Studying in JC1 this year, afraid of not getting promoted

This query comes from a student:

Hello,

I am in J1 this year, studying at a mid tier JC. Just finished school orientation, heard lots of horror stories from seniors. For instance it is common to fail almost everything, and that the retention rate is more than 10% yikes..... as such some remarked that it is useless to study consistently, as one will still do badly in the end. What should I do? I don't want to be among those who eventually do not get promoted this year :(




The Response:

Hi,


It’s true that JC is much tougher than secondary school (and some students do get retained), but it’s also true that many students pull through with flying colours at the end.


Just make sure you remember these tried-and-tested tips and you should be off to a good start.


- Invest a lot of time to understand the concepts, not just memorize facts. Trust me, it will be more worth it than just doing tons of questions.


- Study the examples in the notes carefully, don’t skip over them.


- Get exam practice early, by getting copies of prelim papers from seniors or buy from online sellers.


- When in doubt, clarify with your friends, teachers or tutors early. Don’t leave doubts hanging as you will forget about them and then they’ll haunt you in the exams.


- Take lots of notes in class, and during revision. Clean notes are bad.


- Don’t hide your mistakes in practice (e.g. don’t use correction tape too much); instead, make your mistakes stand out (use coloured pens and highlighters) and write short notes to explain what you should have done. Then file them neatly and pull them out during exam revision to be reminded not to make the mistakes again.


All the best.



Eric Chng

(Senior Councilor: May 2013 - December 2020)

Answered On 3 March 2017