to think about what you’ll actually get done right from the start. After all, creating a list and then not finishing any of it can lead you to feel badly about your day, meaning you won’t focus on all that you did accomplish. The other thing to do is to make your goals fairly concrete. Rather than saying “I will do some homework,” consider saying “I will read 3 chapters of my textbook.” This allows you to know when you’ve actually met that goal so you can check it off your list.

Another step in improving your time management skills is to reflect on your day each evening. This doesn’t need to be a long, drawn-out process. Just take a few minutes and ask yourself (why not write out your answers so you can keep track over time) what you accomplished that day, what you wish you had accomplished but didn’t, and what your intentions are for the next day. Over time, this will help you to understand how much you can realistically accomplish in a day, which will enable you to set appropriate goals in the future and really plan out how you’ll take on a project.

One last tip when working towards improving your time management skills is to focus on minimising distractions. This may mean limiting your time spent online, skipping lunch with friends if that often turns into a 3 hour social event, or not working in front of the television. Of course, you can have your splurge days to do this every once in a while, but generally speaking these things are not conducive to getting work done in an efficient manner, and will negatively affect your ability to meet your daily goals.

So remember that now is a great opportunity to really focus on improving your time management skills, which will result in you easily making those expected grades or even improving your academic performance overall. Additionally, if you figure out more efficient ways to work, you’ll have a lot more free time to spend doing things that are fun without needing to worry about what you ‘should’ be doing.

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So you missed the UCAS deadline…

At 6pm on the 15th January every year, secondary-school and college teachers up and down the land heave a collective sigh of relief. Why? Because at that exact moment the infamous UCAS 15th January deadline is reached, and it means the amount of time they have to spend on UCAS applications tails off dramatically. So life is now a little easier for your teachers. But what if you missed the UCAS deadline? Does this mean that you are now effectively locked out of the uni world until the autumn of 2015?

Well, no, not really, even if it does mean that your options in terms of courses and institutions is now a bit more restricted. Allow us to explain the implications of the 15th January cut-off point to those of you who had been hoping to go to university later this year but missed the UCAS deadline.

The 15th January deadline is often seen as the big, final deadline, with the 15th October one being for Oxbridge applicants and medics, vets and dentists only. This is because the 15th January deadline applies to all courses and universities, barring a few more niche art and design courses.

However, this 15th January deadline does not represent anything like a complete end to the UCAS application process, meaning that if you missed the UCAS deadline you still have plenty of chances to apply to go to university this year. The deadline is in many ways more of a cut off point for universities, because all this date amounts to is the point after which they are no longer obliged to consider new applications.

In other words, missing the 15th January deadline just means that there is no guarantee that the universities you’re applying to will consider your application, and nothing more. Now, for some courses that have received thousands upon thousands of applications already, this may mean that applications will no longer be considered if the admissions tutors feel they’ve got enough students with the expected grades and skills to choose from.

But this isn’t necessarily a large group of courses. Since the introduction of higher tuition fees a few years ago, there have been fewer applications for places at university. And this means that even the best universities will still be willing to consider applications for some of their courses. So even if you missed the UCAS deadline, there’s still a good chance that your application will be considered.

Furthermore, by applying in the next few months, you’ll also be eligible for UCAS Extra, a service through which students are able to resubmit their applications to universities that participate in the initiative. So even if your initial application didn’t get the desired results, you’ll be able to have a second go at getting a place on a course that takes your fancy. Looking even further forward, you’ll also be eligible to apply to universities through clearing. And if recent clearing sessions are anything to go by, there’ll be plenty of great courses from the top universities on offer then, too.

So if you missed the UCAS deadline, don’t despair! There’s still every chance that you’ll be heading off to uni come September if you get your act together and submit your application soon.

Posted in university, courses-section |

The UCAS deadline

With January 15th quickly approaching, it can only mean one thing. You have just a couple more days to get your applications in before the UCAS deadline to be guaranteed consideration for an undergraduate course. Of course many deadlines have already come and gone so hopefully you’re not just starting to contemplate your application now, and you’re already aware of which course you wish to do and where. But even if you haven’t actually made a start on your application, you can still get one in on time. If this is your situation, take a deep breath and focus on these aspects of the application.

