Wondering how to spend your summer? Listed below are a few sought-after awards that will help you grow as a student and an individual. Needless to say, they will also make a good impression on the admissions committee of top universities. Read more about each award on the respective organisation’s website and remember to check for their deadlines. Here’s to a fruitful and fun summer!
CREST AWARDS
The CREST Awards runs a number of distinct and structured competitions that students can participate in to demonstrate their STEM credentials. CREST gives young people aged 5–19 the chance to choose their own subject and methodology when completing their hands-on investigation. A consistent and high standard of assessment and moderation is achieved for the scheme via our network of industry experts from the STEM and education sectors. It has been running since 1986 and sees tens of thousands of young people taking part each year. They also provide activities and project ideas for a range of ages, group size and abilities. From off-the-shelf, one-hour long challenges through to large-scale, student-led projects of over 70 hours work or more, CREST can be done by anyone. This is a great opportunity for high-school students and for those who have already done a significant project (like a Lumiere paper!). To apply for a Gold Crest Awards, read more here.
Stem Next Essay Competition
Contrary to the name, this essay competition has no subject prerequisites and is not purely STEM based. Students of various interests are more than welcome to take part! This is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn transferable skills that you can utilise in your future studies and careers, e.g. research, critical analysis, communication. There are six potential essay categories to choose and within each category there are a diverse range of potential essay questions, with something to suit every interest. This is a solo project that requires independent research and writing. However, it is encouraged that participants get feedback from their peers or teachers before the final submission. The essay should be between 1000 to a maximum of 3000 words in length. In addition, at least one external industry professional must be interviewed as part of the research for the essay. List of the available professionals will be provided. In addition, the essays will be eligible for CREST Awards. There are six categories available for students to choose from. You can register here.
Last House Writing Contest
The Last House Writing Contest celebrates author M.F.K. Fisher, who resided in her ‘Last House’ on ACR’s Bouverie Preserve in Sonoma Valley. To participate in this competition, submit an essay, short story, or poem on topics related to “renewal, rebirth, reemergence, and the many inspirations of life and nature in spring.” Format: Writers are invited to submit an original, unpublished essay, short story, or poem in PDF format, 300–500 words for children and youth, 750 words maximum for adults 18 and older. The Third Annual Last House Writing Contest will once again be offered for children, youth, and adults who do not currently write professionally. Winners are eligible to be published in ACR Publications or receive prizes! Applyhere – the deadline is on 31st May.
A Voice for Animals Contest
The A Voice for Animals contest is now open. The competition has sections for 14-15 year old students and sections for 16-18 year old students. Prizes up to a total of $5900* will be awarded to high school students whose entries best promote the humane treatment of animals. The contest is supported by a partnership between the Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Education Network with additional support from the Palo Alto Humane Society. Organised by the Humane Education Network, students can submit videos, essays or photos on issues related to animal suffering and protection, to compete for cash prizes. Apply here – the deadline is on 31st May.
Exam season can be stressful, and even when you are halfway through, it may feel dauntingly never-ending. It is normal to experience burnout during this final phase of your educational journey. There are times when you are running high on adrenaline but lack organic energy which keeps you active throughout the day. In such instances, it’s a good idea to be more conscious about your day-to-day activities and thought patterns. In this blog, we’ve listed a few uncomplicated ways to avoid or recover from exhaustion during exams.
Have conversations with your friends and family
Chances are, your peers might be experiencing similar stressful situations and the best thing to do here is to open up and have a hearty conversation with them. As humans, we thrive when surrounded by a supportive community and family, especially at times when we are feeling mentally and emotionally tired. Exchange a few words and laughs over this with your mates and you will realize that you are not alone. This will help provide encouragement and will also offer a feeling of relief.
Remember to get enough off-screen time
Being surrounded by electronic devices throughout the day is so common that we often overlook how draining they are. In times when you are already experiencing fatigue, sticking to screens throughout the day will ultimately make you even more tired. Find activities that are not based on gadgets. Fetch board games, spend time doodling, spend time with your family, or just go out for a walk. One easy way of incorporating no-screen time is to have all of your meals mindfully, without consuming any content. This will provide your brain with a much-needed break.
Maintain a balance between study time and playtime
Sometimes you might feel that the exam season means no time for fun or hobbies at all. On the contrary, it is essential to draw a balance between studying and doing things you genuinely enjoy. Throughout the day make sure you’re standing up every hour at an absolute minimum. Take a walk around the house, have a hot drink, do some exercise, message your friends, anything at all! Continuous revision for long periods of time will be nowhere near as effective and will leave you feeling tired and drained.
Don’t think about the paper that is already done
This can be one of the worst things to do for people who worry and can often cause you to sit and analyze every single question. Asking your peers what they put for a question, or how they found the paper, is only going to make you second guess all your answers when in reality you can’t do anything about it now. Instead, come out of the exam, congratulate your friends for getting through it, and then all make a pact to move on with the day! It is better to focus on the exam that is yet to come and prepare well for it rather than worrying about the paper that has already been attempted and submitted.
