546: Danger Time for Grades: “I Got This” Thinking

The College Prep Podcast

Join Megan as she speaks with guest, Edward Coronado III, founder of Alma Modern about a trap many students fall into this time of year. This is a phenomenon where students can be lulled into a false sense of security assuming they have good grades in all their classes because they haven’t had to submit any major assignments or take any high-stakes exams. 3 strategies.

• Newness & excitement mask reality
• Lack of major assignments leads to complacency & procrastination
  • By the end of the semester (10 discussion posts)
  • No major exams
  • Late September — Thanksgiving: auto-pilot
    • Set up for difficult recovery later
  • WAKE UP: Major deadlines (project, paper, final exams)
    • Learning Center/Libraries
• How to break the cycle?

Strategies

• Treat Homework Like Exams:
  • Approach every assignment with exam-level seriousness
  • Many students say “I have nothing to study yet”
  • Study BEFORE doing homework, no peeking
    • Builds strong study habits
    • Get used to exams in that field
• Establish Consistent Study Habits:
  • Even without deadlines, schedule daily study time
  • Create a dedicated, distraction-free study space
• Reverse Plan with a Calendar
  • Use a planner/calendar (your preference, digital/physical)
  • Input ALL due dates: assignments, exams, especially midterms!
  • Work BACKWARDS from exam dates, ideally 2 weeks of study time
  • Makes the workload REAL, not caught off guard when it’s crunch time

Conclusion

No digging yourself out of a hole later, be proactive now!

These 3 strategies work together to set you up for the WHOLE semester

Edward is a higher ed administrator turned founder of Alma Modern, where he equips college success pros with the training and resources to empower their students to not just survive in college, but thrive.
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