#msgadvice

[sensiblestudy]

Hi ! I noticed you were Irish and in your second year of college. I was wondering either you go to college in Ireland. If so what is the college system like ? What are the timetables like ? That kind of thing. Thanks for your time 💛

hi there! yes, I do go to college in Ireland! I’ll gladly explain some things to you! 

Grades: so I see you’re a secondary school student, right? I’m not too familiar with the new leaving cert grading system, but I’m sure you’re still aware of the A1, A2, B1, etc. system! that’s how you’re graded in college! each subject area might have different standards for their grades, for example for me, in philosophy an A1 is 80%+ but in psychology an A1 is 90%+! although I do know that most subjects (at least I think) tend to say an A1 is 75%+

so then as well as these types of grades, you also get a QCA, which is kinda hard to explain and it’s never really properly explained to you in college lol but from my understanding it’s basically like a total of your grades, and it’s given in numerical form. the highest you can get is 4.00, so the closer you are to this, the better! you get a QCA at the end of each semester, and they’re accumulated, so basically if you do really well in one semester and get a good QCA, you might do badly the next and get a bad QCA, which will then bring down your overall QCA value... I really hope this makes some sort of sense lol!!

also!! idk for certain if this applies to every course (maybe the 4 year courses?? idk) but usually your first year grades don’t go towards your final degree so if you don’t have a great QCA it’s not the end of the world, it gets wiped! although it will still be on your record, and it may be looked at if let’s say you and a ton of other people apply to study abroad at the same place, they might then take a look at everyone’s first year grades to compare them

Timetable: not too sure what to say here because everyone’s is going to be different, but in general you should have less hours than school!! pretty sure in first year I had about 14/15 hours a week... I was expecting it to stay the same or even go down as I progressed but last semester I had about 18 hours and this semester I have like 20 lol

Workload: again, this will vary drastically between disciplines and degrees. I’m an arts student, and I have a ton of assignments. first semester of first year I had 6, second semester I had 9, and last semester I had 10. how fun lol. but then I have a friend who does business and only gets like... 2 or 3 assignments every semester and they’re usually group projects. but in general you will have assignments in some (or all) modules which will go towards your grade for that module. some modules are just assignment-based, and some are a mix of assignments and an exam. and of course some will just have an exam worth 100% but I’ve never had that, personally. actually I think some people also have midterm exams, which would be in-class I assume, but again I’ve never had any

Failing: one thing that’s totally new for us peeps coming in from Irish secondary school, is that you have to pass all of your modules. in secondary if you fail any class tests you do in a subject it’s not really going to stop you from progressing to the next year. but in college, you need to pass all of your modules. if you fail a module, you then have to take a repeat exam (which you have to pay for, they can be pricey) which usually take place in August, I think. then if you fail that exam, you will have to go back and repeat the whole module. 

Other stuff: some general advice I’d give you is to definitely stay on top of your work as much as possible! go to (most of) your lectures and be sure to take some notes! use any of the facilities on offer, for example my college offers an academic learning centre where students can bring drafts of their assignments and someone working in there will read it with you and give you advice on how to improve it, in terms of grammar and just academic style. 

That’s all I can think of right now, but please, if you have any more specific questions don’t be afraid to ask me!! I legit love college so much and I’m always more than happy to talk to people about it and give advice!!

Take care!!!

[sensiblestudy]

Hello! First of all, I just want to say that your blog is so beautiful! Second, I was wondering what got you interested in studying philosophy and psychology! I love the psych class I'm taking now in high school and would like to maybe take it in uni too even though I dont plan to major or minor in it. I hope you're having a great weekend :)

Hey there! Ohhh nice question! I guess they’re both subjects I’ve always had interest in, even without realising it! I’ve always been a thinker, like I’ve always questioned things! so that’s what really drew me to philosophy. I remember when I was in 5th year (the second-last year of secondary school) and we had a speaker come in from the college I’m at, and he mentioned how you can study philosophy there and my heart race lol! I was like “wait what? you can STUDY that????” and I was also interested in Psychology because I love people and I thought I’d really enjoy finding out about how the mind works and everything like that. But, the only psychology course (that I knew about) had REALLY high entry points, which I knew I’d never get. So when I found out that I could study philosophy and psychology together, I knew I had to go for it. They’re just very me, haha! I love both, but I definitely prefer philosophy! I’d say it’s a great idea to continue it in uni, it’s such an interesting subject and can be fun to study! Good luck with everything!!!