Make a small but effective morning routine
There is no better time to study than the peaceful hours of early morning. However, waking up and directly starting strong can lead to an energy crash in the middle of the day. The best option is to build a calming morning routine that prepares you for a day of revision. You can start with a warm beverage, a session of stretching or taking a stroll around the block. Start off with a relatively simpler topic and progress gradually.
Time Management is key
When you keep up with your study in a timely manner, you’re less likely to feel burnout. The key is to pace yourself every step of the way. Try taking a 15-minute break every hour so you can clear your head and rest. If your exam is a month out, using a calendar can help keep track of priorities and deadlines to avoid cramming in the end. A great way to avoid last-minute stress and an eventual frazzled state of mind is through planning effectively. Make sure you have a revision timetable in place and give yourself plenty of time to focus on topics you might be weaker at.
Seek help when needed!
Even after taking care of all these things, there might be some topics that are difficult to get through. At such times, you can seek guidance from your seniors and your friends who excel in a certain subject or get 1:1 or group tutoring classes from Young Scholarz. We have an extensive and customized range of exam prep classes going on for all topics in IB and IGCSE English Language and Literature. We also offer confidential 1:1 mental well-being counseling services. We’d also love to hear you share your tips on avoiding exam time burnout.
Studying English Literature develops the ability to think critically about varied topics, from a range of diverse theoretical perspectives. Through books, we learn about various historical events and build an understanding of a wide range of cultures. In our curriculums, English Literature has always held a place of prominence and is arguably one of the most interesting subjects to study. What makes it more compelling is having a variety of sources to read summaries, analyses, and character sketches. Whether from an exam-centric perspective or just general reading, having a sound source to get relevant literature notes is crucial. We took up the big task and researched some reliable websites you can refer to while studying literary texts.
Spark Notes
This is a website that students around the world swear by. Texts ranging from Shakespearean drama to postmodern novels are summarised on this website. What is unique about this site is that you are able to access the original text side by side with the analysis of the lines as the screen splits into two sections. This is useful for a deeper understanding as you get an explanation while simultaneously reading the text closely.
It offers more than 1,100 book summaries and literature guides, as well as poetry guides and a glossary of literary terms. The best part remains that you can read every Shakespeare play, poem, and sonnet paired with a modern English translation of the text.
This one is a student-focused analysis and summary website. In addition to the reviews and chapter summaries, it also offers lesson plans for teachers, biographies of more than 1,500 authors, and a “Homework Help” section. You can use the Homework Help feature to get solutions to specific doubts about literary texts, answered by other members of the community. This also gives you a chance to interact with like-minded readers.
The content of the website is sub-divided into categories such as Literary Movements, Plays, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Shakespeare. You’ll even find some cinema analysis on this website. One downside however, is that to access the content for many texts, you will have to buy a subscription.
This platform is a wiki, which means that anyone online can change the content of the website and it’s not necessary for them to hold any relevant credentials. Due to this reason, this source is not as reliable as the others mentioned here but can be the knight in shining armour when you just want to obtain a general understanding of the text instead of a deeper one.
Moreover, the language used is fairly simple and one can read through, as well as understand the basic concept easily by using this website. Overall, this website offers an overview of the plotline, but for readers who are looking for a deeper analysis of the underlying themes, the site will not suffice.
Shmoop is a website that is quite similar to SparkNotes. Its target audience is pre-university level students. If you’re taking your ACTs, SATs, or AP tests, a website like Shmoop is a prominent resource.
Although the site primarily focuses on providing summaries of texts, the content on Shmoop is much more than book and chapter summaries. You’ll also find study guides for everything from marine biology to oil drilling. If you use Shmoop, you can be confident the material you’re accessing will be accurate and well-written. All the summaries are written by Ph.D. holders in their respective fields.
If you want your sources to be completely foolproof, check out GradeSaver. The book summaries in its “ClassicNotes” series are all written by Harvard students. You’ll find book reviews of most titles you’re likely to study in school, including ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘Animal Farm’, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘Lord of the Flies’, and ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’.
Best of all, the chapter summaries on GradeSaver are free to read. There are even free quizzes, mock exam titles, and theme guides which will help you prepare for a big exam.
We hope this well-researched list of sites for literature notes will prove useful when you’re studying for the exams! If you have any other site suggestions that you’ve been using, do share them with us.
Young Scholarz is excited to announce its latest partnership with Lumiere Education. Lumiere is an organization founded by Harvard and Oxford PhDs with the aim to provide high-school students around the world the access to research opportunities with top global scholars. (more…)
Two weeks after the Ivy League brought in the storm, some students are still reeling. By now, some have managed to gain admission to a decent college. Some, on the other hand, have decided to take a gap year and reapply. Many, devastated, have sought advice from their parents, peers, educators, and counselors to take the next step ahead. There was a time when Ivy League acceptance rates, like Princeton University, accepted 15% to 20% of applications. During that time, there wasn’t any Covid-19 or the looming threat of World War 3. People were content.
