Did well in A school...now not doing well in power school...

[effennuke]

Hey Guys,

I'm trying to look for any advice my situation.  I did relatively well in ET A-school, but now comes power school and I have failed a test for first time in NNPTC.  In total, I have now failed three tests, and my gpa is a 2.6, and it has only been two months.  I put in about 30 hours a week, get IAs, now I'm even bugging my SLPO for academic adviser.  There are some things going on back home, but I just try to ignore them.  I understand the material, but I can't get the details to stick.  Have been told I'm a kinesthetic learner, and well do well in prototype.  I want to complete the program, and eventually get picked up for STA-21, but instructors have told me if I can't complete Power School, then the chances of getting picked up for STA-21 are zero.

Will I make it? 
What study methods helped you get through?

[Fermi2]

Have you tried Mnemomics or acronyms to help with some of your stuff?

[Gamecock]

I put in about 30 hours a week, get IAs, now I'm even bugging my SLPO for academic adviser. 
Will I make it? 
What study methods helped you get through?

Put in more hours!!!  If 30 hours per week isn't cutting it, work harder.  Back in my day, guys put in 40+ hours a week if they were struggling.  If you sincerely want to make it through the program, you'll put the time in to learn the material. 

I was an officer instructor at NNPTC.  When you go get IA's, are you prepared to talk about your problems, or are you simply there to get the signature to meet the requirement.  I know most guys who came into my office simply were trying to get the IA signed off.  Have a plan, and have specific questions to ask.

If you put in the effort, you'll make it. 

Good luck to you.

GC

[Fermi2]

Typical navy BS advice, if what you're doing now doesn't work then do it for more hours. Einstein once said Insanity is doing the same thing the same way over and over again and expecting a different result.

Remember my young friend, 2.6 is still passing and in todays day and age they'll keep you in the program until you're cold and breathing dirt. Even then they might not drop you.

You're only 2 months into school. My advice,

1: Study what you're learning in your current week. (60% of your time)

2: Pick the topics you had trouble in previous weeks, go over them, find a classmate who seems to understand the subject matter and see if they can explain it. (30% of your time)

3: Go over stuff you previously learned and did well on (10%) of your time.

You might find the following, I've seen this both in the Rookie league (the Navy) and the big leagues (The commercial plants). At first any nuclear plant seems a big mass of spaghetti and unrelated topics. There's gonna come a day and it'll probably be within the next 3 or 4 weeks that you'll have learned enough systems and concepts that it'll all come together and the flash of knowledge will be like a bright light.  After that it'll come rather easy. It happened that way with a guy named Wehrl in my nuke school class. He struggled until about maybe week 13 or 14 then it all of a sudden put together as a total living system to him and he averaged a 3.9 the rest of the way. You say you're the type of learner who has to see the big picture. It'll come, try to stop thinking of a reactor plant as a bunch of individual items and think of it as you would your body or anything living.

Mike

[Gamecock]

  I understand the material, but I can't get the details to stick.

The devil is in the details......the only way to get the details is to spend more time studying them. 

Mike has some good advice otherwise.

[dagiffy]

One way that works for me if I'm not firing on all cylinders is to just plain memorize. Memorize a paragraph size of material. Get a blank sheet of paper, put the rest away from your eyes. Now reproduce that paragraph verbatim. If you can't, go back and memorize half of it. Put it away, get your blank paper and write it down verbatim. Once you are able to do that, do the other half. When you've done the second half, immediately turn your sheet over to the reverse blank side and try to write down the first half again. Do the the second half right after that. Then go get a drink of water, take a breather for 10, then come back and first thing, sit down and reproduce that paragraph again, without looking. If you can't get it all, start the process over until you can.

I know there's more to it than just memorizing, but first things first. Get it into your head so it's available on exams. Keep trying to recall what you've memorized, write it down cold, but let more and more time elapse before you try doing it again. First break, do ten minutes. If you can get it all down without looking, go to something else for 30 minutes. Then try to bring that one paragraph all back again. If you can, next time don't come back to it for 45 minutes. If you can reproduce the paragraph of material after 45 minutes away from it, wait an hour next time. Then wait two hours. Pretty soon it'll be in your brain so deep that you can go a day or two and still be able to recall it without having thought of it in the meantime. It's a lot of work, but it's what I had to do. I ended up with a 3.003 avg after the comp. I remember that they grade VERY generously on the comp, but I didn't care.