First and foremost in order to meet the UCAS deadline, make sure you have referees and that they’ll be able to get your application ready in time! Most teachers will have quite a bit of experience writing reference letters, so it shouldn’t actually take them very long to do this. But of course, most teachers also have a big list of other things that they need to be getting on with. So while it’s still possible that they’ll be able to find the time to be your referee, you need to get in touch with them now and see if they can find the time to do it. It’s not a bad idea to contact a few people so that if someone doesn’t have time you’ll have already started out the process for someone else to step in. And remember to always thank your referees, especially if they’re writing your reference at the last minute.

Get your personal statement written (we’ve done a few posts in the past on how to organise and cut down on personal statements so check those out if you need some pointers). You’ve not got a huge amount of time left before the UCAS deadline, but you can still pull this off too. When writing, focus on your motivation, your educational and work experiences that have prepared you for the course to which you’re applying, extracurricular activities and how the course fits in with your career aspirations. Things to keep in mind when writing your personal statement are to not get too bogged down in detail. For example, with educational or work experience try to consider what skills you picked up along the way rather than providing a play-by-play of everything you did at each meeting that you attended. Try to get someone else to read over your statement as well, as this will help you find any awkward sounding bits and ensure that the reader understands what you’re saying.

Lastly, even though we’re getting close to the UCAS deadline, don’t cut corners with your application. Above all don’t be tempted to copy a personal statement from your friend or from a text you found online. Not only will this statement not be personalised and will therefore not really provide the details that you want it to, but the chances are that you will get caught, damaging your chances of getting into any programme.

So spend the next two days focusing on completing anything you need to do for the UCAS deadline. But even if you don’t quite get an application passed in on time, don’t panic. There will still be university opportunities available to you, and we’ll explain it all to you in the next post.

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Teaching English as a Foreign Language

When nearing graduation, many students seem to have the next step of their life all figured out. Perhaps a graduate job, postgraduate studies or even going on to do a conversion course in a subject like law. The often unspoken part of all this is that a lot of students have no idea what they’ll do post university. This can be really overwhelming and may leave you feeling like you need to rush into some professional and long-term post, which you may or may not actually be interested in. There are other options for you though that can buy you some time while you figure out the next steps.

Teaching English as a foreign language (or TEFL) is something you’ve probably heard of, and you may even know some people who have gone down this route. There are a lot of pros to giving this a go, from the opportunity to travel and explore, meet new people, help out those who want to improve their English and in some cases make quite a good living. Of course, it’s not all just fun and games. You do have to prepare lessons in your own time (something which you should take seriously if you want to be a good teacher and of use to your students, although do note that seriously doesn’t necessarily mean you have to spend hours on each class), sometimes slog your way through difficult classes and often times teach children who have no interest in learning English!

So you’re now thinking about teaching English as a job upon graduation, but is it really worth it? After all, in a year or two you’ll be back in the same position of having to get on with a “real” job. Well, to this we say yes. A lot of the skills you’ve learned during university are applied in teaching English, and in turn will be applicable to jobs in the future. Skills like time management, showing initiative, flexibility and leadership are all essential for working as an English teacher, as are presentation skills. All of these are likely to be of great use when you go on to find your next job, and it certainly won’t look bad on your CV to show that you can apply these in an actual job role as well as in your academic studies.

If you do think that this is a job that you’d be interested in trying, there are a few things you should consider. It’s a really good idea to do a TEFL training course before you get a job. A lot of companies will require this anyway, but it will certainly help you to better understand how to go about teaching a class and get some feedback from people who have been doing this for years. The CELTA and Trinity Certificate of TESOL are the two main certifications that are accepted. They’re a bit pricey, but it’s probably worth it to get a certification that will be accepted by most companies. Google them to find out more about prices, places where you can study and the various time lines involved (most intense courses last about a month but you can do it part time over a longer period of time).

So while you may have in your mind the idea that teaching English is for those avoiding living in the real world, it can actually lead you to develop some essential skills that will in turn help you progress in your chosen field, all at the same time as giving you a bit of time to think about what that chosen field is. And you never know – you may even find a new, unexpected passion in TEFL and make your next career step right there.

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More tips for getting through exams

In the last post, we gave you a few tips for getting through exams. In this post, we’ll give you a few more. Some of them will probably seem obvious, but putting them into practice can be harder said than done.

