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I don’t think I can explain how much I depend on coffee to function.

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I visited a labyrinthine book store with a friend today.

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I put all my highlighters in these cute Dino pots ft. National Treasure in the background :)

Also I know I have too many highlighters please leave me alone, thanks x

#studyblr #studyspiration #study blog #uk study blog #school #follow for follow #highlighters #zebra mildliner #national treasure

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It’s a bit late but here’s a mind map on the 2020 US election (very brief but I think it’s cute for the 20 minutes it took me).

#studyblr #studyspiration #study blog #uk study blog #school #mindmap #follow for follow #politics alevel #us politics #2020 us election

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• 6/11/20 •

haven't posted in a while so here's a little glimpse of my productive weekend at home :))

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Number 1: I’m back yay.

Number 2: expect an influx of content as I take pictures over the next few days.

Number 3: this above is the start of my content book for sociology, basically what I’m doing is making a double sided page of notes for each topic. I know a lot of people make typed versions of these but I really struggle writing and reading typed notes (probably due to my dyslexia but idk). Any way I’ll keep you updated as I make more of them and if anyone wants a copy of a specific topic feel free to let me know and I can get it to you.

As always many thanks and have a nice day everyone xxx

#studyblr #studyspiration #study blog #uk study blog #school #follow for follow #sociology #sociology alevel

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30|10|2020

Day 30 of My Studyblr Community Challenge!

✨ What are three things about yourself that you love? ✨

my eyes! i get compliments on them all the time 

i love how empathetic i am and how care about others

my values. i think it’s really important to know what you think and to make sure that you are living in a ay that is kind and open to everyone! but i think that i am still open to change my opinion if i learn more about a subject 

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This is a post where you can find all of my advice given in long text posts and asks very easily, all in one place, so you don’t need to search through the tags. My ask box is always open if you ever want advice or support. I will try my best to answer as fully as possible and help you out. I will update this post with the posts as I do them. 

How To Start A Studyblr 

this is one of my most commonly asked questions so here is a really long post where i give you all of my tips on how to start a studyblr and also get involved in the community

How To Stop Procrastinating

in this post, i give you some of my tips for how to stop procrastinating and getting productive. i include both some conventional tips but also some unconventional ones that you can try out.

How To Annotate

i give you all of my best tips for annotating - both in general and more specifically for literature (novels, plays and poetry) - from my own experiences and some research 

My Experiences With GCSEs

in this post i talk about what i did to revise for the first external exams i’ve done. even though the title sounds very specific, it mostly gives all my advice on revision techniques and preparing for exams.

The Best Apps for Students

as the name suggest, in this post i give some of my favourite apps for students and the ones that i use all the time

List of Essay Questions for Foreign Languages (for Beginners)

this was answer to an ask but i think it deserves to be in this section. basically i give a bunch of questions separated into different categories that could be used to build an essay or just as writing practice for beginners in a foreign language. they are all given in english but they can be easily translated. 

My Favourite Pens (2019)

i am a huge stationery lover so in this post (which was my very first big post) i give some of my absolute favourites

My Study Routine during Exam Season

Tips for Staying Focused (with ADHD)

Motivation/Discipline tips

Talking about My Motivation

Tips for When You Are Feeling Overworked or Anxious and How Keep Up with Your Work

Tips for When You are Having a Rough Day

Tips for Taking Studyblr Pictures

My A Levels and How Hard They Are

Tips for Starting a Studyblr and How to Get Involved in the Community: [Ask 1] [Ask 2]

How to Make Friends on Studyblr

Tips for Doing Languages at A Level

Books, Films and TV Shows to Practice German

2020 Quarantine Challenge : March - July 2020

Summer Studying Challenge: July - September 2020

The Studyblr Community Challenge: Can be done at any time

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reblog so your followers won’t forget to drink water

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Personal Statement Advice

*let me amend that title to ‘some quick tips for writing personal statements that I have accumulated, but don’t take my word for it because I have no idea how good mine is!’

General

give yourself time - it takes a while to write your personal statement, what with drafting, editing, sending to other people, and having time to sit on it before going back to work on it. You can’t cram a personal statement! Especially for early entry apps, people tend to do a first draft over the summer of Year 12. I really wish I had because I started in early September and was quite stressed out

keep it 100% focused - admissions tutors want to hear about 2 things: 

motivation: why you love your subject and want to study it for 3+ years

suitability: why should they choose you? What skills do you possess that mean you will cope well with studying at university level and succeed in your field

before you start, do your research

know which universities you’re applying to - different unis want to see different things in a personal statement. The classic example is that Oxbridge don’t really care about your extra-curriculars, and just want to know about your academic interest in the subject. It’s worth researching this before you apply so you can try to tick the boxes for all your unis

balancing different unis - if you’re applying to Oxbridge, generally the guideline is to make your personal statement 80% academic at least. Don’t get too hung up on that though - they only look at it at the interview stage, whereas other unis use it to shortlist, especially if they don’t interview!! So ironically it’s more important to try and appeal to your other unis

