The Islam Faiths Views on Life Support and Euthanasia

Islam teaches that the control of life and death is in Allahs hands, and cannot be manipulated by human beings. Life itself is sacred, and it is therefore forbidden to end life deliberately, either through homicide or suicide. To do so would be to reject  faith in Allahs divine decree. Allah determines  how long each person will live. The Quran says: Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves: for verily Allah hath been to you Most Merciful! (Quran 4:29) ...if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. (Quran 5:23) ...take not life, which Allah has  made sacred, except by way of justice and law. Thus He does command you, that you  may learn wisdom. (Quran  6:151) Medical Intervention Muslims do believe in medical treatment. In fact, many scholars consider it  mandatory in Islam to seek medical help for illness, according to two sayings of the Prophet Muhammad: Seek treatment, believers of Allah, for Allah has made a cure to every illness.   and Your body has a right over  you. Muslims are encouraged to search the natural world for remedies  and use scientific knowledge to develop new medicines.  However, when a patient has reached the terminal stage (when  treatment holds no promise of a cure) it is not required to sustain excessive life-saving remedies.   Life Support When it is clear that there is no treatment left available to cure a terminal  patient, Islam advises only the continuation of basic  care such as food and drink.  It is not considered homicide to withdraw other  treatments in order to allow the patient to die naturally. If a patient is declared brain-dead by doctors, including situations in which there is no activity in the brain stem, the patient is considered dead and no artificial  support functions need to be provided. Ceasing such care is not considered homicide if the patient is already clinically dead. Euthanasia All Islamic scholars, in all schools of Islamic jurisprudence,  regard active euthanasia as forbidden (haram). Allah determines the timing of death, and we should not seek or attempt to hasten it. Euthanasia is meant to relieve the  pain and suffering of a terminally-ill patient. But as Muslims, we are never to fall into despair about Allahs mercy and wisdom.  The Prophet Muhammad once told this story: Among the nations before you there was a man who got wounded, and growing impatient (with pain), he took a knife and cut his hand with it. The blood did not stop until he died. Allah (Exalted be He) said, My slave hastened to bring about his demise; I have forbidden Paradise to him (Bukhari and Muslim). Patience When a person is suffering from unbearable  pain, a Muslim is advised to remember that Allah tests us with pain and suffering in this life, and we must patiently persevere. The Prophet Muhammad advised us to make this dua  on such occasions: Oh Allah, make me live as long as life is better for me, and make me die if death is better for me (Bukhari and Muslim). Wishing for death simply to alleviate suffering is against the teachings of Islam, as it challenges Allahs wisdom and we must be patient with what Allah has written for us. The Quran says: ...bear with patient constancy whatever befalls you (Quran 31:17). ...those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure! (Quran  39:10). That said, Muslims are advised to comfort those who are suffering and  make use of palliative care.

Anthropology Anthropology And Anthropology - 1550 Words

I would’ve never imagined the endless careers that are available to anthropology majors, before taking Professor Sharratt’s Intro to Anthropology course. The things that I have learned in anthropology have opened my mind to a variety of different career paths that is possible with a degree in anthropology. Anthropology majors go off to a plethora of careers with their degrees in anthropology. Anthropology is â€Å"the study of humankind in all times and place†. Anthropology has four different subfields which include: Physical/Biological, Socio/Cultural, Linguistic, and Archeology. This wide range of a study allows for one to stand out to companies in a various amount of industries including law, health, and often times business. Some job duties†¦show more content†¦Forensic anthropologist document and investigate human remains from past experiences. Forensic anthropologists are also very helpful when mass disasters occur and a large amount of people die due to a certain event. Tersigni-Tarrant, Teresa, and Shirley state how forensic anthropology takes place during a mass disaster by stating â€Å"The staff working in the disaster morgue has several responsibilities: documentation and processing of remains, identification of the victim, examination of remains for medicolegal interpretations (e.g., cause of death), and documentation of the overall process† (444). Forensic anthropology can be very vital to a culture or country because it allows for one to understand how someone has passed away, which could possibly effect the same culture or country in the future. Forensic anthropologist take the time to examine the cause of one’s death and help a certain culture or country understand a particular outcome. There are forensic anthropologists employed by the FBI. Another possible career opportunity in anthropology that I ran across that intrigued me was an exhibit designer. Exhibit designers are mainly employed at museums . 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Are Antibiotics For Cold Or Minor Pain Symptoms - 1642 Words

