Freaking out about your exams? (3 Viewers)

[Gavvvvvin]

sparknotes are awesome

 

[lala2]

My advice? Just do the best you can do, then you can ask nothing more of yourself.

As far as I was aware, you need to achieve at least a pass in all of your assessments to pass the course. I thought that was a University-wide rule. But obviously not!

Thanks ujuphleg! Better start studying faster...at least I'm finishing reactinos in organic chemistry which is the worst part of what is my worst subject.

 

[AntiHyper]

i thought you need to get credit (>70 or something) to get that unit of study credits.

 

[Templar]

As far as I was aware, you need to achieve at least a pass in all of your assessments to pass the course. I thought that was a University-wide rule. But obviously not!

Depends on subject. Biochem and chem require pass in both practical and exam, but most subjects will require passing the final exam unless there is some form of scaling.

Like for analysis, the class average is below 50%.

 

[grk_styl]

Let's just say, Sparknotes will be my friend for English!

I'm in second year and I still use Sparknotes and other various searches from google. Trust me, it's the only way! lol Especially when the English lecturers spend the whole semester talking about the history of the poem/novel, when all you need to know is an analysis of the text!

As for ed...don't stress. The questions should be very self-explanatory. They usually devise a question based on the stuff that has been blatantly suggested in the lectures, so if you memorise your lecture work, you should be able to just regurgitate it all in the exam. I doubt last year has chnaged from this yea, but I do remember Lesley Scanlon telling us what was going to be in the exam. I hope she did that for you guys, this year!

As far as I was aware, you need to achieve at least a pass in all of your assessments to pass the course. I thought that was a University-wide rule. But obviously not!

Fortunately it's not the case for all subjects/faculties I've already passed all my subjects, and since my exams are worth < 40% it wouldn't matter if I wrote nothing but my name and number on the first page. Well i guess it matters since I want a credit avg

I do feel sorry for the kids who have exams worth > 50%

 

[Skeeta]

like me!

fuck

my exam with the least weighting is 45%

then the rest are all 70+

and um

i want to cry

 

[hiphophooray123]

well yeah because im beginning to regret all this procrastination, seriously i'm less motivated than last year even. I haven't started studying at all and all my exams are next week (mon, wed,thurs) but im not freaking out or anything, i always come out with at least a high pass, i always take a relaxed approach to exams, i don't see why stress and pull ur hair out and shit, if shit happens, it happens.

i like wikipedia, it saved my life last semester, i basically just studied off that and got C's and D's for my exams

 

[Sarah168]

well yeah because im beginning to regret all this procrastination, seriously i'm less motivated than last year even.

Ha. Same. I was a supernerd for the HSC and thought I sunk to my lowest last yr when I didn't even study during STUVAC but left it til those 24 hrs gaps between my exams to cram a Semester's worth of work.

I thought, "I'll be more motivated next year" and now I'm thinking I can't be stuffed doing this crap.

Grrr!

 

[darkroomgirl]

i like wikipedia, it saved my life last semester, i basically just studied off that and got C's and D's for my exams

Amen to that. I managed to skip 10 pages of my history reader because I read Wikipedia, which was pretty much the same thing, only without all the self-obsessed academic rhetoric.

 

[withoutaface]

like me!

fuck

my exam with the least weighting is 45%

then the rest are all 70+

and um

i want to cry

I have 2 35% exams (both for the same subject), 2 70% exams and a 65% exam. Fun.

 

[LostAuzzie]

Well for me the exam that is worth the least is maths (60%), Physics is worth the same & chem is worth 75%.
I'm only nervous because I always am before assesments. And as mentioned before it is a lot easier not aiming for the 90+ marks, i'll be happy with D average

 

[goony]

I'm not really that worried about exams this time around. I just have to do a few more exam papers for maths and physics, i can do the theory but need to practice applying it to several problems. Worked out i need around 28/65 for maths1002 and 25/65 for 1001. I'm not sure for physics, i didnt do too well in the mid-semester tests :/

Engineering subjects shouldn't be that hard. One subject (intro to engineering stream B), has an exam weighting of 50%, and my assessment mark is 46/50, and the other one i need 40% (well the minimum is 40% to pass, so technically if i get 40% i'll put myself into a credit mark or thereabouts).

how much time is everyone devoting to study exactly?

 

[c_james]

I can't help but feel the way they've structured the courses is a bit random. The way mine are, it is very much possible to get high distinctions in all assessments and then fail the exams. Why? Because the content covered in the exam is not (in most cases) the content covered by assignments. I find that bizarre, and irritating.

