Exam stress

LegacyUser

I am sitting the Leaving cert this year, and I am really starting to feel stressed out as I have not studied as much as I should have and this is causing me to lapse in and out of concentration.
my mocks went ok except for maths which I only got a D3 but am capable of at least a B3 but now I am not so sure with less than 2 months to go.
Any tips/advice appreciated.

LegacyUser

hey. This is the same thing everybody feels doing the leaving. "There;s x weeks left and I've done nothing blah blah". Whats important is what you do from hereon in. Think you have 10weeks left imagine what you can get done in these weeks. I know it's boring but make out a study plan, take breaks and give yourself rewards for work done. Do not mind what you got in the mocks as they are just a trial run and generally don't reflect well on most peoples actual ability. Get cracking on the subjects you find most difficult. Oh ya exam papers for every subject are essential, practise them even if the teacher doesn't insist on it. Read the question etc.
Best of luck.

(I give Leaving cert grinds and I see this all the time.)

LegacyUser

'i was in the same situation as you for my leavinexcept 10 times worse. i failed basically all my mocks (can't remember how many i passed, maybe a couple at most) and considered not even sitting it (even the night before it). i ended up with just over 500.

don't believe the hype, there's plenty of time left to get a good mark. it's not what you do, it's how you do it. make your study count from here on in. you don't need to do marathon sessions like 10 hours a day, that's bull crap. just take it hour by hour and do what you can. throw any crap that people might be putting in your head to one side. this is your leaving and yours alone. you know what you have to do. just do it and you'll be grand.

and always remember what a positive mind can do for you. the papers will suit you, they always do... keep that in your head at all times.'

Cateym

Hi,

As the above poster said it is what you do from now on that is important. That is not a line it is completely true. I think I read somewhere when I did the leaving that most stuff you study will only be retained for 6 weeks so really the time is right to get stuck in!!!!

Being 100% comfortable with the exam papers is so so so important. You should be aware which sections are most important etc. For example the Business paper had a short questions section and an ABQ question. If you nailed those two (which was very possible to do) you were set up for a good mark.

A few papers are laid out with big point sections (English, Irish think essay, prose questions). This is where you pick up marks. Just be wise to spending too much time studying material that won't earn you marks or spending too long at the question in the exam.

I always thought a good exam technique was half the battle.

kenzie

OP I was in the same position as you except that I had no interest in school, missed over 20 days in leaving cert year and it was only during the mocks that I copped myself on and decided i wanted to do something with my life. Not only had I not started studying but because I had missed so many days I barely knew the plot for the english novels and so on. At first I freaked out a bit when i thought of the mountain of work I had to get through, but it definately is not too late to start, I got 400 points in the leaving and was absolutely delighted. As someone else said you don't have crazy study periods, the worst thing would be to leave yourself exhausted by the time the exams come around. Seriously don't stress at this stage, it's amazing how much you you realise you already know when you do start to revise. There's so many options to get in to the career you want these days even if things don't go to plan. In saying that it's definately worth giving it your best shot for these last 2 months! good luck

padser

two months left, plenty of time to cram.

My adivce:

Throw away the text books.
Buy a revision book for each subject and start working through exam papers.
Draw up your own notes for each subject.
Buy John Brennan's maths solutions (essential maths revision)

Schlemm

I remember doing my leaving cert and feeling really stressed out at this time of year. It can be quite overwhelming when the pressure's on, and I had done a ton of work at this stage! So what you're feeling is prob normal.

There's so many hours in a day, and there's only so many days til the LC, so realisticaly there's only so much work you can cover between now and then. Have confidence in the work that you do and take it 1 day at a time. Make out a realistic study timetable so you can see where all your time is going, and what you have and haven't covered. Do the past papers alonside your regular study, and as mentioned, you can't go wrong with John Brennan's maths solutions, saved my life he did! I got a C2 or a C3 in the maths mocks and I went up to a B2 in the actual exam, which I never expected...don't think I ever got a B2 in my life before in maths!

You'll get the old adrenaline rush and you'll prob surprise yourself at how much you know in the end! And if you don't get what you want in the end, don't be afraid to do the repeats, it's better to spend a year in purgatory than a lifetime! So many people shy away from the repeats and wind up doing something that they hate; I was all set to do them if I hadn't got what I wanted first time, and loads of people in my college course sat the repeats, some even repeated twice!!! Best of luck and I hope your studies will be succesful for you.

spurious

Be clear in advance which questions you 'have' to cover and how many.
Read the question a number of times, clearly marking it into sections to be covered.

A simple example would be a question like 'Discuss and account for the regional differences in manufacturing industry in Italy'.
Your answer should be divided into
a. your definition of the regions involved
b. a discussion of manufacturing industry in each region
c. your reasons accounting for the differences

You could very easily write an excellent account of manufacturing industry in the north of Italy in response to that question and sit wondering how you lost marks. Maximise the number of marks you get by always being sure to answer the question. This is not always done by candidates and is very frustrating for correctors.

In short - 2 simple rules will have you up and running in most subjects:
1. Answer the correct number of questions allowing for options etc.
2. Make sure to answer the question you are being asked.

LegacyUser

'Thanks for the responses so far.
I am cracking through the maths and physics papers now, but I just need to maintain some sort of routine from now on.'