Introduction: In today’s society, people take antibiotics for cold or minor pain symptoms. What people do not understand is what damages antibiotics can do to an individual’s body. Often, people see advertisements of others taking medicine to treat pain symptoms, however, they do not realize that doctors do not recommend them. This topic is important because people need to be informed about the medicine they take. This may save people from buying expensive medicines that pharmacies sell, this will keep peoples immune systems stronger if they only take antibiotics for severe cases, and people will not get resistant to antibiotics as frequently. Thus, if antibiotics would be needed for important purposes, individuals may not need high doses†¦show more content†¦Another experiment was conducted, by a journal named Contemporary Clinical Trials, who tested to determine whether a probiotic used in a treatment would help stop or reduce symptoms of the C. difficile infection in olde r adults. Current standard antibiotics used to treat difficile infection are only 75 to 85 percent successful. Although this is a good percentage, one of the side effects is that there is a risk of antibiotic resistance. The chances of the body responding to the antibiotic will decrease over time, because the system would be immune to the antibiotic. Due to this result, the treatment would not be effective. Another downfall of this treatment is that this drug is very expensive for people who cannot afford it.2 People, who cannot afford to buy this drug, would not be able to undergo treatment, thus the reason for a small population to use the drug. As a result, this experiment shows how taking antibiotics do not necessary help the immune system, as there are many consequences when taking the drugs. A journal named Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology, researched whether giving antibiotics to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy reduce fevers. Their results concluded that the antibiotics do not reduce fevers of patients going under chemotherapy. The bacteria did not cause fevers; therefore the antibiotic treatment used did not need excessive

Island of Patmos free essay sample

Why he was exiled 2. Living conditions a. Challenges of shelter b. Challenges of food c. His age v. Revelation written there by Paul 3. Paul’s willingness to do anything God asked of him c. What it means to me. vi. Things I saw 4. The beauty of the place. 5. The cave where Paul could of lived vii. Feelings 6. Just the feeling of being where Paul once was 7. Being where the book of Revelation was written 8. The persecution that was going on in the time it was written d. Conclusion viii. Overview of the intro, the biblical importance and what it means to me. Keith McAllister Professor Patterson Greco Roman 26 April 2013 The Island of Patmos The island of Patmos is a Greek island that is located just off the coast of Asia Minor in the eastern borderline of the Aegean Sea. It is one of the northern most islands of the Dodecanese complex and is between the islands of Leros and Ikaria. The island of Patmos has an area of 13. 15 square miles and has a population of 2,998 people. Detailed census) The island of Patmos is about 158 miles from the main harbor of Athens, Piraeus. The history of the island of Patmos goes extremely far back. According to a legend from Greek mythology the island of Patmos was first named Letois after one of their goddess’. (The Book of Apocalypse written on Patmos. ) They believed that Patmos came into existence due to the goddess’ divine intervention. They believed that the island was at the bottom of the sea and the goddess would visit another god on a nearby island. The other god wanted the goddess to bring the island up to life and over time the goddess did. The earliest remains of human settlements date back to the Middle Bronze Age which is believed to be 2000 BC. Throughout history the island of Patmos is mentioned by very few ancient writers. Because of this there is not much known about the ancient history of the island of Patmos. Although there is not much known, we do know that during the 3rd century BC in the Hellenistic period there was a settlement on the island of Patmos that had the form of an acropolis with an improved defense with fortification walls and towers. Patmos is also mentioned in Christian scriptures in the Book of Revelation. The book tells us that the author was put onto the island and was given a vision from Jesus. On the island there is a cave where the writer, John the Apostle, was believed to stay and several monasteries. After the death of John the Apostle many Christians came onto the island and settled on the island. Although many Christians settled on the island Christian life hardly survived from the 7th century BC through the 9th century BC because of the Muslims raiding the island. In 1912 the island was captured during the Turkish-Italian War and the Italians occupied it until 1943 when Nazi Germany took over the island of Patmos. In 1945 the Germans left the island of Patmos and the island