What to include

structure for each paragraph - okay this may sound a bit basic and take you back to the horrors of gcse english, but a really useful way of making sure you fully explore all your points is using the PEE paragraph. I appreciate this is too formulaic for some people, but it doesn’t have to be in this exact order. I just used it as a guide to make sure each paragraph I wrote covered these elements

Point: motivation (why subject) or suitability (why me)

Evidence: thing you’ve done (list of examples below)

Explanation: what you learned and link it back to your point. Be reflective!!

okay now on to content - let’s split this into academic and extra-curricular

academic - this is the example section of your PEE, where you get to talk about all the amazing things you’ve done that demonstrate your passion for the subject

reading you’ve done, podcasts you’ve listened to, lectures you went to, work experience you did, societies / clubs you’re part of that are relevant to your subject, summer schools etc

extra-curricular - okay so you definitely can include extra-curriculars, but always link back to the skills you’ve learned from them (and possibly why that will help you in your subject area) e.g. being a captain of x team sport has helped me develop both my leadership and team work skills, because I must raise the morale of my team and delegate roles efficiently

here I have tried to give some examples of things that this person does in their role to develop the skills they mention

also, if you talk about an interest / hobby, try to quantify it - if you do a team sport, are you captain? If you play an instrument, what grade have you reached? If you run, have you done any significant distances e.g. a 10K? It just gives some evidence that you genuinely do your chosen hobby

Actually writing it

where to start - I found it really difficult to start writing that first draft, and essentially only got going when I had a school deadline to meet in early September… I was really freaked out by that blank Word document, but my dad basically sat me down and we did a huge messy plan to create a structure

by the way for me the struggle wasn’t ‘omg idk what to write i have nothing to say’ but more ‘omg i have so much to say but no idea how to express it’. If you fall into the former category I recommend making a list of all the academic experiences you have (see list above). Once you get brainstorming you’ll realise you’ve done more than you thought!

the first draft - use your plan to attempt your first draft. Completely ignore the character/line limit! It doesn’t matter if it’s rubbish, just focus on getting it all out - keep going until you finish writing everything you want to say

feedback - it’s really important to get a fresh pair of eyes to read your personal statement. When you’ve read it so many times it can be hard to spot errors and see where things don’t flow etc. The 3 most important things to remember when asking for feedback:

1. do it at intervals - my head of year read my first draft, then I asked a doctor I had shadowed to read my 4th draft, my head of year re-read it at my 5th draft, and then I finalised it with my parents for the 6th and final drafts (yep I did 7 drafts)

2. re-draft (lots ugh) after you get feedback - decide which bits to incorporate, but don’t be afraid to disagree with the advice you are given! It’s your personal statement

3. don’t ask too many people - they may give you conflicting views which will just confuse you rather than help. As you can see, I stuck to 2 ‘outsiders’ and my parents

the beginning - most people find this the hardest part. The best advice I’ve heard is basically not to start with the start! If you’re struggling, do the middle paragraphs first, and these might give you inspiration for your intro. Try to think of a moment, an experience, or a person you’ve met that really influenced your decision to study your subject, or encapsulates why you love your subject

the ending - okay you’ve given all your evidence so don’t introduce anything too new. Try not to repeat yourself but this is essentially a summary of 1) motivation / why subject and then close it off with 2) suitability / why me

Useful Posts

UCAS Personal Statements by @briefblazeunknown 

Top Tips for Your Personal Statement by @muststudy 

How to Write a Bomb Ass Personal Statement by @joolshallie 

A Guide to UCAS Personal Statements by @jenniestudies 

How to Ace the UCAS Process #4: Personal Statement by @penandanotebook (the rest of this series is really good too so definitely check it out!)

How to Make Your Personal Statement Suck Less by @hstudies

Good Vocabulary to Use in Your Personal Statement by me 

Medicine specific

Top Tips for a Medicine Personal Statement by @help-im-a-medstudent (I actually requested this post and I’m so grateful because it’s amazing!)

Applying to Medicine: How to Write Your Personal Statement by @quilavastudy 

Writing Your Medicine Personal Statement by @conquertheuniversity 

Personal statement advice and qualities that Medical Schools are looking for by @dxmedstudent  

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The French Revolution: a short summary

The French monarchy:

The Bastille: *exists*

The French people:

King Louis XVI:

The French people:

An unending amount of revolutionary leaders:

The guillotine:

The French people:

Napoleon:

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I’m back guys be prepared for new stuff in the next few days :)

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hi ! need more content on my dashboard so im gonna follow studyblrs. pls reblog thanks 🌞

stay safe everyone!

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Day 5/100 of productivity

Does screaming at your university to reinstate your web access to your student portal via 10000 emails to different addresses because every time you think you’ve got in contact with the right person they direct you to someone else -if you get a response at all- count as productivity?

To calm my frustrations I sat outside this evening and read and had some tea with my dad 🌞

🎶 Fernando - ABBA

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