Man, I'm so jealus of you girls; you take college placement exams in 11th grade, and then you'll take Seminary courses and online courses at the same time, and'll be finished with grad school before I finish college! ..oh well..

I don't know why you put so much into studying by the way; especially you who probably know what's going on in class and do homework. Studying for you should only be a couple of hourse before the test. ..when I study, I'm learning it for the first time!

How many more years do you have until you finish college?

We're taking the placement exams so we can get credit for some courses in 12th grade. I think we're allowed to apply for up to 24 credits. I am not taking calculus next year though, so I did not take the math placement exam.

I don't plan on taking online courses. After high school, I do want to try to balance college and seminary classes in Brooklyn though...

The ironic thing is that the final I spent 10 hours studying for was also the class I spent about 80 hours doing homework for in the past 8 months. (And I am not exaggerating with that number.) So I knew pretty well what was going on there, but I still had to study. And I didn't even end up knowing everything on the test. Knowing what's going on doesn't necessary equal remembering every term mentioned in class.

"How many more years do you have until you finish college?"- A year. I was eggagerating.

"We're taking the placement exams so we can get credit for some courses in 12th grade."- Man, we never got college credits in my high school. I barely even knew what college was, I was so naive. I went to a 'yeshivish' high school, so..

"..the final I spent 10 hours studying for was also the class I spent about 80 hours doing homework for"- That's a waste of time 'Товарищ', you would retain most of the stuff you read if you (like me) did all your studying right before the final.

I didn't consider it a waste of time... It was worth it, and I knew and appreciated the material more as a result of the effort I put in.

This is only one class though. For most of the other classes, I just study the night before the test. The problem though is that during finals I usually have about two tests per day. Studying for two finals in one night is pretty difficult, so you need to be familiar with the material already.

It's also easier to study for the final if you have some tests in that subject between official examination periods. Some teachers give a few tests ever semester, while others give tests only during finals and midterms, which makes it a bit more difficult to study. As I was studying for today's final, I was wondering why I had to study the halachot of Purim, Pesach, and Sfirat HaOmer in the middle of June.

Haha.

My personal feeling has always been that the Western system of education is a bit faulty, since the subject matter is usually studied just to pass the class and get a good mark, but not for it's own sake. There's too much rigitity and specialization. In the past people had understandings in many different fields. Today people just learn one main thing, in very academic and not hands-on environment.

...this is a response to your saying that you "appreciated" the material you studied..

Yes, most people do study just to pass. If a teacher wants to know whether her students are truly interested in what she's teaching, all she has to do is say, "What I will say today in class is not on the test." Once those words are uttered, most girls close their notebooks, put down their pens, and space out. And meanwhile, I am sitting there and scribbling away (if it's something that interests me).

The school does its job in teaching the material to the students, and it is up to the students whether they actually want to learn it and keep it with them for life or not.

My opinion is that the more knowledge you have on a greater variety of subjects the better it is.

No doubt girl, knowledge is power.

If only others thought so too.

"Once those words are uttered, most girls close their notebooks, put down their pens, and space out."

I was the most awake those days, because none of the learning had strings attatched to it. But I didn't take notes. I would retain the information better than when I knew I'd be tested.

It wasn't like "You must memorize every name in the book, and that will determine how smart you are..."

Anyway, good luck on regents. I assume you're going to be studying for those now! :)

Thanks! :] I'm going to be focusing on the dreaded math now. I have both a test and a Regent. Other than that, all I have is a Touro English placement exam and I am done! I can't wait for the summer. I have forgotten what it's like to spend a whole day doing whatever I want and writing as much as I want.

Yeah, guys' schools don't offer anything for college. I think Alter's school didn't even want to give him a transcript until he promised to go to beis hamedresh for a year.