Tips for School (A-levels) #1 - Choose the right courses!

Hey everyone,

now that I finished school and will start going to University in October I would like to tell you how I managed school or A-levels quite well. :)

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First I have to say that I didn't know anyone when I started A-levels because the year before I worked in a primary school and didn't go to school myself, so I did not start A-levels with my usual classmates.

I'm not 100 % sure about the school system in your country but in Germany it is quite simple:
- There are four years of primary school, after which you (and your marks) can decide which secondary school you will visit.
- Usually there are six years of secondary school. After those you can either start working or do your A-levels. 
- You can do your A-levels on grammar school or on a comprehensive school. It takes three years (lately there are schools, where you can do them in two years as well) and after one year you have to decide which two advanced courses you will choose. (In my school you could decide between German, English and Mathematics - you had to take one of them - plus Biologie, Art and Education. I chose English and Art but right now I would probably go for English + German or Education... but I will talk about that later. ;))

Well, as I said I didn't know anyone and found it quite hard to be surrounded by strangers all day long. I'm horribly shy and had some problems to connect with people but in the end it all worked out and I had some fun years. :)

I thought of doing a post including 10 tips at once but then I decided to separate them, so here is School-Tip #1 (if they don't conform to your opinion / experiences this is totally fine - I just want to be a little help to those, who have problems and maybe they can profit from what I say ;)):

#1) Choose the right courses! 

  -> There always is a huge offer of courses you can choose but I think it is the best to choose those you're really interested in! Most people take courses only because their friends take them and they can't identify with it at all and get problems. Every bad course mark will be visible on your certificate and we in Germany have to collect poins while doing A-levels and the points will turn into your grade point average on your last certificate, which won't look that good if you weren't successful. ;)
Combined with that it is even more important to choose the right advanced courses. You have to spend loads and loads of time dealing with it that it has to be something you enjoy or even love. I made the mistake to chose Art although I can't draw... my marks in Art always were good though but this is not enough for taking an advanced course in it. I'm very interested in history of art but it's just not everything you do. :/  In the end I think the best choice for me would have been German because I'm good at languages in general, I love to read & write and it's more theoratical (which I am good at).
Just think about your choices and I recommend to talk to your teachers. ;)

There will be nine more tips in the next nine weeks, so please keep your eyes open and leave me a comment, saying if this is helpful for you or you like / dislike the idea in general! :)

#2: Be organized (02.09.12)
#3: Do your homework (07.09.12)
#4: Ask questions (14.09.12)
#5: Talk to your teachers (21.09.12)
#6: Take breaks (28.09.12)
#7: Form study-groups (05.10.12)
#8: Read the lectures (12.10.12)
#9: Repeat before exams (19.10.12)
#10: Eat / Drink enough ;) (26.10.12)

I hoped you had fun!

See you next time,
Hermione