remained autonomous until 1948 when it and the rest of the Dodecanese islands chose to join independent Greece. The geography of the island of Patmos is an island with many colorful mountains and rocky places with many small caves scattered all over the island. The highest point on the island of Patmos is Mount Profitis Elias which rises at 270 meters. Although it has many mountains and rocky places and caves is also has low barren hills and small plateaus. The island of Patmos being an island also means that it has numerous gulfs that form countless beautiful bays and coves. The island of Patmos also has some beautiful beaches that most people would dream of visiting. The most important gulf on the island is Porto Skala because it is the main harbor of the island and the only commercial harbor on the entire island. Now that you know where the island of Patmos is located, the history of the island and the Geography of this beautiful island, I am going to tell you about the biblical importance of the island of Patmos. The island of Patmos is an extremely important island when it comes to the Bible. On the island of Patmos the book of Revelation was written. â€Å"The Book of Revelation or The Apocalypse of John, is the last and only prophetical book of the New Testament in the Bible. † (Patmos Island, the island of the Apocalypse) The book of Revelation was written by John as he lived on the island of Patmos. The text of Revelation states that the author is called John and that he lives on the Greek island of Patmos, where by some, he is considered to be in exile as a result of anti-Christian persecution under the Roman emperor Domitian. Weeks Stephen) Christians during this time were being persecuted by the Roman government. The biblical scholar Adela Yarbro Collins from Yale Divinity School explains why this is credible that John would have been banished to the island of Patmos. Early tradition says that John was banished to Patmos by the Roman authorities. This tradition is credible beca use banishment was a common punishment used during the Imperial period for a number of offenses. Among such offenses were the practices of magic and astrology. Prophecy was viewed by the Romans as belonging to the same category†¦.. Prophecy with political implications, like that expressed by John in the book of Revelation, would have been perceived as a threat to Roman political power and order†¦. † (Adela Collins) The story of St John is central to Patmos. â€Å"Exiled by Emperor Domitian in AD 95 to this backwater, he settled in a cave. † (Cole Teresa L. ) John was in his nineties when he was banished to the island of Patmos by the Roman government. He had been sent there due to proclaiming his faith and living a life for Jesus. When he was sent to the island of Patmos it was not an island where people were living or people had settled on. It was an island where the only people living on it were the people who had been banished also. John had to find his own supply for basic needs and it would have been extremely hard for a man in his nineties to do. John had to find a safe place to stay where he could stay sheltered from the weather and also be able to find himself food. For a man in his nineties this would have been extreme hard to do but rather than giving up and dying he pursued on. He did the exact opposite of that. He did not want to die, rather he went and found a cave up on a hill to stay and live in. â€Å"He lived in a cave above the Islands capital of Skala as a hermit. Today this cave is one of the most revered locations for all Christians. Not only is it revered as a place where one of the Disciples lived in exile. It’s also a place where God revealed himself to a human being. † (Adkins Mike) Many people go to visit this cave today so that they can be where it is believed that John stayed while on the island of Patmos and to be where God revealed to John about the book of Revelation. Although this is a huge and very common belief no one really knows if this particular cave in fact is where John lived while he was on the island of Patmos. Although no one knows the truth about this cave it is a very accurate description and example of where John would have lived to shelter himself from the weather of the island. For me it is hard to imagine a ninety something year old man living and sleep on the floor of a cave away from all other human life and having to find his own food and water and him still wanting to fight for God’s word. John has been ripped away from everything he loved; all of his churches, his friends and other Christians that kept encouraging his work. Even after all of this John still fought on and did what pleased God. God revealed to John the book of Revelation and John still wrote it knowing full well that the reason he was on the Island of Patmos was because of his belief, but this did not stop John. Nothing could stop John from worshipping God. John had proven this by still worshipping God after all he had been through. Anyone who knew the basic struggles of what John went through on the island of Patmos, the lack of shelter, food, water, and of people, would agree that it was not an easy task to survive there, especially for a man in his nineties. Most people in his circumstance would have given up and died. John did not give up and I am extremely