Have you started cramming yet?

Mr.Nice Guy

It's been apparent to me for some time that if I am to pass my exams first time round (and please God let that happen!) that I will need to cram like I've never crammed before. Have any of you started cramming yet? Of course you haven't. Well in case you need to here are some nice tips for cramming that I found on the web:

- Eat some food to give you energy to study, but try to avoid excess sugar which will make you hyper and will make it more difficult to study.

- An apple does a better job at keeping you focused and awake than caffeine.

- Find a well lit place with no distractions around to study but don't get too comfortable or you may fall a sleep.

- Keep a positive attitude, it is easier to study when you are relaxed than when you are stressed out.

- Since your time is limited you have to choose what you study, don't attempt to learn everything, focus on things that will get you the most points on the exam.

- Focus on the main ideas and learn key formulas, skip the details for now and only come back to them if you see that you have time after you have learned the key points.

- Write down the key ideas/formulas on a sheet of paper and keep on studying from that sheet, repetition is important.

- Highlight the important points in your notes, and text and focus on that.

- Read the chapter summaries (they usually do a good job at summarizing the important points), if there're no chapter summaries then skim through the text and write down key ideas.

- Study from past tests, review questions, homeworks & review sheets.

- Take at least one five minute break an hour so that you can gather your thoughts and let your brain relax.

- If time permits, try to get at least 3 hours of sleep (one sleep cycle) before the exam so that you don't fall asleep when taking your exam. Don't forget to set your alarm!

Feel free to add your own nuggets of wisdom.

gliondar

stay off bebo and boards.ie cause they gobble up loads of time!

bebo is not half as interesting as it used to be...... its dying a death

Vic Mackey

maybe dats cos uv got no friends

Umaro

bebo is slowly dying now - by this time the start of next semester no-one will care for it anymore and it will join friendship bracelets and dungarees in the Hall of Things We Dare Not Speak Of.

drdre

i failed 3 last semester.so now i have 7 subjects.i have only studied a total of 4 chapters in total so far and have not started cramming or even studing properly.im really screwed but lets hope for the best:D

Jonny Arson

I've a big big make or break essay due for Tuesday and I haven't started it! I should be shot!

Riamfada

I want to hear from the first years

arbeitsscheuer

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

I've a big big make or break essay due for Tuesday and I haven't started it! I should be shot!

I also have 3 essays due for various deadlines in the next 2 weeks, so I'm ignoring study and concentrating on them right now... Oh who'm I kidding, I'm just glaring at essay titles with a despondency that becomes heavier and heavier with every passing second...

College? Over-rated, I'd say.

Jonny Arson

SebtheBum wrote:

Oh who'm I kidding, I'm just glaring at essay titles with a despondency that becomes heavier and heavier with every passing second...

Absolut ditto!

Scraggs

I havent started studying at all at all ..I'm still working on my various assignments... [I say working I mean bebo/boards]

Chinafoot

Same here. I have 3 more essays to hand in (one of which is horrifically late) and can't start cramming until I get them out of the way.

With the essays being due in so late in the term, the exams seem to have crept up on me. Can't believe how close they are.

What's worse is that I have this really odd sense of calm when I think about them. If I got the fear I might actually get the finger out and do something.

hullaballoo

I'm slowly chugging through the work, but I'd say I've left it too late to get everything covered, so there's a chance I could be deferring one of them until Autumn, which is a yucky, yucky thought.

pretty*monster

The number one tip is Don't Panic.
College is not hard. Passing is do-able even if you've done nothing yet!

Blowfish

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

- An apple does a better job at keeping you focused and awake than caffeine.

Yeah I generally go for both, I find a good mix of fruit and caffeine keeps me going.