[sensiblestudy]

I've just started first year doing philosophy and religion at a lower tier university and am trying to inspire myself to be the very best I can. I want to try an apply to Oxbridge for postgraduate and this is motivating me but also I feel like I'm just kidding myself it would ever be possible. I'm not sure there's a question here but if I put in everything I've got is it worth aiming for this?

Hi there! (sorry if I’m replying super late, I’m on mobile and can’t see when you sent this lol) gosh seriously go for it PLEASE!! don’t give up, I’m sure you can do it!! if you don’t try then you’ll more than likely end up regretting it and thinking “what if?” so please please please go for it and try your hardest and I’m sure you’ll get there! don’t give up!

[sensiblestudy]

I have very bad depression and even tho I do take medication I can't wake up early enough to make it to my 1st pd class and I end up missing everything. I don't even have a friend to give me notes that I can copy notes from, what do you suggest I do about missing all the class work and hw?

hi there! aww, I’m very sorry to hear that. do you think you would be comfortable maybe explaining everything to the teacher? they might be willing to email you the notes and let you know about the homework? or you could also maybe check the syllabus and try to keep up with it? I don’t know what sort of facilities your school has (or are you in college?) but there may be someone you could go and speak to about it? maybe like a counselling service? you could maybe explain it to someone there and they might be able to advise you more than I would, since they would obviously have more knowledge of your school than I would! actually, if you speak to the teacher/counsellor/anyone from any other student services, they might be able to get one of the students in the class to maybe help you out? they could send you on notes and whatnot! I wish you all the best! if you have any more specific questions you can ask me too! 

[sensiblestudy]

My study blog gets no traffic :( Do you have any tips? Do I not sound approachable? I'm not sure what to do... I know likes/reblogs aren't the point of having a studyblr but it's not very motivating

I’m honestly not sure if I have many tips, since I seriously don’t think I do anything in particular that results in me gaining the followers I do! but I think it does help to post some original stuff every now and then! doesn’t even have to be photos, but it could be things like regular updates on how your study is going and whatnot! be sure to use tags such as #studyblr, #studyspo, #studymotivation, #studyspiration, etc. so other study blogs see them! also, try having a nice, clear theme on your blog. one that people can easily navigate! other than that, maybe try and interact with people regularly! talk to people, try to make friends and just offer people a chance to talk! things like that! I’m sorry that I don’t really have specific advice, I just literally don’t know why my blog has been gaining so much!

[sensiblestudy]

What do for be focused? (Sorry for my english,I am Brazilian)

don’t worry, I know what you mean!

for me to be focused, I need to make sure that I have everything that I need. e.g. pens, paper, lecture slides, readings etc. I need to make sure they’re all in front of me, on my desk and on my laptop! once I have everything that I need, I go to the app “Forest”. this app lets you set an amount of time you plan on working for, and then, if you stick to your work and don’t use any other apps, a bush/tree will grow! if you leave the app for another during the time, it kills the plant! so it’s a nice way to stay on track, and to also keep track of the amount of work you’re doing! hope this helps!

[sensiblestudy]

hi how are you doing? i was looking for political philosophy on tumblr and i found you blog! are you still studing p.p? how was it and do you have any tips? and also do you know another blogs how involved political philosophy? hope youre doing well and thanks a lot :)

Hey there! yup, political philosophy is one of my current modules! I haven’t been doing it for very long so I’m not sure how much advice I can give! But I know for us, we have readings to do e.g. Plato’s Apology, so instead of just simply reading it, I looked up a summary and analysis of it! it was only on spark notes, but it honestly helped me a lot! things like that are good! also things like internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy are great! just type in a topic you’re doing and you can read more about it! they’re usually pretty short and easy enough to read! I guess if you have more specific questions I can try to help! but bare in mind I haven’t covered a huge amount yet! but I’m enjoying it so far, I hope you do too!! also!! sorry, but I actually don’t know anyone else doing it!! if anyone who does/has done political philosophy, be sure to hit me up!!