grateful for this Because of John we have the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Due to John’s great amount of faith in Christ Jesus and his amount of perseverance we now have the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is the very last book in the Bible. The purpose of the book of Revelation is to reveal Gods plan for the future of the entire world. No one can escape what the book of Revelation says is to come. The book of Revelation tells of coming judgment on the world and all the people in it for all of the sins that they have committed. Souvay, Charles) In the book of Revelation there are many thing that we cannot imagine that are going to happen to this world and because of this there has been a lot of criticism about the book. The island of Patmos will always have an impact on me. The island left an impressive image for me and I will never forget what the island of Patmos meant to me, the things I saw, and the feeling that I f elt there. They will be with me for as long as I live. This island did not mean much to me just a few months ago. I knew it was where John wrote the book of Revelation but that to me was not a big deal. It was just the place where the book of Revelation was written and that was it. That whole idea and concept to me was not that special, but that all changed dramatically after I had the chance to actually go and visit the island of Patmos itself. The island of Patmos was a great experience for me and I was excited that I had the opportunity to go but what I underestimated the lasting impression it was going to leave on me. While I was on the island of Patmos I saw many things that I will never forget. The first of them was just the sheer beauty of the island itself. I had never been to such a beautiful place before in my entire life. This island had many mountain’s full of colorful flowers and trees and many designs and shapes of the mountain and rocks surrounding it. The waters of the island are some of the clearest waters I have ever seen. You could look down into the beautiful blue sea and see the coral resting on the bottom and the colorful fish swimming around the coral looking for something to eat and a place to rest. (Swick Thomas) It was a beautiful sight that you could sit and watch for hours and lose track of the time doing so. Another thing I saw on the island of Patmos was the monastery. It was a very old building that had been built to worship God. As you walked into the monastery you walked through doors that were 900 years old. (The divine island of Patmos) The further you went into the monastery the more paintings you saw. There were many paintings all over the inside of the monastery some being as old as dating back to the 12th century. Each painting represented a story of their beliefs. Every face that was in the painting had the same facial expression. It was not an expression of fear as some pictures showed the people being attacked, or of sorrow watching people they loved being murdered, or of happiness while eating dinner around a table. Every face in the entire monastery had a face of blankness, no expression whatsoever and that was very weird to me. Another thing that I saw was the cave that supposedly John stayed in. It was a cave above the main city and the only commercial harbor. The cave was on a hill that was accessible by a car. Once we got to the cave we had to wait outside and talk to the man who kept it who hardly spoke English. Once we finally got to go into the cave it had been turned into a building and a room to preserve it. Inside there were paintings of John and him holding a book that was supposed to be the book of Revelation. The cave was no more than a space that was 20 feet by 20 feet. I know that this cave has not been proven to be the actual cave where John stayed during his punishment but it is a good description and example of what he would have lived in. The fact that a man in his nineties would have been able to live in a cave like this and still be happy and willing to do what God has asked him to do amazes me. John was an extremely devoted man of God to be willing to do such a thing. Some of the memories that will stay with me the longest are the feelings I had while visiting the island of Patmos. It was a feeling of amazement, awe, excitement, sadness and hope all at the same time. When I first learned that I was going to be on the island of Patmos where John wrote the book of Revelation I did not think much of it. Just that It was going to be a place that didn’t mean much to me. Once I actually got to the island of Patmos it was completely different feeling than I was expecting to have. It was one of the most amazing feelings being on the island knowing that this is where John wrote the book of Revelation. Knowing that God revealed the end times to John on the island that you were now standing on was a once in a lifetime feeling that put you in an awe of Gods greatness, and excitement knowing that you are standing in a place that was of great importance to the Bible. Such a beautiful place like the island of Patmos and God revealing the fate of the world to a single man named John. As I was on the island of Patmos I did some reading on location and as I sat reading the book of Revelation it just gave the book a whole new meaning and importance. It