I've loads of practical work to be done, and not enough time to do it. I'll probably end up doing a couple of all nighters next week. The only good thing is that I only have 3 exams, and since there has been a lot of continuous assesment and project work this semester, they aren't worth that much and should be fairly doable, so I don't actually need to start studying until about a week before them

rainbow kirby

Like Blowfish, I've got lots of practical work to do, and not enough time to do it!
/me kicks my software engineering project
In the same boat with only 3 exams, so I'm ignoring study completely until I have all my assignments done and handed in. I don't start my exams until the 12th, and I've got 10 days off after that until the next one so I'm thinking things should be ok to cram like hell in May.

Waltons

*also kicks software engineering project*

Have a project and a gigantic essay to worry about before exam cramming, really. Thankfully I've already got a fair whack of the marks for some subjects due to mid-term tests, and I ought to be able to cram my psychology stuff in a fairly short period!

Damn Oblivion taking up all my time! And now Vicarious, so when I'm not playing Oblivion I'm rocking out

Blowfish

Yeah Oblivion is evil, i've gotten 60+ hours in so far, I probably would have finished all of my practical work by now if it wasn't for that game

blondie83

*joins in kicking of assignments*
I've got 3 due in next Tuesday, Friday and Monday! And you'd think I would have started by now wouldnt ya...ah well at least I can do all-nighters. As for studying for exams - thats not gonna happen for at keast another two weeks!

Eat some food to give you energy to study, but try to avoid excess sugar which will make you hyper and will make it more difficult to study

That reminds me of the first time I tried green bpm while studying for my finals - I got so hyper I had to leave the study room and walk (bounce) home!

besty

Plenty of time yet. I'll start this week.

Sangre

I've resigned myself to doing no work today...
God I hate exams.

Font22

i'm surprised u are awake Sangre! Study at that late hr the other night!

besty

Font22 wrote:

i'm surprised u are awake Sangre! Study at that late hr the other night!

Takes one to know one.

Font22

have no idea what you are suggesting besty. word on the street is that you are a bit of a secret studier anyways!

Umaro

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

I've a big big make or break essay due for Tuesday and I haven't started it! I should be shot!

Wait I only half-follow these boards but aren't you the guy who only has 1 subject?? For the whole year?!

Grimes wrote:

I want to hear from the first years

That's a-me, Umaro! I study 1st Commerce and I did my 2 electives in the 1st semester so I wouldn't have to do one this 2nd semester. I only have 5 subjects as a result and one of them doesn't have an exam.

I'm pretty up to date with all my work, last week I had 2 presentations and a project to have done and I burnt the candle at both ends to get them finished. Now I have to start some basic revision in the coming weeks and I have 1 small group project and 1 small presentation to get done but they're simple enough. Also I won my class' investment game which means I win a prize!! And since Quinn school is loaded it should be a pretty good prize hopefully.

Less than a month til the summer hols too - things are looking up!

hullaballoo

Font22 wrote:

have no idea what you are suggesting besty. word on the street is that you are a bit of a secret studier anyways!

Seconded.

pretty*monster

More tips:
You're first couple of days of hardcore cramming will yeild few possitives results, do not be disheartened, it takes a while for your brain to kick into 'remember everything' mode.

If you're doing anything like philosophy, english, greek and roman, it is now probably too late to bother with any primary texts. Go to your lecture notes and grab some braod overview style text books and you'll seem like you know what you're on about.

Continue not panicing.

Smokers: avoid the dept of lung cancer. I can't stress that enough. You're more likely to make it back to the library if you take your fag breaks on the concourse outsife 911.

Blowfish

Another tip which applies to some courses. READ PAST EXAM PAPERS. For several subjects last semester (ok then all of them) I managed to avoid studying half of the course, because the exact same type of questions come up every year. Also if something is new to the course this year, it will definitely come up on the exam paper.

rainbow kirby

Blowfish wrote:

Yeah Oblivion is evil, i've gotten 60+ hours in so far, I probably would have finished all of my practical work by now if it wasn't for that game

Replace Oblivion with Final Fantasy X and Dragon Quest 8, and replace 60+ with 30+, and you'd have my situation.

