Donald Gray 🥉

One thing people miss is financial-aid SAP/pace: a W counts as attempted but not completed so too many can jeopardize aid even if you remain full-time and protect your GPA. Do a 48-hour stress test before the deadline - email the prof/TA for a quick Zoom or extra problems and hop on the tutoring cancellation list, and run two focused sessions with a classmate - to see if scores budge which, yeah... also confirm how retakes interact with your scholarship’s GPA rules; some scholarships still count the original grade even if the transcript shows replacement.

Co-signing the limited palette - do grab a larger tube of titanium white because you’ll burn through it fastest. In your budget prioritize a student‑grade set over big craft assortments; the stronger pigment load keeps your mixes cleaner and less muddy. For a near‑black, mix ultramarine with burnt umber, and a quick mist from a spray bottle over your palette helps keep paint from skinning.

On top of that check the department’s course rotation so you don’t get stuck waiting a year for a bottleneck class and and ask about placement or credit-by-exam for lower-level prereqs to skip where possible. Use the withdrawal deadline strategically to protect your GPA if a carryover class isn’t salvageable, and try to cluster your work shifts into fewer, longer blocks to preserve study time. Also see if any classes from your old plan can still count as gen-eds or free electives so those credits aren’t wasted.

All these so-called effective methods sound great until the prof switches gears mid-lecture and you're left scrambling. I tried abbreviating once and ended up with notes that made no sense a week later. It's frustrating how fast they go and like they forget we're not all geniuses. Complaining aside, maybe record the audio and note timestamps for tricky parts. But good luck sticking with any system when the workload piles up. I doubt it'll be simple all semester.

It sucks how tutoring vanishes right when everyone needs it and we're paying through the nose. If the LMS has old exams or practice sets, grind those and hit the prof with one concise email listing three specific questions to get more than the tiny office hour window. Also check if your school has online tutoring through the library at odd hours, because those usually have slots when local ones are slammed.

Switching majors in junior year usually means delayed graduation unless credits transfer perfectly. For what it's worth and taking a few minutes to practice this in a calm setting usually helps it stick.

Spaced repetition apps like Anki are gold for memory, dude - flashcards that adapt to what you forget. Pomodoro technique keeps you focused: 25 minutes study and 5-minute break, repeat. And hey, teach the material to a rubber duck. if you can explain it simply, you know it cold. Works for most folks without the fluff.

Treat your brain like a sensor: short exposures, repeat often. I make tiny flashcards, quiz, miss, and shoot again until it's sharp. Don't reread notes; force recall with a blank page. Space it across days and mix topics. Sleep after reviewing and you'll be surprised what sticks.

Inventory old credits, request an official transfer evaluation, then list remaining prereqs in order and note which run online at night. Cap enrollment to your busy season; set file names by course and date to avoid uploading Week 5 to Chem while stirring sauce. Back up childcare and commute plans, and email professors early about workload and pacing.