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How to Create and Stick to a Study Schedule

At university, you’re responsible for creating your own study schedule to ensure you’re prepared for exams and able to meet due dates for assignments. This can be a difficult adjustment to make coming from high school, where you were likely given plenty of guidance about what to study and when. However, learning how to create your own schedule and developing the discipline to stick to it is great practice for the world of work after university. Here are some tips to help. 1. Make a Weekly Schedule Divide each day of the week into hour-long blocks and specify what you’ll be doing in each. First, input all your other commitments, such as classes, labs, a part-time job, and extracurriculars. Next, think about the free time you’ll need for things like eating, sleeping, socializing, and relaxing. The remaining blocks are available for studying. Ideally, you should have enough time to dedicate two or three hours of study for every one hour of class. 2. Decide What You’ll Study It helps to specify what you’ll study during each block on your weekly schedule. As well as assigning the block to a particular class, decide what kinds of activities you’ll cover. This could include reviewing your notes, reading some of the materials, or working on assignments. To help with this, consider where you’ll be and the time of day — it’s best to begin the day with the most difficult activities to prevent procrastination. It’s even better if you dedicate every Sunday to going over your schedule for the upcoming week. You can then make a note of the tasks you’ll cover in each study session. For instance, you may decide to read certain chapters of a textbook, write a particular portion of a paper, or practice a specific set of flashcards. 3. Break Big Projects into Smaller Tasks When you have a big assignment to do, divide it into smaller components to make it more manageable. This will help you feel more motivated to start and prevent a rush as the deadline looms. Make sure you begin earlier than you think you need to. That way, if you run into any unexpected issues, you’ll still have plenty of time to finish. 4. Study Without Distractions Commit to dedicating the time you’ve designated for studying to studying and nothing else. Turn off the notifications on your phone and avoid looking at any apps or websites that are unrelated to the task at hand. If you struggle to concentrate for extended periods, use the Pomodoro technique. This involves figuring out how long you can stay focused and setting a timer for this amount of time. Don’t stop studying until the alarm goes off! You can then take a short break before you begin again. You’ll find it easier to stick to a study schedule if you live in comfortable student housing. Edmonton students can receive a private bedroom or an entire bachelor suite to themselves at 1TEN on Whyte. All our apartments are fully furnished, including with a desk and chair, and you’ll also have access to our onsite study rooms. Apply now for the suite type you want.

Why Consider Off-Campus Living for Next Semester

When you start university, it’s common to move straight into a dorm room on campus. However, this is far from your only option . If you’re feeling uncomfortable due to a lack of personal space or you’re spending too much on housing, you should consider living off campus next semester — here’s why. 1. More Amenities Amenities are particularly limited when you live in a dorm, and you need to share whatever you do have with other students. When you live off campus, you’ll most likely have a kitchen with a full-size fridge and plenty of cabinets, a living room you’ll only share with a couple roommates at most, and laundry facilities. Some buildings even have added perks , such as a gym, games room, and study area. 2. Less Expensive It sounds illogical, but living off campus actually tends to be less expensive than living in a dorm room. This is because you’re paying for the convenience of being close to your classes. Nonetheless, you can often find student apartments within walking distance or just a short drive from campus. One way you’ll definitely save money is by making your own meals instead of paying for an expensive meal plan. 3. Learn to Live Independently Living off campus is a great opportunity to prepare for life after college. You’ll be responsible for paying bills, cooking, and maintaining your apartment — all of which are crucial skills that you’ll need after you graduate. 4. Build a Rental History Another way living off campus will benefit you after you graduate is that you’ll have built a rental history. It’s usually easy to find housing while you’re at university, since there are apartments designed especially for students. However, finding your first apartment after university can be a challenge if you’ve never rented before. If you have a rental history, landlords will see that they can trust you to pay rent on time and keep the property in good condition, which will likely make them more willing to rent to you. 5. Study Without Distractions If you want to do well at university, it makes sense to live off campus, as you’ll be able to focus on your studies much better. Student apartments tend to be quieter and you’ll face fewer distractions. You’ll be able to study in your bedroom or (if the building has one) in the onsite study rooms. Either option is ideal for studying alone or in a group. 6. Keep Your Room Over the Summer It’s inconvenient to move out every summer. You need to pack up all your things — and then figure out arrangements to move back when university starts up again. With off-campus housing, you can often keep your room over the summer. This is particularly useful if you want to continue working a part-time job or find an internship. 7. Regain Your Privacy Many students find sharing a room to be a difficult adjustment, particularly if you and your roommate never become friends. Plus, you may rarely have the chance to spend time alone. With off-campus housing, you’ll have your own space where you can feel at ease again. It’s even common to have an en -suite bathroom or share a bathroom with only one other person. Enjoy these benefits next semester by searching for a room for rent. Edmonton students can find fully-furnished rentals with all-inclusive pricing at 1Ten on Whyte. You’ll still be around other students, but you’ll have your own bachelor suite or a bedroom with a lockable door in a shared apartment. Plus, you’ll have access to a range of great amenities in the building. Apply now to move in next semester.

