Sources of Stress - Private Tutoring

Sources of Stress BobbiM Apr 3, 2014 Are you extra stressed out? Why? What is the source? Find out below: Although at times it may feel as if there are infinite sources of stress, generally college stress can be broken down into six categories: prior academic record, social influences, family, finances, career direction, and situational problems (such as illness or drug problems). Most students think that stress is caused by outside factors. They might say that a test, a professor, or a paper is stressing them out. But stress is really an internal process. Therefore, its important to have some strategies for dealing with stress in order to put your reactions to it in perspective. As you read about the six categories of stress, remember that stress is natural, it is internal, it is often an overreaction to a specific situation, and IT CAN BE CONTROLLED. 1. Prior academic record. Students who have a shaky academic past may feel that they cant succeed in college. On the other hand, students who have a 4.0 average may feel stress to keep their stellar grade point average. Either way, your past history as a learner affects your stress level. 2. Social influences. You probably have realized that dealing with your friends can often be stressful. A fight with your roommate, breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, meeting new people-all of these situations can be stressful. In fact, even situations we would consider to be positive social factors, such as falling in love or socializing with really good friends, can cause a stressful reaction. Overall, however, having good friends and social support will actually reduce your stress levels because you have someone to confide in. 3. Family. You may feel pressure to so well in college in order to make your family proud, you may feel stress because you have moved away from your family, or because of family crises that arise. But like social influences, your family can also be a source of support to help you when you experience a lot of stress. 4. Finances. Financial stress usually begins in college (and never ends!) because students take out a loan to attend college, get jobs to help pay for college, or have to maintain a certain grade point average to keep their scholarships. Many college students are also responsible for paying bills and are gaining responsibility for their financial security. In addition, college students get their own credit cards, which can lead to great financial stress if used inappropriately. We know numerous college students who graduate not only with a diploma, but also with student loans and a stack of credit card debt. All of these things can cause stress, especially for students who are handling their own finances for the first time. 5. Career direction. So whats your major? What the heck are you going to do with that? You may have heard similar comments from friends and relatives. Everyone (perhaps yourself included) wants to know what you will do with your life after college. The less sure you are about your career direction, the more stress you might feel about it. You may even be concerned that youll never find your direction. On the other hand, students who have already decide on a career might also feel stress because they are concerned about achieving their goals. 6. Situational problems. Certain stresses are unexpected and sometimes devastating. You may become ill during the term, experience the death of someone close to you, among many other things. As will all the categories of stress you feel overwhelmed by situational problems, seek help from a counselor on campus or someone you can talk to about these concerns. Whats the cause for your stress? Excerpt from  College Success Strategies  by Sherrie L. Nist and Jodi Patrick Holschuh.

A New Force in GRE Prep

A New Force in GRE Prep GRE/MAT Graduate School Blog At MyGuru, we are generally adamant that the best way to prepare for the GRE is to use official practice materials. But, until recently, the Educational Testing Service made this a bit more difficult than it needed to be. For many years GRE students have waited for this… a fully online version of the POWERPREP software that works for both PC and Mac operating systems! As of July 30, 2017, ETS will no longer require students to download or use a CD-ROM to install the buggy and computer-freezing official POWERPREP II practice exam software. In fact, you can go to the official GRE website at www.ets.org/gre to experience the brand new, and cosmetically updated, POWERPREP interface right now. Access POWERPREP PLUS Online To access the new and improved free ETS official GRE practice tests you must first create an account with ETS at www.ets.org/gre. Once you have created your account, go to My GRE Home and proceed with the following steps: In the Test Preparation section of the page click Shop for Test Preparation Click the Add to Cart checkbox on the right side of the page to select both POWERPREP Online â€" Practice Test 1 and Practice Test 2 Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Next In the Your Shopping Cart page confirm a subtotal of $0 and click Submit Return to My GRE Home In the Test Preparation section of the page click My Test Preparation and Services Click Go To Practice Test for the exam you wish to begin Enter your name and click Launch Test to begin the practice exam Use Chrome or Safari for the best experience using this new tool and be thankful that you will never again see a MS-DOS pop-up window when preparing for a standardized test! For more detailed browser and operating system parameters, visit the ETS system requirements website. More Official Practice Resources In addition to the new online interface, the folks at ETS are also finally providing more than just the same two computerized practice tests that have existed for more than a decade. With POWERPREP PLUS GRE candidates can now purchase two additional practice exams for $39.95 each, and not only that… they come with answer explanations! To purchase a POWERPREP PLUS test, follow the same instructions for the free practice exams, but select to add to your cart the POWERPREP PLUS exam(s) you wish to purchase. While this may seem a bit expensive for a single online exam, let alone one that is only accessible for 90 days after first being opened, these tests represent the gold standard in adaptable online GRE preparation. Also, these exams come with never before seen questions that will be new to even the most veteran GRE prepper. In all, this new online interface will be a great new resource for every GRE student. Looking for more online self-paced GRE practice? In our focus on 1-1 in-person GRE tutoring and our growing experience with online GRE tutoring, we generally encourage students to stick with official practice materials, like the ETS resources references above. However, if you’re looking for additional online, self-paced GRE practice, we’ve found Magoosh GRE and Prep Scholar GRE to offer high quality, relatively affordable solutions with unique features such as thousands of practice problems, full length practice tests, good video explanations, and adaptive practice. About the Author Stefan Maisnier is the Director of Online Tutoring at MyGuru.He has been tutoring graduate school candidates for more than a decade in the testing techniques he used to overcome an average undergraduate GPA to gain acceptance to Northwestern University Master's in Journalism program. He is also a published writer whose name can be found on some of the best-known print and onlinetest prep resources.