You are not too stupid for your studies, you have to study smarter

You are not too stupid for your studies, you have to study smarter

Have you received a poor grade and are you feeling stupid now? Good news: you don't have to be particularly intelligent to get your degree. It works with these tips too.

Just the good news: if you read this article, you are smart enough to go to college. Whatever your grade list says. "It is a matter of selection," says Mirjam Pol, author of 'Even smarter'. “If you are in university, you have passed the preselection. So you are smart and motivated enough. "

It is a message that Pol regularly repeats to medical students that she sees as a study advisor. “Sometimes you really see those shoulders of relief go down. Then they have poor grades and they have told themselves that they are too stupid for their studies. ”But those who have poor study results do not need a brain transplant, but something else.

Plan and focus

Rutger Kappe, lecturer in study success at Inholland University of Applied Sciences and student counselor at the Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, knows exactly what students need to get good grades. In 2011 he obtained his Ph.D. on research into the most important factors for study success. The best predictor of that success is not how smart, but how conscientious the student is. Kappe: “It's about how planned and organized someone is. Whether someone can focus and has a goal. ”Being successful is five times more important for study success than high intelligence. "If you work harder, you'll get better grades than a smart guy who doesn't do much."

He often encounters them: students who easily completed VWO and now think that they can continue their studies in the same way during their studies. Kappe: “At the university, you can no longer read everything at the last minute. You can't make it with that. Students who have had to work hard to achieve VWO are certainly not doing less well in the first year of study. They just continue to work hard. "

You can make mistakes

How students think about themselves and their study results also influences their study success. Study adviser Pol explains that there are different ways to look at success and failure. “People with a static mindset think you are smart or not. They let their self-image depend on their study results. With a good mark, their self-esteem goes up, with low marks go down. That way your self-image is very vulnerable, that's sad. ”

The bad effect of this is that students with such a static mindset get stressed with bad grades. “And all that stress costs a lot of memory in your brain. As a result, you have less energy and capacity to absorb dust. ”Which in turn leads to a downward spiral.

“People with a less static mindset know that mistakes are allowed. Their entire self-confidence does not depend on what numbers. If they fail, they investigate what they can do better next time. ”In her book Studying without stress, she explains how students can look at themselves more positively and thus achieve better results. 

Ask for help

Planning, setting goals and ticking off all lists sounds such fun. But what if you happen to be a terrible chaoot? "Your personality is largely fixed around the age of twenty," says Kappe. “If you are very unorganized, you will not learn that with one course. And you probably don't really enjoy learning that. The harder you find that the sooner you have to get started. ”Fortunately, the university offers a whole arsenal of resources. "If you know this is a point for you, make use of it."

Tips for studying smarter

• Sorry, sorry, first the most obvious tip ever. Go to all lectures. Students who do that get higher grades. It is an easy way to work regularly with your studies.

• Set small goals per course and make schedules. Going to college on Monday and making a summary on Tuesday are clear goals. Checking something off on your to-do list gives you a good feeling.

• Test yourself. If you have studied for twenty minutes, then repeat out of your head what you have just learned in one minute. If you cannot explain aloud what you have read, the material is not right. Do the same at the end of the learning day for the knowledge of that day. And once a week for the entire week.

• Take a break. Or two. Those who study for hours at a time, no longer absorb the material properly. Do something different every hour, keep fresh. In any case, it is wise to also plan leisure time during exam weeks. To Netflix without feeling guilty or to meet up with friends. You also need to recuperate to study with new energy.

• Parents who are divorced, family members who are seriously ill or a depression that you feel are coming. These are all good reasons to take it easy for a while. The better you feel, the better your results will be. If you really need to get out, consult your study advisor on how you can best tackle this.

• Don't worry about a motivation dip. Students who go to university passionately every day do not exist. With good planning and keeping track of everything, you will also pass your courses without being wildly enthusiastic. 

• Do not work too much in addition to your studies. Students with a part-time job plan better and are more efficient. But if you spend more than 12-15 hours a week on a part-time job, you will incur a faster study delay.

If you need a home tutor to also assist you with your studies in Singapore, you may check out the tuition rates here to engage a private tutor.