Acceptance Rates Continue to Take a Dip
The number of applicants increases exponentially every year, especially because of the pandemic-driven test-optional policy adopted by most colleges. With the information gathered from the student newspaper, ‘The Harvard Crimson’, Harvard’s acceptance rate has fallen steeply to 3.19. This is the lowest ever since it was founded almost 4 centuries ago! The number of applicants continues to increase inversely, with a record number of 61,220 applicants that applied for their seats in the class of 2026. The accepted students have gotten luckier, as some of them—exactly a fourth—are from families with an annual income below 75,000 dollars. They have their main costs of tuition and boarding covered. This is much higher compared to last year when 65,000 dollars was the criteria for availing aid in education and stay.
Universities like Yale and Brown have also reported record-low acceptance rates, with Yale’s acceptance rate of 4.7% and Brown at 5%. Columbia remained unchanged with its 3.7% acceptance rate, akin to last year’s. Dartmouth on the other hand is ahead of last year, with a rate of 6.24%.
Universities Opting Out of Making Their Acceptance Rates Public
A Thursday morning not more than two weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal published an article that reported 3 Ivies that would forgo announcing their acceptance rates. Along with Stanford, Princeton, Penn, and Cornell have chosen to withhold their acceptance rates. They argue that publishing these rates does more harm than it does good. They felt it unleashed a surge of panic among high school students and their parents. In addition, it reinforces a ‘myth’ that it is close to impossible to get into a good college. The Princeton admissions website has stated that this decision of theirs is part of its “student-centered approach to the admission process”. But the argument here is – does it protect the interests of the students or is it a ploy to protect the interests of the institutions in question? What harms the students is when they, along with their parents, begin to worship the universities, seeing them as their final destination in life. But what could be a more sensible approach here? Students need to weigh their options and understand that while a brand name can get you far, it isn’t the only way to the top!
How Does This Affect Students?
Coming back to this supposed myth that it is nearly impossible to get into a good college, is it a myth? That depends on two factors – how you define a college as ‘good’ and based on that, how impossible it is to get into a good college. If you ignore the plethora of ‘good’ colleges in America, like Michigan University, and New York University, then yes, it is close to impossible to get into a good college.
Having said that, this notion affects a crucial number of the aforementioned 96-97% rejected applicants. Along with them, their parents as well as their education counselors! They end up scrambling to get their seats in other universities. The realists have applied beforehand to other institutions as backup, while the overly optimistic ones are in for an inevitable rude shock. If you’re one of these applicants who feel like you’ve lost the light at the end of the tunnel, then here’s an article that might just be the sliver of sunshine you need. Click the link to read: What to Do If Your Dream College Rejects You.
Other Colleges
Apart from the Ivy League schools, other popular colleges such as the University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Pittsburgh, and many more are surging with applications. This is due to the pandemic and test-optional policies. It’s not just the students competing with one another to get their seats secured, it’s also the lesser-known institutions. They are trying hard to fill up their seats while being overshadowed by the Ivy League and other more popular colleges. It’s always a wise decision to keep yourself open to newer, less explored options. When a path is crowded with people, then you have to create your own path. And while we’re at that, if you have the means to cross the ocean, then why not?
What does it for Future Students?
Does it mean that you’re not good enough? Do the rejection letters from Harvard, Yale, and other Ivy League schools decide your self-worth and value in the world? The sad truth isn’t in affirmation of the statement, but that you are good enough and you still didn’t get in. What should you do then? If you want to get in, you can always apply for a transfer in the second year. Otherwise, apply elsewhere – plenty of interesting colleges await your application! Keep up your A-game and aspire to perform your best. Don’t let an institution bring you down. Until our high-paying corporate culture changes to accept people from everywhere, the focus remains on getting into a classroom. Instead, we should shift our focus. Concentrate on learning well and securing a successful degree. Embrace career opportunities beyond the classroom, independent of a brand name.
We’re pleased to announce our latest accreditation – Top 3 in Math Tutoring Services in Singapore! (more…)
Reading texts? Done. Preparation? Almost done. Confidence? Not quite there… Is this you? Whether you are looking for a way to set off IGCSE students exam jitters or check if your exam preparation is on point – we can help! We have intensive EXAM PRACTICE sessions that will get you ready and feeling confident. When you join these sessions, you’ll find yourself writing handwritten answers in a timed, realistic and controlled exam-like setting where you’ll have to face your shortcomings and work on them.
We all know there’s only a slight difference between getting an average score and achieving a high score – the secret is in smart work, motivation and proper guidance. Our highly sought-after Face-to-face exam practice sessions are here to help you! So get ready to brush up your knowledge with Young Scholarz’s In-Person Exam Practice sessions on IGCSE English Literature SET-TEXTS, English Language 0500, and English Literature 0475/ 0408.
What’s more? All your handwritten papers will be marked as per IGCSE guidelines. We will provide you with valuable feedback, in line with the Cambridge mark schemes, to set you on the road to improvement and achieve the desired results.
There are limited sessions and slots available. We also offer online seats if you’re unable to come in. Whatsapp us on +65 8228 1164 to enrol!
Check out our social media pages and our website to view the schedule.
We are bringing back the in-person exam preparation classes for IGCSE and IB exam to all students. (more…)
We are delighted to announce three new additions of experienced and amazing teachers to our team – Manisha Thakur, Sonia Mathews and Sumit Bhatnagar. (more…)
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