How to Manage a Heavy Workload at University

The workload at university may come as a shock, as it tends to be much heavier than the homework you were assigned during high school. Moreover, it’s up to you to organize your time to make sure you start working on assignments long before deadlines and prepare sufficiently for exams. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to neglect schoolwork until the last minute — and then you’ll need to rush to finish everything on time. On top of your classes, you may also need to fit extracurriculars, a part-time job, and other commitments into your schedule. All this may feel overwhelming, but it’s definitely possible to cope with a heavy workload. You just need the right strategy. 1. Create a Study Schedule Decide in advance when you’ll study and write it into your schedule. Use all the time available to you, such as by spending the few minutes you have between classes to get some reading done. Be as detailed as possible in your schedule about what you’ll do in each session. This will ensure you won’t end up completing the most enjoyable tasks first but will work on what’s most important. As a result, you should easily meet your deadlines. 2. Remove Distractions When Studying To fully utilize the time you allocate to studying, avoid multitasking and make sure you don’t use up your time on distractions. Turn off the notifications on your phone and draw your attention back to your studies if you notice that your attention starts to wander. If you’re able to stay completely focused on your studies, you’ll find you achieve much more — even when your time is limited. 3. Avoid Reading Everything in Detail If you have a large amount of reading to do, consider what matters most. You may be able to skim some passages, and it may not always be necessary to understand every little detail. Highlight key points and take notes just of the material you’ll need to know later. Make your notes in bullet form or brief phrases rather than full sentences. 4. Ask for Time Off Work While it may be necessary for you to have a steady income while at university, it’s crucial that your job doesn’t take away too much time from studying. When you have a major assignment coming up or you need to prepare for a big test, see if you can take time off work. If your job is on campus, your employer should be understanding — provided you don’t ask for time off too often. 5. Cut Down on Your Classes If you try all the above but you’re still unable to keep up with your heavy workload, the solution may be to take fewer classes. If it’s no longer feasible to drop a class this semester, learn from your experience and sign up for fewer classes next time. It’s also important to avoid wasting time on your commute and to have somewhere you can study in peace. You can find rooms for rent near the University of Alberta at 1Ten on Whyte. The apartments are just a 10-minute walk from campus and you’ll be able to study in your own private bachelor suite or bedroom. You’ll also have access to our onsite study rooms, which are a great place to go if you need a change of scenery to improve your focus. Book an in-person or video tour today.

A Guide to Writing Better Papers

Whatever your major, the unfortunate reality is you’ll need to become a good writer to succeed at university. Throughout your education, you’ll need to write numerous papers — often quickly, to meet due dates, keep up with other homework, and still have time for the things you enjoy. With the right strategy, you can produce work to a high standard without spending a huge number of hours on each assignment. Here are a few tips to consider. 1. Make Sure You’re Answering the Question You’ll never receive a good grade if you write a paper that only partially answers the question being asked. Before you do anything else, figure out exactly what the question entails, such as by highlighting key words and making notes about how you’ll tackle the paper. If you have any doubts, ask for clarification by dropping your professor an email or paying them a visit during office hours. You can then approach your paper with the confidence that you’re on the right track. 2. Research Just As Much As Necessary Set yourself a time limit for how long you’ll spend on the initial research phase. Spending too long means you’re likely going beyond what your professor expects from you. Just do enough research to be able to write the bare bones of the paper — once you’ve started writing, you can go back and do more research to fill in the gaps. 3. Create an Outline Use your research to determine what information you’ll include in your paper. Write down key points to include in the introduction, determine how you’ll progress your argument, and specify how you’ll summarize everything in the conclusion. 4. Use a Template Structure your paper according to the conventions of your discipline. Your professor may be able to give you an example paper that answers a different question or a guide that explains what sections to include and what kind of tone to use. 5. Write Your First Draft Without Stopping It can be tempting to perfect each sentence as you write it, but this will slow you down considerably and prevent the writing from flowing. Try to avoid stopping as you write your first draft — you’ll have the chance to fine tune the paper when you’ve finished. 6. Reduce the Word Count One thing to do during the editing stage is figure out what you can cut from your paper. Most students end up writing too much — this is far more common than writing too little, unless you’ve neglected some important points that are necessary to answer the question. It’s even better if you can avoid writing too much in the first place. Once you’ve made a point, move on instead of feeling like you need to elaborate further. 7. Automatically Generate Citations Citation management tools are ideal for simplifying the referencing process. As well as storing all your references during the research phase, they can generate citations in the academic style your university uses. Check citations before you hand in your paper, though, because these tools do make occasional mistakes. 8. Ask for Feedback Ask a friend to check your paper for typos, spelling mistakes, and areas where the meaning is unclear. Alternatively, just reading the paper aloud to someone can help you notice any mistakes. You may also like to ask advice from your tutor, staff at the writing centre , or even your professor (such as if the paper is for your capstone project). It’s much easier to write great papers when you’re able to work on assignments undisturbed. A better alternative to heading to the library every time you need to do homework is to move out of your dorm and an apartment. For University of Alberta off-campus housing, you have 1Ten on Whyte. Our student rentals are fully furnished, including with a desk and chair in every bedroom. Plus, you can always use a study room if you want a change of scenery. Apply now to secure a lease.