One crucial thing that you can do during this period (especially when you get to the final days of studying and into actually taking your exams) is to continue to get enough rest. It’s not an unusual occurrence that around this time of year students will start to stay up later and later trying to cram as much knowledge into their heads as possible. This may be aided by the fact that many university libraries are open 24 hours during this period. We’re certainly not saying that you shouldn’t study at night. You should do what’s best for you. But do make sure that you’re getting the equivalent of a full night of sleep even if it’s during the day. Quick power naps followed by more studying are going to do a lot less for you overall than if you spend less time studying but get a good night (or day) of sleep. If you do opt for late night study sessions though, one thing to keep in mind is that you won’t be writing your exams during the night. It might be a good idea not to let your body clock get too out of line with the exam schedule.

Another area where a lot of students often do more harm than good is in diet, especially during this time. Late nights and tons of cram sessions don’t leave much time for cooking balanced meals (and let’s face it – cooking isn’t necessarily a strong point for many students at the best of times). It would be completely unrealistic for us to tell you not to indulge in some quick meals or snacks, and especially to completely change your diet to something completely balanced. But remember that you do need to keep your brain and body working. Living on crisps, redbull and pizza for several weeks is probably not going to leave you in great shape for the exam. Try and fit in proper meals with some fruit and veg and maybe even some fish, which will not only give you energy but is also commonly known as brain food. How can you go wrong with that? Staying hydrated by drinking lots of water will also help you in getting through exams in one piece.

On a slightly different note, another problem that many students encounter is getting hung up on what to expect in your exam. Your lecturers should have given you some information on the format of the exams you’ll be taking, and you should hopefully have some idea on the material that will be covered. But you may still be a bit unsure about what to expect when you actually go in to take your exam. If this is the case, it may be worth checking out whether there are past exams that you can access. Often your department secretary or even subject librarian will have some information about how to get hold of these. The exam that you take will obviously be different to any that are available, but doing one or two can be a great way to test your readiness. Comparing a few of them will also likely give you a clearer idea of what to expect in terms of the format of what you’re going to face. Past exams won’t be available in all programmes, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to ask.

If you follow these tips for getting through exams, study smart and take care of your body, you’ll be much more likely to come out of the exam period feeling sane enough to get started with the next semester!

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Tips for getting through exams this January

With the holidays officially over, it’s time to stop stuffing our faces with leftovers and chocolate and get back down to business. For many of you, that probably means preparing for exams. There’s no way around it – this is going to be a stressful period. So today we’re highlighting a few tips for getting through exams. Pick the things which you think will work best for you and make a concerted effort at integrating them into your study routine. Remember that passing your exams is important, but coming out the other side with enough energy and brain power to start next semester on the right foot is going to help you out more in the long run.

The first suggestion for getting through exams is to study with others. This may sound obvious, but choosing who to study with can be a bit tricky. It might seem that working with those who are doing really well in a given subject is the clear way to go. And for some people, this could be the best way to go about group studying. After all, this gives you the chance to ask for clarification on things you don’t understand. But you could also give consideration to working with someone who isn’t doing as well. They’re more likely to ask you lots of questions, and this gives you the chance to explain concepts, facts and theories, thus testing yourself on how well you know the material. This can help highlight areas that you need to review in more detail before going in to take the exam.

If you’re considering doing group study sessions, another idea for getting through exams is to make a game of it. You can take turns being quiz master and asking questions of the others – maybe a different person is chosen to answer each question, or you all have to write down an answer on your own sheet of paper before you do a comparison. To make it a little more exciting and to create further incentive to do well, you can even come up with a scoring system and all chip in for a small prize. This type of activity can make studying a bit more fun, help remind you of potentially forgotten titbits of information and even help you to better recall that information when you’re actually taking the exam.

Another tip for getting through exams is to not get too bogged down in all the detail when you’re doing your review. As you go over your notes, you’ll probably find that you have way more information than you could ever hope to remember. Start off your studying by focusing on the things the lecturer has said multiple times or has suggested is likely to be on the exam. Then you can work your way out from there, trying to get a good grasp on the main themes, methods or calculations discussed in the lectures and readings. It’s only once you’ve got these covered and feel comfortable with them that you should really focus in more detail on the little bits that were mentioned only in passing. Often times these may be worth a few extra points but the bulk of your exam will be made up of the points that were covered in more detail.

