Exams - tips and tricks

Would it not have been a quill in your day? :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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Given loads of exams are on computers nowadays, nothing worse than a sticky keyboard surely? :joy:
Talk about Sticky keys :upside_down_face:

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Ideally you want to have made the main preparations ages ago - i.e. good notes on all the content.

We have learning outcomes that we could be tested, do you have similar? Find them and make sure youve got them covered.

If your notes are shite/no time to make good ones, find somebody elseā€™s. Itā€™s not ideal but.

A technique I quite like using now is to have that big Bank of notes, is to write the main points out of a certain topic on a bit of scrap paper over and over again, without looking.

So, say you got some notes that show, I dunno, the different types of social work (donā€™t even know if this is a thing but).

You write them out without looking at your notes until you can write it down effortlessly.

If you do that for all your outcomes, youā€™ve basically answered a question on it.

And that leads me on to my next point. Past papers. These things are like gold. Get your hands on them if you can. My uni are stingy bastards and donā€™t give out actual past papers anymore but some inevitably make it through the grapevine.

Get your hands on them. Itā€™s good to have lots of friends that can hook you up with these things lol.

Past papers and good notes built up over time from at least 2 good sources is my way of preparation.

Also, Iā€™ve started to now also stop work after like 6pm on the night before the exam. I cba and Iā€™m too nervous to learn anything properly.

Good sleep is important. Coffee is overrated if youā€™re not dependent on it. And hydration is important.

Also, lots of nuts :ramsey:

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No fish as brain food, doc?

Fish is good shit too lol

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I know it sounds hokey as fuck, but meditate before the exam.

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We didnā€™t have the technology for a quill and ink.

It was more a chisel on a nice piece of rock.

Hereā€™s an example of my Latin homework that I kept from my school.

th

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Sound like a great idea to me. Wankin and meditation. Straight Aā€™s here we come.

Do you use alot of your notes during the exam or is it more a comfort thing knowing you can look at them if you start to struggle with a question doing the exam ?

Our exam is mostly a discussion between teacher and student, so fumbling with stack of notes can be a bit of an disadvantage during the exam :mustafi:

Lol all our exams are closed book. I mean just to revise.

I feel like I absorb a tiny bit just by copying up notes about a subject

Only really done GCSEs in terms of exams which is baby standard compared to what youā€™re probably doing :slightly_smiling_face:

Just imagine all the invigilators naked.

Especially useful in a biology exam I guess :man_playing_water_polo:

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Iā€™d certainly stop worrying about my exams if a fellow student dropped down and started doing press ups outside the exam hall :joy:

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This is basically the only way I knew how to revise. Start off with a massive amount of notes and go through them repeatedly, writing them out over and over again but condensing them each time.

As you said, the end goal is to basically be able to write the condensed notes out purely from memory.

I would also use cue cards that only had the key points on them, or key words that would trigger my memory for certain bits of evidence or important thinkers/writers on the subject, and try to be able to recite what was on the cue card without looking at it.

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Wut about dat adrenaline rush moments before. Tried any drugs ?

You need to figure out what revision technique works for you, first and foremost.

Does repetition of writing down notes make it stick? Big spider diagrams on A3 pieces of paper? Reading content out loud over and over again? Recording your notes and then playing them on your way to school / work etc? Sticky notes all over your wall?

I find that repetition of writing the notes out and then verbally speaking it out loud makes things stick in my head. The other methods donā€™t really work.

You should also map out the topics you need to cover, so you know you have the time to get through everything. Then use your technique to motor through. Past papers and examiners reports help inform what to expect and how they like answers to be presented (format, style etc.). You can try and pick out patterns, like if a certain topic comes up all of the time. Donā€™t rely too heavily on this though.

After that, keep hydrated and make sure you get enough sleep. Eat properly. All the common sense shit.

Good luck brother. Lord knows exams are the fucking bane of a young personā€™s life. Picture how much youā€™re going to get wasted once the exams are done. Helps to get through it all. Maybe make plans to go on holiday with your boys / girlfriend whatever.

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Thatā€™s good advice, also make sure you read through everything youā€™ve written.

Music exams are the worst, you canā€™t go back and do it again.

Really good advise from @Sol, for me the constant writing out of information is the best. Then giving each thing you write a title so you can jot those titles down the moment the exam begins, and you wont forget a thing. If you do that your whole essay can be written out on scrap paper in bullet form before you even start. I find that a very relaxing way to begin an exam because I know I wont forget anything and the steps are there in front of me. Plus eat chocolate, its good for your memory. And for statistical reasons lol I always use a black pen as black pen essays do better.

Good and usefull advice. I have planned a psy trance festival spree the weeks after exams, which defo help motivationwise.

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