exams and college - what did you study?

[blazey]

Originally Posted by entwisi

When I was at school I took 10 O levels, In them days you only normally took 9 but I managed to scam my way out of PE to do a prototype O level in Electronics.

At college I took the usual 4 (3 chosen + General Studies) , I took Maths, Physics and Computer Studies.

I must admit that up to and including A levels I never revised for any exam, I'm lucky that I have (or certainly used to) a photographic memory. In exams I would read teh Q and then sort of 'play back' teh lesson quickly in my head.


At Uni I specialised into Applied Mathematics and Computation, In the first year i had to take Pure Maths, Applied Maths and one other, I wanted to do pyschology but the forced me to do Physics, I got 95% in Pure, 97% in Applied and 26% in Physics (Oops!) I hated Physics.............

Due to them deciding to decoratre the Uni there were no resits that summer so I was being forced to wait a year. I thought about just bumming around the SU for a year but in the end decided I wanted some cash in my pocket so I dropped out and started in the real world i.e. work.

Since then I've taken a few exams and never had to revise for any of them. (Catering and IT qualifications)

Ian

I wish I had a photographic memory but i'd probably run out of memory, I cant afford to upgrade the memory card

[entwisi]

Ah, what you need is heuristic archiving,

i.e. it learns what crap it can discard after 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year and finally 1 lifetime (Yes, this is a point at re-incarnation, I'd love to be 'regressed' to see ifthere was something before.)

[blazey]

i think i honestly just have too many theories and names to remember but im going to finish my cup of tea and head off to college so I can check up with my friends and test eachother etc.

sociology theory and methods exam and sociology religion resit to try to get a higher grade wish me luck lol

[entwisi]

One of the worst things you can do before an exam is test each other, you end up doubting your knowledge.

Get there and have a laugh at something completely un exam related, a fresh mind is far better at recalling stuff than one thats been battered for teh last 2 hours.

Liewise, if you hit that blank spot halfway through give it a max of 5 mins then move on, you can always come back when the knowledge pops back in your head(Just think how often by not thinking about something the answer comes to you, your brain is brill at multitasking and the sub concious is far more powerful than the concious mind)

[blazey]

Originally Posted by entwisi

One of the worst things you can do before an exam is test each other, you end up doubting your knowledge.

Get there and have a laugh at something completely un exam related, a fresh mind is far better at recalling stuff than one thats been battered for teh last 2 hours.

Liewise, if you hit that blank spot halfway through give it a max of 5 mins then move on, you can always come back when the knowledge pops back in your head(Just think how often by not thinking about something the answer comes to you, your brain is brill at multitasking and the sub concious is far more powerful than the concious mind)

You really think so? We all test eachother and have last minute chat and revision before an exam. Saying that Im not a stressy person about exams and I work better under pressure so its not a problem for me. Exam days are great

I'm not too worried, if i dont get the grades I can always do a foundation and if I do well I'll go to uni. I can always try something new aswell. Its not the end of the world.

[SamF]

Finished my AS exams on monday. Took Eng Lang, Psychology, Law and Computing. Next year carrying on Psyc, Law and Computing at A level and picking up ICT at AS instead of carrying on Eng Lang.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Blazey that is a very good philosophy.....not getting your grades is definitely not the end of the world...sometimes it is tbe beginning of it.

[entwisi]

Absolutely Margaret

If I had finished my degree I would probably be teaching now instead life has thrown numerous 'opportunities' at me and its got me to where I am today(which I'm very happy with BTW).

Life is not about the number of qualifications or letters after your name, its about being happy at what you do and being content with your lot.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Originally Posted by entwisi

Absolutely Margaret

If I had finished my degree I would probably be teaching now instead life has thrown numerous 'opportunities' at me and its got me to where I am today(which I'm very happy with BTW).

Life is not about the number of qualifications or letters after your name, its about being happy at what you do and being content with your lot.

Entwisi...you never said a truer word.
I worked with a young man.....a doctor, his family had a strong tradition in medicine and had encouraged him to follow a medical career......he was a good doctor but was desperately unhappy....all he wanted to do was be a Postman. He gave up his medical career and went to spend 3 months in France thinking of how to tell his parents... in the end it didn't matter because he didn't have to tell his parents...he was killed in a motor bike accident. How sad is that?

[Eric]

My doctoral comprehensives ... particularly the specialist section on medieaval lit. It seems that the guy that set it was interested in the Icelandic Sagas ... I knew Beowulf almost by heart, but all that work meant sfa. I do believe that exams test little but memory, and how one reacts under stress. Good luck, and I hope you don't need it.

[entwisi]

I'd agree Eric but they also test your aptitude in certain areas, e.g. maths would test your logic capablility, You Lit would be more to do with memory/language skills, Science subjects tend to test your openness to ideas and accuracy.

Most of this has been superceeded by pyschometric testing in companies.

Our brains are all wired differently and these test show our internal makeup. e.g I'm hopeless at foreign languages, and I mean hopeless, no matter how hard I try it just doesn't go in, similarly with art, ask me to draw something from scratch I've more chance of living till I'm 1000. ask me to copy a drawing though and I'm really good at it. I can't explain why this is and no amount of effort makes a difference.

[SamF]

Originally Posted by Eric

My doctoral comprehensives ... particularly the specialist section on medieaval lit. It seems that the guy that set it was interested in the Icelandic Sagas ... I knew Beowulf almost by heart, but all that work meant sfa. I do believe that exams test little but memory, and how one reacts under stress. Good luck, and I hope you don't need it.

Also tests how fast you can write. In my law exam I could have written down the entire course, however answering the quesitosn within the time limit is near impossible, you need to *know* what they want and exactly how much they want it.

[blazey]

Originally Posted by SamF

Also tests how fast you can write. In my law exam I could have written down the entire course, however answering the quesitosn within the time limit is near impossible, you need to *know* what they want and exactly how much they want it.

Funnily enough I had an argument about this with someone the other day and it took me ages to explain that you cant say every single detail you know in an exam.
Theres no point writing everything you know if you dont understand how to apply it properly.

Anyway the sociology exams were ok, the 12mark religion question was unpredictably difficult, neither of my revision guides had enough of an answer for a 12 mark question so I just filled in gaps lol.
Theory and methods paper was a dream come true, couldnt have asked for a nicer exam paper.

[Eric]

Originally Posted by SamF

Also tests how fast you can write. In my law exam I could have written down the entire course, however answering the quesitosn within the time limit is near impossible, you need to *know* what they want and exactly how much they want it.

I agree. Know what the sob wants and give it to him. Jump thru enough hoops and you are home free ... wherever home is and whatever free is. But it does help to have a sticky memory ... mine is, tho' it is not always under control, I know the name of Cuthbert Collingwood's dog and the first name of Generaloberst Heinrici, but I forgot my partner's birthday. S**t!

A good belt of fine liquor just before an exam might help ... it relaxes something or other in the brain or the mind or the bladder.

[Eric]

Oh, and avoid contact with classmates; don't get into the testing thing with them. If they seem better informed than you, you will go into a debilitating funk ... if they seem less informed, then you may become overconfident.