Schols Schols Schols, information and venting thread.

Brain tired, fanciful words elude me, I'll get the necessary info across though.

paperclip wrote: »

Does producing very comprehensive past paper answers sound like good tactic to you?

As podge said yes, but it depends on what course you do. You do pharmacy right? So yeah... definitely a very good idea. But, again as podge said, pay close attention to which lecturers did what courses in previous years. If it's a new lecturer or new course they're likely to ask something very different.

paperclip wrote: »

Apex: thanks for all the previous threads, handy to look through. Are there any tips for us at this stage of the whole shenanigans?

If anyone here has done schols before, please come forward!

At this stage? Just keep up, take comprehensive notes, get all your continuous assessment in well on time. No need to start proper study yet though, enjoy yourself. But... THINK about starting proper study, be determined and have it on your mind that very soon you'll be going hell for leather on the aul cramming. Do a bit of study before christmas, the 23rd to 2nd of Jan or so you can probably write off. After that though be prepared mentally to be in the library until closing most nights of the week. A few people I know had regrets about not starting early enough. They had intended to, but imo not mentally prepared themselves to. As a result they didn't really get down to it until mid February or so.

When answering past questions, which should comprise the majority of what you do. Exams test your ability at answering exam questions, best way to get good at this is practice.
If you're not totally sure on an answer you made to a past question (to what level it would be marked on etc.) bring it up to the lecturer and ask them! Get feedback on tutorial questions too. Sometimes, even in science, it's not so much what you answer but how you answer it. Don't just bring up questions you know you did perfectly to boost your ego, bring up ones you're not sure about but can't see how to improve.

Tangent: I learned the hard way above, I would have done a lot better in one of my maths exams had I done the above. I knew the derivations/proofs perfectly, I could do half the calculus in my head as I was so used to it from physics. So I didn't write down exactly every step in the maths proofs, I skipped the parts that I could deduce to save time. Now this is perfectly acceptable in physics, but goes against convention in maths apparently. Even though I'd done them right, I was told "as far as I know you may have just learned a few steps of the proof off by heart and don't understand it".

manicmonoliths wrote:

It would be terrible to volunteer to do Schols and not get them, that would be my only doubt about doing them.... I suppose I'd be better prepared for the summer exams, but still it'd be a pain!

Well, as others have mentioned you get exemptions if you get a II-1. Even failing that you should do much better in the summer exams. IMO everybody should do them in 2nd year. What would really suck is if you did them in JS and didn't get them (what nearly happened to myself). You don't get exemptions either way, and they don't help you for your annual exams much at all so... yeah you would have pretty much just wasted your time.

claire h wrote:

Oh the joys of academic masochism... good luck, guys.

I second Claire's sentiment, schols is a great thing to have, and character building to go for. If you don't get it in SF, you can try it in JS, but be careful, do that only if you're fairly sure you can get it.

sully-gormo wrote: »

what fish oil and vits would be recommended? All those sweets might explain my short attention span....

Personally I'd recommend this:

That's what I take, one tablespoon per day. It's a pretty neutral flavour, if it's fishy then it's gone bad.
That's pharmaceutical grade though. If you're going to buy capsules in ireland then they'll likely be healthfood grade i.e. still have some mercury and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in them. So no more than 5-6 a day. Just look for ones with the highest % of EPA and DHA in them, and balance them with price. Keep them refridgerated.

Vits aren't as necessary, especially if you eat plenty of veggies and fruit. But they won't hurt. Anything multi-vits and minerials, they're all about the same really so just get the cheap ones. Try take them with say some fruit/veg, and something fatty/oily (for the fat soluble vits).

In terms of caffeine, it's fine in "frequent moderation". i.e. a triple espresso will do you more harm than good. There's a whole subculture of people who keep themselves optimally wired. Cutting caffeine tablets into 4 and taking them every 45 mins or something. I usually just go with drinking gunpowder green tea all the time, it has a small amount of caffeine in it, and also keeps you hydrated.