is like it gives the book of Revelation a whole new perspective to the reader. It made the book of Revelation feel so much more real and closer as I read it reading of what was to come and realizing that the end times are coming. It was a sad feeling knowing that the world was going to be destroyed through famine, war and by God’s wrath and everything on it would be killed. But yet also knowing that the Christians of the world would be saved from it all and would win the war in the end also gave me a huge feeling of hope knowing that God will take care of me through everything. It also made me realize that there is not much time left to go out unto the nations preaching the word of God and that as Christians we cannot stress the importance of this enough. It gave me a new â€Å"fire† to run and to go out and tell people of Gods wonderful news of salvation by the grace of God through his son Christ Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. Another feeling that I had while on the island was sadness it was a sad feeling knowing the entire reason John was on the island of Patmos was because he was being persecuted for his faith. Just knowing that John and so many other believers were facing so many trials is saddening to me to know what they were going through. Also knowing that many of us who have little to no persecution and yet we are more scared to go out and talk to people about God’s Word than the Christian’s were that were being killed for doing so. The strongest feeling I had while on the island of Patmos was that of just pure gratefulness knowing that this is the place that God revealed to man the end of the world and that we as Christians had hope for the end times. The island of Patmos has a great and very long history. The island of Patmos was where the book of Revelation was written. It has been part of many different countries since it has been founded and is now part of Greece. It is a beautiful island full of many different colors and is full of history. Its history is a rich and vast history that involves anything from wars to the last book of the Bible being written on the island, talking about the end times of the world. The entire time I was on the island of Patmos I learned a lot about the end times and what the Bible has to say bout it through the reading I did out of the book of Revelation and what people taught me about this island of Patmos. During the time I spent on the island of Patmos I had a variety of different emotions while I was there also. It was one of the most amazing experiences that I ever had and I will never forget the feelings I experienced or what I have learned while visiting the island of Patmos.

Key accounting policies Essay Example

Key accounting policies Essay Fiat group put into practice an interpretation IFRIC 4 as of January 1, 2006. To be very particular about the interpretation it specifies that an arrangement contains a lease if it depends on the use of a particular asset and hand over a right to control the use of that asset. An amendment to IAS 39 titled Financial Instrument Recognition and Measurement to the foreign currency risk of a highly probable permit intragroup forecast transaction to qualify as the hedged element in a cash flow hedge in consolidated financial statements, which was released in 2005. The amendment states that the operation is denominated in a currency which ought to be different from the functional currency of the body which enters to that deal. Moreover the foreign currency risk will have an impact on consolidated financial statements. Another amendment to IAS 39 was issued by ISAB which concerned recognition and measurement to limit the use of the opportunity to determine any financial asset or liability to be measured at accurate value via profit and loss. An alteration under the title Group and Treasury Share Transactions was released on November, 2006. The amendment set ups that share based payment arrangements in which an entity gets services as consideration for its own equity instruments must be accounted for as equity-settled. Fiat group has introduced this interpretation in January, 2006. Reassessment of Embedded Derivatives was released on March 3, 2006. It demands evaluating by an entity if implanted derivative is require to be cut off from the host contract and accounted for a derivative when the body first becomes a party to the deal. The ISAB released the IFRS 8 in 2006, 30 November. We will write a custom essay sample on Key accounting policies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Key accounting policies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Key accounting policies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It is about new standard which requires the information within segment reporting to be based upon the mechanism of the entity that management board uses to decide about operational issues. Disclosure Fiat keeps a continuous contact with the Shareholders. The contact policy is an open communication. A lot of presentations are held regularly to provide crucial events. Furthermore, seminars were introduced in order to extend the information about Fiat group performance. Official website www. fiatgroup. com with an intention to provide historical financial data, real time updates on Fiat stock and periodic publications.