[sensiblestudy]

How do you make your lovely icons? If you don't wanna share then that's perfectly fine, I just couldn't see it anywhere and was just wondering 💕

I basically do what’s in this tutorial! :D hope that helps!

[sensiblestudy]

hiii, how are you doing? I had a great day with my friends. I just started learning Dutch and hope to be able to order thinks etc when I go to the Netherlands in a few months. Do you have any tips for motivation? also, could I have a blog rate, please?

hi there! I’m doing well, thank you very much! that’s really cool, Dutch sounds fun! here’s some motivation tips, they’re probably not the best, but sometimes small things can really help!

find some motivational quotes! if you think it sounds silly, I can say I felt the same way, but when I really read them and thought about them, I was like “whoa. that makes so much sense to me. I never thought of it that way”. I’ve found they really help me put things into perspective, and they’re just a nice reminder that your work will pay off! you can find tons just by googling, you can even google study-related quotes! @cwote is also a super cute blog to check out!

if you have the time, maybe set some small goals for yourself. or break one big goal down to smaller goals. I can’t explain how good it feels to achieve personal goals, no matter their size. so, by having small goals that are easier to achieve, you’ll most likely be more motivated, than having a big goal that may take ages to do! 

for breaking down big goals, I’ll give an example! let’s say you have an essay to do. instead of thinking “omg I need to get this whole thing done asap”, maybe break it into different sections. so you could have research, writing, referencing. on one day you can decide to only do your research, and nothing else. then another day try to write your draft (obvs you’re not gonna get this done in one day but let’s pretend it’s like a super short essay for the example okay lol) and then the next day do your referencing! that way you have gotten your essay done by separating it into 3 jobs, rather than 1 big job where you jump from research to writing and stuff. you would have most likely given up and left yourself stressing about it. again, this is just a silly example, but hopefully you can get what I mean!

also maybe tell yourself you’ll have some sort of reward for completing your goal. it could be your favourite snack, buy yourself something you’ve been eyeing, or even something along the lines of watching some movies!! that way you’ll be like “okay, if I can X done, I’ll have time to do Y”

I hope some of these can help you! also this post is getting kinda long lol so I hope you don’t mind me sending your blog rate in a message!

[sensiblestudy]

Hii! May I ask, which do you prefer - gel pens or ballpoint pens? I LOVE writing with gel pens, but they're not that great for taking notes because the ink shows up on the other side of the paper :(

Hi there!! :D I definitely like both, but if I had to choose I’d probably go with gel pens! I totally understand, however there are plenty of gel pens that actually don’t show up on the other side! I’d suggest looking in stores for some gel pens in your price range, take note of them, then go online and search for reviews of them! I’m sure you’ll be able to find some! Good luck! :D

[sensiblestudy]

Would you do shoutouts if asked?

I’d really rather not, because if I do it for one person then I can’t really say no to others. I don’t want to flood my follower’s with shoutouts lol! sorry! I may do them at some point, but it would probably be like only 1 or 2!

[sensiblestudy]

Hi! I'm going into 5th year in less than a month. Do you have any tips/advice? (I'm from Ireland btw)

Hi theeere! Ooo heading for the big LC, you’ll be fine, honestly!

I’d definitely say do a fair bit of studying during 5th Year. Leaving it all until 6th Year isn’t the best, and very stressful! I know a lot people say this, but the Leaving Cert is probably the worst exam you’ll ever have to do! I know this may sound tough and might stress you out even more, but please don’t! Try to channel it into motivation! Think of it this way: it’s a tough exam, sure, but it’s also going to help you do what you want in life. It can help you get straight into that college course you want. Of course, there are other ways around everything, but being able to get straight into college makes it easier! And remember, when it’s over, you’ll never have to do an exam as intense as the whole LC!