 

[grk_styl]

they do that so you don't recycle information. So that you don't learn one text (or one topic for example) and write about it 3 times. That gives everyone the opportunity for a HD (and possibly, full marks). Since they have to have a certain amount of F, P, C, D and HD, they're not going to give everyone HD's.

BUT there's a positive in all this: it often means that you don't have to study a WHOLE semester's worth of a subject...often subjects only test you on half of what you have learnt! hooray!

 

[c_james]

they do that so you don't recycle information. So that you don't learn one text (or one topic for example) and write about it 3 times. That gives everyone the opportunity for a HD (and possibly, full marks). Since they have to have a certain amount of F, P, C, D and HD, they're not going to give everyone HD's.

BUT there's a positive in all this: it often means that you don't have to study a WHOLE semester's worth of a subject...often subjects only test you on half of what you have learnt! hooray!

While that may be true, you can't deny that it encourages cramming, and cramming is never good. I mean, honestly, who does consistent study? Anyone? All I did was put effort into the assignments, and now it's come back to bite me in the ass.

 

[darkroomgirl]

While that may be true, you can't deny that it encourages cramming, and cramming is never good. I mean, honestly, who does consistent study? Anyone? All I did was put effort into the assignments, and now it's come back to bite me in the ass.

You really encourage me. If a person who got a UAI of 100 can say that, then I could definitely be excused.

 

[c_james]

You really encourage me. If a person who got a UAI of 100 can say that, then I could definitely be excused.

I think my excuses have something to do with the fact that I'm just disillusioned by the concept of exams in uni subjects like history and philosophy. Historians and philosophers don't sit down and write their theses in 45 minutes or so, so why should students? Ah well, my tutor said something about them being done away with by third year...here's hoping.

EDIT: That 'essential' booklist you're talking about - that wouldn't happen to be for HSTY1025, would it? Because I looked at that thing and laughed.

 

[darkroomgirl]

EDIT: That 'essential' booklist you're talking about - that wouldn't happen to be for HSTY1025, would it? Because I looked at that thing and laughed.

YES! Omg. Are you doing the same course? I'm trekking all the way to FISHER, for heavens sakes, tomorrow, just so I could scan through some of them. 'Essential' reading lists my foot, I think the tutors/lecturers are really disillusioned about how much free time we actually have (read: ZERO!) and how much of that time we devote to their course (stuff history, helloooo social life!).

I was about to complain about the same thing that you mentioned earlier... how they test us on things that the assignments didn't even cover. I thought the essay questions were way too specific, and we would've benefited better from questions of a broader nature, just to prepare us for the exam.

Oh, and Malfoy, Wikipedia was DEFINITELY helpful, especially with bigger topics like the Hundred Years' War, the Plague and Charlemagne. Oh, and also, you know the vacation readings (which I'm assuming none of us have bothered to look at)? They are actually really, really helpful, especially in light of the links that Julie was stressing that we should be making. Also, since you're focusing on religion, the readings on papacy and clergy are the most clear and explanatory by far in the booklet. Hope that helps

 

[what971]

I wish I was doing history, HSC was great fun compared to B/Commerce, I loved Modern and Ancient History.

 

[c_james]

YES! Omg. Are you doing the same course? I'm trekking all the way to FISHER, for heavens sakes, tomorrow, just so I could scan through some of them. 'Essential' reading lists my foot, I think the tutors/lecturers are really disillusioned about how much free time we actually have (read: ZERO!) and how much of that time we devote to their course (stuff history, helloooo social life!).

I was about to complain about the same thing that you mentioned earlier... how they test us on things that the assignments didn't even cover. I thought the essay questions were way too specific, and we would've benefited better from questions of a broader nature, just to prepare us for the exam.

Oh, and Malfoy, Wikipedia was DEFINITELY helpful, especially with bigger topics like the Hundred Years' War, the Plague and Charlemagne. Oh, and also, you know the vacation readings (which I'm assuming none of us have bothered to look at)? They are actually really, really helpful, especially in light of the links that Julie was stressing that we should be making. Also, since you're focusing on religion, the readings on papacy and clergy are the most clear and explanatory by far in the booklet. Hope that helps

I guess I do - technically, anyway. I stopped showing up to lectures after the one on Pirenne and sat in the tutorials with my arms crossed most of the time. Needless to say, she wasn't the most engaging woman. That said, I think I have a general idea of what's going on.

The textbook by Rosenwein is verrrry helpful. Written in simple English, and with a lot of illustrations to stop you from getting bored. I've taken to mostly following her thread throughout the book and reading the odd article in the reader or two. That whole period after 1066 is just a big haze to me, though. Hoping I can avoid it altogether in the exam, actually.