The Communist Dictatorship in Cuba essays

The Communist Dictatorship in Cuba essays Cuba is a communist dictatorship, with Fidel Castro as the head of state. It does not have an independent judiciary nor does it have free elections. So the people of Cuba would be considered subjects to the country. Fidel Castro led a rebel army to overthrow the Cuban government and achieved victory in 1959. Cuba's communist revolution, with Soviet support, was exported throughout Latin America and Africa during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. The country is now slowly recovering from a severe economic recession following the withdrawal of former Soviet subsidies, worth $4 billion to $6 billion annually, in 1990. Havana blames its difficulties on the US embargo in place since 1962. Cuba is a multiracial society with a population of mainly Spanish and African origins. The largest organized religion is the Roman Catholic 85%, Santeria 15%, a blend of Protestants, Jewish, Santerian, and native African religions. Roman Catholicism, is the most widely practiced religion in Cuba. Officially, Cuba has been an atheist state for most of the Castro era. However, a constitutional amendment adopted on July 12, 1992, changed the nature of the Cuban state from atheist to secular, enabling religious believers to belong to the Cuban Communist Party (PCC). Cuba is slightly smaller than Pennsylvania with a population of 11,730,400 (October 2002). The labor force is comprised of agriculture 23%, industry 24%, services 53% and they have an unemployment rate of 6%. Industries include sugar, petroleum, food, tobacco, textiles, chemicals, paper and wood products, metals (particularly nickel), cement, fertilizers, consumer goods, agricultural machinery. Cuba like all countries is comprised of many races of people. Ethnic divisions in Cuba include Mulatto 51%, European descent 37%, African descent 11%, and Chinese 1%. Cuba remains racially divided between the white haves and the black and mixed-race have-nots. It is safe to say Cuba is conflictual political cu...

10 Genius Tips for Balancing Test Prep With School

10 Genius Tips for Balancing Test Prep With School SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Getting your SAT/ACT dream score will likely take a considerable time investment. The vast majority of high school students have to spend many hours of studying before they're able to get their desired score. However, your time is limited. You have school, homework, studying, and extracurricular activities. How will you be able to put in the necessary test prep time on top of your other responsibilities? In this article, I'll let you know how you can balance SAT/ACT test prep with school. If you follow my advice, you'll be able to effectively incorporate test prep into your schedule. General Guidance Before you embark on a path to successfully reaching your SAT/ACT goals, you need to have the right mindset. First, you need to believe that you're capable of succeeding. Confidence is crucial to complete any difficult task, including getting a wonderful SAT/ACT score. Most likely, you're not where you want to be right now, but it's essential that you have faith that you can get there. As an SAT teacher, I worked with hundreds of students of all different skill levels, and almost every student who was committed to improving saw significant results. You may not be naturally gifted at math, but with enough practice and focused studying, you can probably get a good Math score. You may struggle with grammar, but if you master the grammar rules that are tested on the SAT/ACT, you should be able to correctly answer the grammar questions. Don't just accept that a weakness will stop you from getting your desired score. You need to believe that you can improve your weaknesses (because you can). Also, you need to be motivated. If you're confident but aren't willing to put in the necessary study time, you won't see much improvement. I understand that many students find it difficult to care about studying for the SAT/ACT. They find the material dull and have so many other priorities and concerns. However, regardless of your college goals, you should realize the importance of the SAT/ACT. Getting a better score will increase your college options and the likelihood that you'll qualify for merit scholarships. Furthermore, a good SAT/ACT score can positively impact your professional future. Some employers ask job applicants to report their standardized test scores. If you find your motivation waning, think of how getting a wonderful SAT/ACT score can benefit you. Finally, if you're going to successfully balance your SAT/ACT studying with school, you need to have a plan. To reach any challenging goal, I think it's important to specifically figure out how you're going to achieve your desired goal. Having a plan will enable you to stay on task and use your time efficiently. Making a Plan Hopefully, you recognize that you can balance school with your test prep, and you realize that you're going to need an effective plan to make that happen. How do you go about making a plan, though? I'll provide you with the steps and detailed instructions to help you come up with a quality SAT/ACT study plan. Determine Your Target Score Before you go through any steps to balance school with your test prep, you should have a goal score for your SAT/ACT. Having a goal will motivate you to stick to your study plan, make you more likely to prioritize your test prep, and help you figure out how much time you need to study. You can determine your target score by averaging the 75th percentile scores for the schools you’re interested in applying to. If you reach the 75th percentile score for a given school, your score will make you an extremely competitive applicant. Find the 75th percentile scores by googling â€Å"(name of school) prepscholar average sat† or â€Å"(name of school) prepscholar average act.