All of this may seem obvious, but it’s easy to get a bit lost in your review sessions. Take regular breaks and try to switch up your study locales and methods every once in a while. Stay tuned, because in the next post we’ll highlight a few more tips for getting through exams.

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Things you could achieve in the new year

2014 is now here, and this means new beginnings. A lot of people will have made new year’s resolutions, whether it’s to get more exercise, quit a bad habit or learn a new language. Perhaps you’ve already made your new year’s resolutions, but if not then this blog post is for you. We won’t tell you what your new year’s resolutions should be of course, but perhaps we can give you some motivation by making a few suggestions about what you can achieve with a few well-placed new year’s resolutions.

A new job: the start of a new year is a great time to think about your job situation. Now this doesn’t mean you should quit your current job as soon as possible, or even start applying for every job available at this time. But you can start considering what sort of job you’d like to do, and take small steps to make that happen. Assess where you might find job postings in that area and bookmark it so you can periodically check back for new postings, and make sure your CV is up-to-date and highlights the key skills you’ll need for that job description.

Better grades: January brings not only a new year, but also a new semester at school or university. The start of a new session is a great time to think about achieving better grades. Of course, it’s easy to say this, but making the necessary changes can be a different game. Think about small, realistic changes that you can make to improve your grades. Perhaps it’s reviewing your notes at the end of every week, recording your lectures or starting a study group with friends. Make a resolution to do those things and get doing them!

A life-changing adventure: whether you’re finishing up A-levels and thinking about the next step, getting ready to graduate from university or even part way through your degree, why not think about a bit of an adventure? Even if you don’t get to go on your adventure until 2015, you can start saving money, checking out cities you’d like to visit and perhaps even study a new language a bit. Ask some of your friends if they’d like to join too. You can keep each other on track both with saving up some money and with staying excited and motivated to have an amazing adventure.

Of course, you may have new year’s resolutions of your own already. But if you’re still thinking about how to make positive changes to your life, consider some of these ideas. They’re all possible. Just remember that it’s about making small new year’s resolutions to lead to your bigger goal. And happy new year.

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Gap year regions: Africa, Latin America and Oceania

After a trekking across the northern hemisphere in our last two blog posts on the major gap year regions of the world, today we’re going to finish off our tour by sweeping across Africa, Latin America and Oceania.

Africa

Africa is probably the least visited continent by people on gap years, perhaps because here in the West it is a continent that we are all too quick to associate with instability and danger. While North Africa is still in the midst of political volatility and sub-Saharan Africa is by no means the safest region of the world, those with a true sense of stepping outside of their comfort zone tend to come back from Africa with tales of experiences of life-changing proportions.

Things you can do: There are abundant volunteering opportunities in teaching, the environment, healthcare, agriculture and tourism–and they’re opportunities that will allow you to make a real difference to a local community.

An ideal destination for: people who want a gap year that is based around making a contribution to people and communities.

Maybe not for you if: you’d like a gap year where you can take a free and easy approach; backpacking from city to city and across borders is far trickier here than elsewhere.

Latin America

Latin America has undergone huge changes in recent decades, leaving behind the dictatorships and instability that characterized it for much of the twentieth century. And in the process it’s become firmly on the gap year map. There’s a bit of everything here to suit all different gap year tastes, from volunteering to raucous partying in some of the world’s hippest cities.

Things you can do: Backpacking in the truest gap year tradition; volunteering in teaching and conservation.

An ideal destination for: people who’d like to mix being involved in a voluntary project with a stint of carefree backpacking. It’s also a great destination if you want to pick up Spanish, one of the world’s major languages, as part of your adventure.

Maybe not for you if: Latin America is a more culturally homogenous region than some of the other ones we’ve looked at here, so if you’re looking for huge changes of scene in short distances, Southeast Asia may be a better bet.

Oceania

Our world tour ends in Oceania. And although this region is the furthest from the UK, in terms of culture and language it’s perhaps closer to home than all the other ones we’ve looked at. Nevertheless, Australia and New Zealand offer experiences that gap yearers have been raving about on their return home for years.