I guess the main tip I have, study-wise, is to use past papers constantly. Past papers are your best friend. Seriously. For me, all my teachers made us buy those past paper books (they usually wanted Edco ones which are more expensive so that was annoying). However, even if you can get old ones from someone else, all the newer papers are online at examinations.ie so you can easily print them and add them to your book! But yeah, literally keep doing past papers, and get to know the exams. Look for questions that come up regularly, get a feel of which sections of each exam you struggle with and which you’re great at. I wish I wish I wish I put more effort into going over past papers. 

Good luck!! If you like, you can let me know what subjects you’re doing, and I can try my best to give some more detailed tips if I’ve done them too! For my LC, I did Higher Level in English, Spanish, Economics, Geography, and History and did Ordinary Level in Irish and Maths! 

[sensiblestudy]

i'm entering university in the fall and i made this studyblr for both inspiration and motivation! do you have any tips for for new studyblrs that are just starting out and wanting to break into the community? :)

hi there! welcome to the community! :D ooooh, good luck with starting uni!! I really hope you enjoy it and have a great time!

as for advice, I’d say go ahead and get chatting with other studyblrs! it’s great to make new friends, maybe try to find people studying what you’ll be studying? I’m always here for a chat, too! also try posting your own stuff! they can be photos but also even text posts! just let people know about you, it’s a good way for people to want to get to know you even more! :D try starting out by making an introduction post!? that’s what a lot of new studyblrs do!  @studyquill reblogs tons of intro posts, you can see them here, if you wanna get an idea of what they’re like! people usually include some basic info about themselves, what they’re studying, some studyblr inspos and honestly just anything you feel you’d like to post!! good luck!!!

[sensiblestudy]

Hey! Love your page! I'll be going into my first year of college this September and I have to take on an extra subject for the year and was just wondering do you think Philosophy is worth the while to take on?

Hi there!! I’m so so sorry for such a late reply, I really hope you get to see this ahh!! 

The short answer is: YES. Long answer is: HELL YES. 

I’m probably being biased because I honestly am a //bit// of a Philosophy nerd. I love it. It’s honestly a really great subject, it’s pretty difficult sure, but I mean what uni-level subject isn’t!? I, personally, find it super interesting and even after only a year it’s got me thinking about things I never thought I’d even care about. Things like the philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and evil. I feel like after your year (I’m assuming you won’t be taking it on after the year?) you’ll ~hopefully~ really like it and will probably even find yourself reading up on philosophy every now and then! @areistotle is a great blog with this really cool philosophy masterpost! Check it out, it may help you decide!! Good luck with whatever you decide to do, and for starting college, of course! 

[sensiblestudy]

Hi! Do you have any tips for college application essays? ;o

hello! aww, I’m so sorry, I actually don’t! D: it’s not a thing here! at least not in general, maybe some unis look for them, but I’ve legit never even heard of them until I started a studyblr lol! 

here and here are some college application essay masterposts that I hope can be of help to you! good luck my friend!

[sensiblestudy]

Thank you so much for writing that realistic survival guide! Ive just got into uni and will be starting in september and didnt know what to expect its calmed me down a little bit and helped me so thank you!! do you have any more tips for a first year uni student? (i wont be in student accommodation either and im in the UK so things might be similar)

Hi there! Aww, I’m so glad you liked it!! And well done omg what are you going to be studying?? :o I guess another tip would be to get familiarised with MS Word. You’ll need to use it for your essays most likely, so it’s good to know some shortcuts and whatnot! I was actually thinking of making a post about that too if people would be interested? it may take a while though because there’s so much in it and I’d like to include screenshots and stuff lol! but other than that, I think another great tip is to def take a look at past exam papers. If you don’t know where to access them, ask a lecturer or tutor. Even if the papers online are fairly old, you can still get a fair idea of the ways your questions will be worded or what types of things they look for! good luck!!