How to Keep Your Student Apartment Organized Next Semester

It’s a good idea to start every new semester with the goal to make it better than the last. As well as improving your grades or social life, you should think about your student apartment. With a better-organized apartment, you’ll find it easier to study, feel less stressed, and enjoy having friends over. Best of all, you only need to spend a day or two tidying your apartment, after which you’ll just need to make sure you put things back where they belong to stay organized. 1. Add Storage Containers to the Refrigerator Storage containers in the refrigerator are great no matter if you’re living alone or you have roommates. You can use them to separate your food according to who it belongs to or just to make finding what you’re looking for easier. There will be no more removing everything to find what’s lurking at the back! 2. Hang Shoe Organizers Although they’re designed for footwear, you’ll find that shoe organizers are useful for storing all kinds of items. They’re especially convenient for storing cleaning products when you buy in bulk to save money. 3. Hang Hooks in Your Utility Closet Leaving things like brooms, mops, and dusters on the floor of your utility closet can quickly cause a mess. One may fall over when you reach for another, cluttering up your closet. Hanging hooks on the wall is a simple solution to keep things organized at the same time as freeing up space. 4. Store Small Items in Mason Jars There are many ways you can use mason jars for organization. In particular, they’re ideal for smaller items in the bathroom, stationery on your desk, and miscellaneous belongings that start causing clutter anywhere in your apartment. To improve aesthetics, decorate your mason jars by drawing doodles, using stickers, or painting them. 5. Place Larger Items in Baskets For bigger items like notebooks, textbooks, and papers you need to access often, baskets are a great choice . Hanging a couple baskets will allow you to take full advantage of the wall space and prevent your desk from becoming a mess. 6. Use Silverware Containers Belongings that are too big for mason jars but too small to stay organized in a basket can go in a silverware container. You can store everything from cables and school supplies to personal care items in silverware containers. Then, keep the container inside a drawer or leave it out on your desk. 7. Maximize Your Closet Space If the door of your closet opens out (rather than slides across), add bars or an over-the-door hanger to increase storage space. Your closet door is a great place to keep belongings you use regularly, such as everyday shoes, your backpack, scarves, and gloves. It’s always difficult to stay organized if you’re sharing a room or your apartment is too small for all your belongings. The solution in this case is to search for better student housing. Edmonton students can have their own room in a spacious suite or a bachelor apartment to themselves at 1Ten on Whyte. Book an in-person or video tour to see the facilities before you sign a lease.

7 Options for Paying for University Without Loans

Student loans make university accessible to more people, but they also mean you will graduate with debt that could take you many years to pay off. For this reason, it’s always preferable to find ways to pay for university without taking out any loans. Here are some tips to consider. 1. Attend College Instead of University Depending on your career goals, you may decide that attending college is a good alternative to university. It’s less expensive and you can always transfer credit to complete a university degree later, if you decide this is something you need. Plus, it won’t prevent you from continuing your education to a master’s degree. 2. Search for Scholarships There are many scholarships out there if you just look for them. You don’t necessarily need to have top grades, be an athletic star, or have superb creative skills to be awarded a scholarship — they also recognize community service, support students from minority groups, and help those who want to pursue a particular career. Although it’s time consuming to search through everything to find options that are applicable to you, this can pay off big time. 3. Apply for Student Aid You could be eligible for a grant, which could help you pay for some of your education costs. Find out automatically how much you could receive by applying for student aid. 4. Work While Studying You may be able to earn enough to pay for your education and other expenses while studying if you work full time. To avoid becoming burned out, think carefully about how many classes you can reasonably fit into your schedule — start small and add more classes next semester if you decide you can handle it. Taking night classes and studying part-time is often the most practical. However, you may be able to study more hours if you find flexible work, such as a job on campus or online. 5. Take Some Online Classes There are now more options for online classes than ever before. These are typically just as high quality as in-person classes, but they cost less. Find out if the school you want to attend offers any online classes that would count toward the requirements for your major or that you can take as electives. 6. Join the Canadian Armed Forces You can pay nothing for college or a post- grad degree by signing up for a paid education program with the Canadian Armed Forces. The added benefit is you’re guaranteed a job in the field after you graduate. 7. Live Off Campus Living off campus is not only more comfortable (as you’ll have more space, privacy, and freedom), it’s also less expensive than student residence. You pay a large premium to be close to your classes — even though you can often find apartments just a short distance from campus — and it’s common to be required to purchase a meal plan, which costs much more than preparing your own meals. There’s no need to look far for an affordable room for rent — Edmonton students attending University of Alberta, MacEwan University, and Norquest College can live at 1Ten on Whyte. Our student rentals are fully furnished and all inclusive, meaning you don’t need to worry about budgeting for furniture, water, or gas. Apply now for your spot.