Your first concern is getting that GPA up, and it doesn't matter how. At NPTU you'll learn how to use the knowledge you have in a more practical way, but for now it's all about test taking.

[zilla]

Work harder if that's what it takes.... study more, try new methods, get "run-time" from your buddys that are hot runners.  It's worth it to do whatever it takes to make it through.

[Samabby]

" There are some things going on back home, but I just try to ignore them.  "

This may not be working.

[McBride]

Have you tried Mnemomics...

Watch it!  The Navy has a stringent drug testing program you know!

 

[Preciousblue1965]

Prototype is indeed hands on, but the first few months you won't really be doing a lot of hands on work.  You will be reading and studying systems and getting checkouts.  While you will be able to see the actually systems(not to mention you better know where the major components are and what they actually look like) you won't actually get to operate anything for a while.  Therefore you will still have to memorize a lot of stuff.   

I don't advocate gross memorization just because I have seen too many people who were great test takers because they memorized everything word for word, but if something came up that they hadn't memorized they were lost and most often cowaring in a corner.  Try understanding how something works.  I know it is easier said than done, but if you know how something works intimately, there really isn't anything they can ask you that you can't "nuke out". 

BZ is right about the fact that unless you are completely brain dead that they will find a way to get your through the program, although it may not be by the easiest means.

[Cycoticpenguin]

pm'ed you with test taking strategies. I have a feeling that you have been beaten to a pulp already with things that are said on this post, but dont get frustrated by it. If you are truly applying your best effort and are still struggling, then so be it. Push through it, keep your chin up, and just grind it out.

IA's are like checkout's right? If so that should give you some kind of leg up when you go through prototype.

[G-reg]

Literally, a "mnemonic" is any tool that helps you remember something, and there are lots of mnemonics.  Lots and lots of them.

Go to Amazon.com and search for mnemonic.  Pick whichever book catches your eye.  If you're having trouble remembering details, I guarantee that whatever book you pick will be worth a zillion times the price you paid for it.

 - Greg

[Smooth Operator]

I am not the sharpest chisel in the picnic basket and a few sandwiches short of a toolbox, but I made it through the program, became a SPU and overall had a successful Navy career.

1. I put in at least 40 hours a week even when I was on volunteer hours
2. I did all my weekend homework on Friday and utilized weekends for studying. I did my nightly homework during breaks and study hours
3. My whiteboard and markers were my best friends
4. I worked almost every problem in the study guides
5. I took Saturday off for me time...after being ordered too my SA.
6. No drinking, no fooling around

[Gamecock]

6. .....no fooling around

Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George became super smart by going without.

[Smooth Operator]

Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George became super smart by going without.

You got that right.

[PapaBear765]

If you're maintaining a 2.6, then you're passing.  Stop worrying.  If you want to improve your GPA, then evaluate if what you're doing is right for you or if you need to change your studying habits.  You should be able to get this kind of advice from the staff instructors.

Just don't forget to put in *real* effort.  No training program in the world can take someone from scratch and make them 100% competent without a minimum amount of participation from the trainee.

[PapaBear765]

Typical navy BS advice, if what you're doing now doesn't work then do it for more hours.

You're rocking the boat!

[HydroDave63]

Typical navy BS advice, if what you're doing now doesn't work then do it for more hours.

"...who are you who are so wise in the ways of science?"

[deltarho]

I will have to say, by far, that the students who had previous college and dropped out for too much partying or they ran out of money (and they were working their way through) or just didn't show up when they were supposed to were the best students in the pipeline. They averaged about 35 hours a week.

It wasn't that college prepared them better. They all would admit that they screwed up and the nuclear power program was their last chance. They had hit bottom and were desperate to succeed.

Fortunate are those that appreciate the opportunity to excel without first failing. Fortunate are those that fail the opportunity that learn from it and refuse to stay on the same track of failure in future endeavors.

Where will you be?

[zilla]

I will have to say, by far, that the students who had previous college and dropped out for too much partying or they ran out of money (and they were working their way through) or just didn't show up when they were supposed to were the best students in the pipeline. They averaged about 35 hours a week.

It wasn't that college prepared them better. They all would admit that they screwed up and the nuclear power program was their last chance. They had hit bottom and were desperate to succeed.

Fortunate are those that appreciate the opportunity to excel without first failing. Fortunate are those that fail the opportunity that learn from it and refuse to stay on the same track of failure in future endeavors.

Where will you be?