Blowfish

rainbow kirby wrote:

Replace Oblivion with Final Fantasy X and Dragon Quest 8, and replace 60+ with 30+, and you'd have my situation.

Damn you! I have played and completed every Final Fantasy up until IX, but don't have a ps2 so can't play X or X-2, now you made me start thinking about how much I want to play it

rainbow kirby

Well get a PS2 when you finish your exams then! Though I only got mine at Christmas... and I've got a massive backlog of RPGs! Final Fantasy X and X-2, Dragon Quest 8, Kingdom Hearts... *sigh*

Blowfish

rainbow kirby wrote:

Well get a PS2 when you finish your exams then! Though I only got mine at Christmas... and I've got a massive backlog of RPGs! Final Fantasy X and X-2, Dragon Quest 8, Kingdom Hearts... *sigh*

I can't afford one yet, i'll probably get a ps3 in nov/dec when its out, except it will really screw up my final year

rainbow kirby

Yeah, that final year thing... :eek:
From what I've heard from my friends in final year, you've got barely any time to do anything.. so that PS3 might not get used *that* much for the first few months

Jonny Arson

Umaro wrote:

Wait I only half-follow these boards but aren't you the guy who only has 1 subject?? For the whole year?!

that's exactly why I should be shot! TBH having such little work to do this year has been to my detriment more than anything, I'm gone so lazy it's unreal. Thinking of the fact that I'll have about 8 times more work to do next year I can quite safely say I'm already looking buggered for next year. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts! (still hasn't started on essay)

Pythia

pretty*monster wrote:

blah

You changed your avatar. I recognise people by avatars and wondered who the newbie was!

I've started the proper study today. You see our course doesn't really get assignments or essays, so I've no excuses really.

JustCoz

I'm starting tomorrow tomorrow I love ya tomorrow, it's only a day away...............

anonymous_joe

Guess I'll be starting some time next week.

drdre

JustCoz wrote:

I'm starting tomorrow tomorrow I love ya tomorrow, it's only a day away...............

thats what they all say, i have been saying tommorrow for the last few weeks:D

singingstranger

Pythia wrote:

You changed your avatar. I recognise people by avatars and wondered who the newbie was!

Hehe... yeah, a customised version of "Don't! F**k! With! Wendy Testesberger!" would have been a kickass election slogan.

Anyway, exams. **** **** **** **** **** ****. Not a tap done; have been trying to start my course reading for about eight weeks now with no progress whatsoever.

Mr.Nice Guy

drdre wrote:

thats what they all say, i have been saying tommorrow for the last few weeks:D

Tomorrow never comes...but exams do.

(I should put that in my sig. It's an apt description of me)

besty

JustCoz wrote:

I'm starting tomorrow tomorrow I love ya tomorrow, it's only a day away...............

Ah, a girl after my own heart.
Tomorrow, the greatest word in the English language.

hullaballoo

Yeah. Right.

kittenkiller

Cramming starts tomorrow!
It's the official day of doom!

rain on

ah i love having no exams. and having done all my continuous assessment. and having the best thesis supervisor in the world who responds to my suggestion of "how about i just start writing and see what happens?" with "go for it".

seriously, i do have sympathy for anyone who's doing exams, especially finals. i hate hate hate them. if anyone's doing english or linguistics and needs a hand with something, let me know. as far as advice goes.. if you're doing english, make sure you know your primary texts really really well, that way you can adapt them to pretty much any question. two, maybe three from each course shoudl be enough. and it's possible to get a good degree in english with no grasp whatsoever of old english :cool:

Larien

I started making the notes that i'm gonna cram the day before all my exams. Does that count? You can cram anything if you have good notes though.

Red Alert

i did 3/4 of a question in one of 9 subjects today - does that count at work?

i've got blondies notes though so it will be all ok

tintinr35

short answer to OP......no........im dead arent i