† For old SAT scores out of 2400, multiply the 75th percentile score by â…” to determine what the 75th percentile score would be on the current test with a maximum score of 1600. Figure Out How Much Time You Need to Study Once you have a target score, you can determine how much time you need to study before you take the SAT/ACT. Taking this step will allow you to come up with a plan that will help you balance your test prep with school. In order to figure out how much you need to study, you need to know exactly how much you need to improve. Calculate the difference between your target score and your last SAT/ACT. If you've never taken the SAT/ACT, I recommend taking an official practice SAT/ACT simulating real testing conditions to determine where you’re at and how much you need to improve. Once you know how much you need to improve, here’s an estimated breakdown of point improvement per number of study hours for the SAT: 0-50 SAT Total Point Improvement: 10 hours 50-100 Point Improvement: 20 hours 100-200 Point Improvement: 40 hours 200-300 Point Improvement: 80 hours 300-500 Point Improvement: 150 hours+ And here’s the same thing for the ACT: 0-1 ACT Composite Point Improvement: 10 hours 1-2 ACT Point Improvement: 20 hours 2-4 ACT Point Improvement: 40 hours 4-6 ACT Point Improvement: 80 hours 6-9 ACT Point Improvement: 150 hours+ How many hours do you need to study? Write Out Your Weekly Schedule At this point, you should know when you’re planning on taking the test and how many total hours you need to study. Then you can divide the total number of hours you need to study by the number of weeks you have until your test to determine how many hours per week you should be studying. For example, let's say you're planning on taking the ACT in 8 weeks and you want to raise your ACT score by 3 points. Because a 3 point improvement will take roughly 40 hours of studying and you have 8 weeks until the test, you'll have to average about 5 hours of studying per week to reach your target score. Before you determine exactly when you’ll be studying, write out your weekly schedule with all of your responsibilities. Include all of your weekly tasks: school, homework, extracurriculars, job, etc. Write out your schedule for each day of the week. Perhaps your Tuesday may look something like this: 7:00 AM- wake up 8:00 AM-3:00 PM- school 4:00-6:00- cross country practice 7:30-9:30- homework and studying Create a Plan Now that you know how many hours per week you need to study, you can decide when you’re going to study based on the time that you currently have available. Write your intended study hours into your typed out weekly schedule. Print out your plan. You can even print out multiple copies and place them where you'll regularly see them. Looking at your intended schedule will remind you of when you need to study, help you commit your schedule to memory, and motivate you to stay on task. Let's add some study time into the hypothetical Tuesday schedule I made: 7:00 AM- wake up 8:00 AM-3:00 PM- school 4:00 PM-6:00 PM- cross country practice 7:30-9:30 PM- homework 10:00-:30 PM- SAT studying This is a pretty challenging schedule. You'll be busy with only limited breaks from 7:00 AM-:30 PM. However, if you're disciplined and motivated, it's feasible to stick to this itinerary. If you're more of a morning person, you can wake up at 5:30 AM to do your SAT studying. Also, if you have to do 5 hours of studying per week, you may only have to schedule SAT/ACT studying for a couple of days. Furthermore, if you have more free time on the weekends, you can save the majority or all your studying for Saturdays and Sundays. Time for test prep! Hooray! Make Your Plan Doable When you create your study plan, be realistic and honest with yourself about what you're capable of doing. If your schedule includes studying for 12 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, you probably should make some adjustments. Even though you may have enough free time to study for 12 hours on Saturday and Sunday, you’re probably not going to have the energy or concentration to study for 24 hours every weekend. Similarly, if you have trouble waking up in the morning, you shouldn't schedule your SAT/ACT prep for 4:00 AM. You really want to create a schedule that you’re likely to stick to and will allow you to put in enough prep time to reach your target score. Unfortunately, it's possible that if you don't have much free time, you'll have to create a schedule that's less than ideal. However, you still want to create the most realistic possible schedule. Share Your Plan For accountability, I recommend sharing your plan with those who are willing to help you stick to it. If your parents, siblings, or close friends know your intended schedule, they can encourage and push you when they know it’s time for