Man that was me to a TEE!  I blew off college, partied, didn't attend class and had no idea what I wanted.  Finally at the age of 22 I joind the NAV, top of class at A-school, 9 of 547 at power school, near top at PT.  I had hit bottom before the navy and had untapped potential.  I needed to prove something to myself, my parents, and everyone else I knew.  It was worth the work and it was a great ride that got me where I am today.

[deltarho]

Man that was me to a TEE!  I blew off college, partied, didn't attend class and had no idea what I wanted.  Finally at the age of 22 I joind the NAV, top of class at A-school, 9 of 547 at power school, near top at PT.  I had hit bottom before the navy and had untapped potential.  I needed to prove something to myself, my parents, and everyone else I knew.  It was worth the work and it was a great ride that got me where I am today.

Thank you for your honesty...others may benefit from your pain--you have.

[M1Ark]

You might be a kinesthetic learner but you also have abilities in the other learning styles.  My wife is a teacher and she deals with the different learning styles daily and tells me we all have the ability to learn utilizing various methods.  I am also a kinesthetic learner as well as visual.  I think in terms of concepts and can visualize anything I am thinking about.  I started off nuke school with low grades such as yourself and ended up improving EVERY week until graduation.  I was getting perfect scores on exams toward the end of NNPS and graduated with a 3.6 due to my lower grades in the beginning.  CO gave me a Letter of Commendation for academic performance due to my grades consistently improving.  I was scared into working hard same as you.  But I think as more information was given to me the more I was able to conceptualize and literally see the big picture.

Some tips:

1. Use Pneumonics (method of simplification)
2. Learn the key word and tricky phrases and ensure you write them down in your response even if it doesn't make sense at times.
3. Visualize whats going on in whatever topic you're studying. 
4. Know the formulas and be an expert at unit analysis.
5. Don't waste time...  instructor sea story starts up do your homework from the previous class instead.
6. Compartmentalize what you know and only study what you are weak at.  I see people reading the same material over and over again.
7. Simplify everything into terms you understand.

Hope that helps.

MM1

[Pirate Bob]

One tip, which I haven't seen in the above comments, is to use flash cards.  They seemed to work for me.  I really didn't go over them like other people did, but the fact that I wrote it all out and actually looked at that particular tricky word or phrase seemed to cement it in my brain.  Coloring in the corners of related cards also gave me a break every now and then, while still looking at the words I needed to learn.

Another thing that worked was giving myself a reward.  I would tell myself that I would focus very hard on a particular section until I could take the practice quiz and pass, and my reward would be getting to get a Reese's from the snack machine.  Your rewards may need to vary, since not everyone is a chocoholic. 

The last offering that I have, which is somewhat related to my previous tip, is to relax.  I found that I would get super stressed out the night before a test, causing me to lose focus and spend more time on worrying than studying.  What I did to remedy this was to workout hard for a good 1/2 hour or so right after class (the night before the exam), take a steaming shower, nap for 1 hour, eat a light meal, and then hard core study until 9pm.  If I wasn't out of that building at 9, it was only due to getting some last minute help from the NDI.  It also helped me keep in somewhat of a decent shape (hourglass instead of the oval variety that was walking around).

Don't know if any of these will work for you, but I hope you find the best solution for you.  Good luck, and hang in there.

PS. If you want some awesome advice from somebody that *hopefully* still works there, see if you can find ETCS Oviat (sp?)...he was in the Digital office on the A-school side when I was there, and helped me out BIGTIME.

[Preciousblue1965]

One thing I that I always told my students was that the night(or day since I was a P-type) before a major event such as test, board, or whatever; Do not study for more than one hour then after which go out and do something not related to nuclear power i.e. go to a movie, go out to dinner, whatever.  If you haven't learned it by the time the test comes around, more than likely you aren't going to get it in whatever time you have left.  Come in a little early the next day, glance through your notes, and give it your best shot. 

It seemed to work most of the time.  The times it didn't, I don't think the student would have passed the test with 24 hours straight of studying.

[Gamecock]

Though a tool that could be used in A School since you can take work out of the building.  For Power School it is a waste of time and efforts when compared to a white board.

Jason

Just to correct you on this......

Nothing can leave the building anymore.  All the material, whether A school or NNPS, is treated the same now.

I know when we were going through the pipeline back in the day, you could take your A school notes with you.  I was told the reason for the shift was that it would be too hard on the Quarterdeck watchstanders to monitor what is going out since both schools are now in the same building.