Things you can do: Backpacking through hip cities, beach communities, mountain ranges; working via a BUNAC visa.

An ideal destination for: people who are looking to combine the crazy fun times of travelling through Southeast Asia with the sort of familiarity you’d get by going to North America.

Maybe not for you if: You’re looking to use your gap year to challenge yourself by immersing yourself in a totally different society.

Posted in Uncategorized, Gap years | Tagged , |

Gap Year Regions: North America and East Asia

On Monday we kicked off a series of blog posts looking at the main regions that attract gap year adventurers. Having started close to home with a look at Europe, today we turn our attentions to North America and East Asia.

North America

Like with heading to Europe, a gap year in North America represents a bit less of a culture shock than heading to other continents. Or so you might think. While the language is the same, and many of people’s reference points are the same (switch on a TV and there’s a good chance you’ll be familiar with what’s on), in many different, imperceptible ways the US and Canada will represent a truly exciting change of scene, whether in the form of vast, open spaces or skyscraper-packed metropolises.

Things you can do: an epic road trip that is free of many of the backpacker clichs of locations such as Australia and Southeast Asia; working with a BUNAC visa (Canada only); working with kids at a summer camp.

An ideal destination for: people who are looking for a decisively new cultural experience while not having to come up against a language barrier.

Maybe not for you if: you’ve been inspired to take a gap year by the almost mythical tales of backpacking hedonism that people who head to Australia, South America and Southeast Asia come back with, North America may prove a touch reserved for your tastes. Working opportunities in the USA are also fairly limited.

East Asia

Now we’re getting into the more exotic end of gap year travelling. Really we’re not doing justice to the full range of the diversity of a region spanning from the Indian subcontinent to the shores of Indonesia and Japan here, but in truth there’s probably not enough blog space in the world to explain the full breadth and depth of its magic. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for shrines that date back millennia, a totally different way of life and fellow travellers from all over the globe, then there’s something here for you.

Things you can do: volunteering in conservation, teaching and healthcare; backpacking in exploring diverse cities and natural landscapes by day and travelling by night

An ideal destination for: people who are looking to travel to a completely, utterly different society while sharing the experience with fellow travellers.

Maybe not for you if: you are looking for a gap year experience that doesn’t take you quite so far away from home and doesn’t require extensive preparation in terms of injections and itineraries.

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Gap year regions: Europe

If you’re in your final year of school and have set your heart on taking a gap year, or are currently on a gap year but as of yet haven’t yet settled on what to do with it between January and September, the chances are you’ll have noticed that picking a destination to go to (if you’re planning on leaving these shores, of course), can be quite daunting.

It’s a big ol’ world out there, with each one of the Earth’s continents having its own unique characteristics, climates and cultures. On one level this fact is something to be marvelled at and a source of inspiration that can only encourage you to try and see it all over the course of your lifetime.

But in other respects this diversity and abundance of places and people to discover can make the task of planning a gap year difficult. After all, although you can go abroad at any point after you graduate if you set your mind to it, you still only get one gap year before university. So you need to choose exactly where you’re going to go and what you’re going to do wisely.

Whenever you’re confronted with a big range of options, the best thing to do is often to get them all down in writing, so you’ve got all your different options in one place. And in that spirit, today and over the next couple of weeks week we’re going to do a rundown of the main regions of the world that a gap year can take you to. Where can you go? And what can you do while you’re there? Let’s find out!

Europe

Let’s start off close to home. Europe is often overlooked as a gap year destination, most likely because people regard what’s close to them as mundane. But that’s a big mistake to make. Europe is packed with many of the world’s most culturally and historically fascinating cities, a hugely diverse range of customs and landscapes and, above all, loads of opportunities for having a great gap year adventure.

Things you can do: backpacking and interrailing; teaching English as a foreign language; casual work in a new city (you’re free to work anywhere in the EU without a visa); attending language school

An ideal destination for: people looking for the flexibility that comes with heading to a continent where you don’t need to have to make visa and medical arrangements in and that benefits from great transport links between cities.

Maybe not for you if: you’ve had the good fortune to experience a good slice of European life in the past and are now looking to venture further afield, or if you want to base your gap year around volunteering to help people.

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