you to do your SAT/ACT prep. If you try to deviate from your schedule, you’ll have other people to remind you of your goals and what you should be doing. Keep in mind, though, that you'll be most likely to achieve your goals if you're primarily self-motivated. Evaluate and Adjust Your Plan Regularly During the first week or two of your study plan, keep track of how well you’re doing and how well your plan is working for you. If the plan you created seems too difficult for you to maintain, then you may need to adjust it so that it’s easier for you. If you have to make adjustments, do your best not to sacrifice study time you need to reach your target score. Ideally, you'll be able to move your studying to times that work better for you. If your extracurricular activity or work schedule changes after you start your study plan, you may have to alter your prep time accordingly. Also, make sure that your SAT/ACT prep isn't getting in the way of your schoolwork. If your current prep plan is preventing you from finishing your homework or studying for school, then you'll have to make changes. You don't want to sacrifice your grades to reach your target score. In fact, generally, your grades are more important to colleges than your test scores. If your plan isn't working, change it. How to Stay Motivated Perhaps the biggest challenge to successfully balancing school with your test prep is maintaining your motivation up until test day. Many students are able to stick to their plan for a week or two, but they start to slip and neglect their test prep over time. Your study plan will only be effective if you stick to it up until test day. Trust me that I understand the challenges of maintaining your plan. I wasn't a perfect student, and I realize that you'll be tempted to stray from your plan when you'd rather be doing anything other than test prep. I've already mentioned a few tips like printing out your plan and sharing it to help stay on track. Here are some more strategies for you to make the best use of your study time and stay engaged throughout the study process. Set Smaller Goals for Motivation Remember that the number of hours you’re studying is only one part of the equation to reaching your target score. You need to make sure that you’re focused when you’re studying and studying efficiently. Set goals for yourself for each study session and on a weekly basis. For example, if during one of your study sessions, you’re trying to improve on transition questions on SAT Writing, you can set a goal of reviewing my article on transitions and then getting at least 9/10 transition questions right from SAT practice tests. Similarly, you could also set a goal for the week of raising your ACT Science score by two points from your last practice test. Then, you can focus your studying for the week on improving your content weaknesses and doing practice problems. At the end of the week, you can do a complete ACT Science section under test conditions, and hopefully, you’ll be able to achieve your goal. Leave Time for Fun In trying to balance school with your test prep, realize that outside of school, test prep, and your extracurricular activities, you should be having some fun and leisure time. All work and no play is sad, and you’re going to have a difficult time maintaining motivation if you’re not emotionally healthy. Furthermore, you should be enjoying your youth, spending time with your friends and family, and creating memories that you’ll probably look back on more fondly than your SAT/ACT prep. When you create your prep schedule, try not to have every minute of your day devoted to your studies or other obligations. It’s not terrible to spend a few hours per week engaged in fun activities that may not directly help you get into the college of your dreams. It might be time for a bouncy castle break. (Catrin Austin/Flickr) Reward Yourself Following all of the tips in this article (other than having fun) isn’t easy. Just reading this article is indicative of your determination and willingness to make sacrifices to achieve your goals. I’m a big believer in positive reinforcement. If you meet one of your daily or weekly goals, feel free to reward yourself for your hard work. You deserve it, and you can use your rewards as further motivation to reach your goals. If you reach your goal of improving your SAT Math section score by 50 points from the previous week, maybe you can reward yourself by going to see a movie you’ve been wanting to check out or spending an hour posting stories on Snapchat (isn’t that what the kids do these days?). Final Points Balancing school with your test prep isn’t easy, but it’s possible if you’re diligent, organized, and plan effectively. If you need help with motivation, organization, or holding yourself accountable, you may greatly benefit from a test prep program like PrepScholar. PrepScholar will help you identify your content weaknesses, inform you (and your parents) how much time you spend studying on a weekly basis, and it will organize your practice so that you’re able to reach your target score efficiently. What's Next? Are you getting ready for the SAT? Figure out the best way to study. Are you planning to take the ACT? Learn how to study. Are you plagued by test anxiety? Find out how to overcome test anxiety to get your target score. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now: