THE NIGHT BEFORE THE LC EXAMS

EDmon

To the students doing the leaving cert, and those who have done the LC.

We've all been advised by teachers etc. to "get a good nights sleep", before each exam. But for the mocks I ended up staying up late into the night cramming, until I had gone over all of the most relevant information, so I could refresh myself. (Grades were good, I was understandably tired.)

I'm afraid if I haven't read it the night before I may not remember some things.

Thus, What are you guys doing the night before sleep or cram or other?
Or to those who have previously done the LC what would you advise ?

Thank you.

Hayezer

Reasonable enough amount of cramming, up early study all day taking breaks, stop at around 10, sleep . I better be able to sleep

The High Crusade

I'm not going to cram at the night, I'll cram for the day, and relax before going to sleep because if I cram right before going to sleep I'll have too much on my mind to get a good nights sleep.

PictureFrame

EDmon wrote: »

To the students doing the leaving cert, and those who have done the LC.

We've all been advised by teachers etc. to "get a good nights sleep", before each exam. But for the mocks I ended up staying up late into the night cramming, until I had gone over all of the most relevant information, so I could refresh myself. (Grades were good, I was understandably tired.)

I'm afraid if I haven't read it the night before I may not remember some things.

Thus, What are you guys doing the night before sleep or cram or other?
Or to those who have previously done the LC what would you advise ?

Thank you.

I'm a great believer in getting up early in the morning to study. Night before my Economics mock I went to bed around 10.00 (drink hot milk if you can't sleep, sounds stupid but believes me it works!) Got up at 5.00am and crammed until 8.30. Works wonders for me! Ended up getting an A2 in it! :P

Incompetent

PictureFrame wrote: »

I'm a great believer in getting up early in the morning to study. Night before my Economics mock I went to bed around 10.00 (drink hot milk if you can't sleep, sounds stupid but believes me it works!) Got up at 5.00am and crammed until 8.30. Works wonders for me! Ended up getting an A2 in it! :P

I feel like doing that tomorrow...

I'll never make myself go to bed at 10 though!

Chuchoter

I've already stopped cramming, but I'll probably get up about an hour earlier than usual to flick through proofs and definitions. Not being exhausted and being calm is more important to me. My timetable is gorgeous though, loads of evenings and mornings off.

Togepi

Now that PictureFrame mentions it, I might get up early to cram on the day. As long as it doesn't make me nervous or tired. And I'll have to have a good long break of an hour or so before each exam so I don't burn out in the middle of them.

fizzyorange

Definitely not going to cram all night. I reckon if I don't know it by 11.00pm, it just won't get done no matter how long I stay up, so I'll just go to bed. My timetable is wonderful. I'm only studying for four subjects really and I have them over three weeks. The first one on the Friday of the first week, second on the Tuesday of the second week, third on the Friday of the second week and the last on the Monday of the third week.

Raeone

Stop studying at 10pm, in bed at 11pm and then up at 6am and then start cramming at 6:30am.
Thats the plan anyhow.

Mayo_Boy

Plan is to get up every morning at 5.00am or 5.30am before each exam to cram as I really am screwed otherwise

reznov

Going to sleep in. If you haven't rigourously prepared beforehand, trying to cram the whole book won't help.

FaoiSin

reznov wrote: »

Going to sleep in. If you haven't rigourously prepared beforehand, trying to cram the whole book won't help.

This. Just going to set at my desk confident in the knowledge that the Leaving Certificate is just the first of many stressful exams. Got to get used to it "/

partyatmygaff

English PI/II: Early night. Staying up late the night before an English exam is very risky. English is a subject that can either go well or horribly wrong, even for the best of students. If your head isn't clear and rested, you'll do poorly.

Maths PI/II: Early night. You need a clear head. That said, if you don't have the proofs memorised staying up and getting them down isn't a bad idea.

Those were the only two subjects I slept early for. The rest, I stayed up until 1-2AM and woke up early at 6AM trying to perfect everything (And in certain cases learn things for the first time!). For a certain few, I stayed up almost all night.

For example, I stayed up until 1:30AM for French practicing my essay writing and listening. An extreme example is biology. For the bulk of 6th year, I didn't do anything in the way of "study" for any of my subjects barring Maths and French. I always found Biology/Chemistry fairly easy (A1s from start to finish of the two years) and therefore neglected looking at either until the night before the exam.

For biology, the sheer size of the course shook my confidence the night before the exam. Out of worry that I may have missed something over the two years, I spent almost 18 hours cramming before the exam. I arrived home the day before at 1PM and didn't stop studying until 6AM the next day. I napped for an hour, woke up at 7AM and read continuously until 9:30AM when the exam started. Most people would say "cramming doesn't work" and to an extent that's true. You can't learn *everything* from scratch the night before the exam. But if you've paid attention and did all that was expected of you over the past two years, it's evidently a valid studying technique.

So in short, look at the nature of every exam and your current standard and work it out from there. Weigh up the pros and cons of an early night vs cramming and choose the most appropriate.

FaoiSin

Wish I had a day for Bio but it's on with Irish Paper 2 so I won't have looked at it since before the exams. Should be ok

reznov

Well of course if you've invested effort throughout the course of the year or two, then early morning revision may be helpful. However if you're rising from scratch, it isn't recommended.

deathbythelc

Definitely going to get sleep before English, Maths and Geography. The rest of my subjects I'll probably end up doing a good bit of cramming revision, especially Chemistry and Biology. Learning diagrams, definitions, experiments and so on.

There isn't really much you can cram in the way of languages, in my opinion, you either have it at this stage or you don't. How would anyone here go about cramming for languages? (German and Irish for me)

partyatmygaff

reznov wrote: »

Well of course if you've invested effort throughout the course of the year or two, then early morning revision may be helpful. However if you're rising from scratch, it isn't recommended.

Being well rested but not knowing anything isn't much use for exams like biology. For someone who's rising from scratch in a subject like biology an all-nighter (If actually productive and not just a massive panic fest) may make a big difference.

Togepi

@partyatmygaff what did you do for Irish (if you did it) and your other subject (if you had a seventh)? And are you basically saying it's grand to cram all for the whole night before but just if you're fairly brilliant at the subject already?

reznov

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Being well rested but not knowing anything isn't much use for exams like biology. For someone who's rising from scratch in a subject like biology an all-nighter (If actually productive and not just a massive panic fest) may make a big difference.

I'll concede that point alright. It of course depends on an individual's ability and productivity during certain periods of time during the day.

FaoiSin

reznov wrote: »

I'll concede that point alright. It of course depends on an individual's ability and productivity during certain periods of time during the day.

Well in this situation having an empty head and being well rested isn't much help. Nothing to lose by cramming anyway as long as you take time to clear your head prior to the exam.

leaveiton

I'm wondering myself what the best thing to do is on days where my exams don't start until 2 (such as English paper 2). Not sure if I'll get up earlyish to study, or let myself have a decent enough lie in and then do a little bit. Or if I'll even bother studying beforehand at all.

reznov

YeaaahFaoiSin wrote: »

Well in this situation having an empty head and being well rested isn't much help. Nothing to lose by cramming anyway as long as you take time to clear your head prior to the exam.

Up to the individual. I prefer sleep. I'm sure the log book will guide me to an A1 in all 7 subjects. :pac:

partyatmygaff

Togepi wrote: »

@partyatmygaff what did you do for Irish (if you did it) and your other subject (if you had a seventh)? And are you basically saying its grand to cram all for the whole night before but just if you're fairly brilliant at the subject already?

I never really cared about Irish (I took up an 8th subject instead). For Irish, I did absolutely nada over the two years. No study, no homework, nothing. I did relatively well in my oral exam, butchered my aural exam and prepared a few choice essay/answer phrases a few weeks before the exam. I memorised them the night before the exam, threw them in to my answers and wrangled with the reading comprehensions and managed to do quite alright with a C3 at HL. The grade is an outlier when compared to the rest of my subjects but all things considered it's excellent value for the negligible time and effort I put in to the subject.

As for my eighth subject, I took up business in October in sixth year. I had done business in school up until the Junior Cert and got an A with remarkable ease. Having absolutely hated going to business classes (They were mind-numbing and almost torturous) I didn't continue with it in fifth year. At the end of the summer between 5th and 6th year I decided the most beneficial use of my time would be to teach myself LC Business and do it for the LC.

I bought the book and read it about twice before the mock. A bit worried before the mock I decided to "cheat" by looking up the questions asked on the DEB and Examcraft mocks. Not being part of the LC Business class in my school I wasn't told anything about the exam. Unluckily for me... I got a complete shock when I opened the exam and realised it was from an unknown company with completely different questions and topics. I hadn't even completed a single exam question in LC Business up until that stage. To the immense shock of myself, the school and my friends who actually did business I managed to get 91% and topped the school's results.

Skipping forward to the LC I spent the final week and night before the exam doing exam questions and looking at marking schemes. Very strangely, it seemed to have had a negative effect on my marks as I ended up with a B1 (Which I regret not appealing).

I think what helped me with Business was that the exam really only required a good command of English with some common sense, general knowledge and a few simple concepts.

Stalin and rugby

Party - What grades did you get overall?

partyatmygaff

Stalin and rugby wrote: »

Party - What grades did you get overall?

555 points (580 points for 2012), with As in English, Engineering, Biology and Chemistry and B1s/B2s in the rest (Save for Irish).

PictureFrame

partyatmygaff wrote: »

555 points (580 points for 2012), with As in English, Engineering, Biology and Chemistry and B1s/B2s in the rest (Save for Irish).

That is seriously impressive! :pac:

ChemHickey

partyatmygaff wrote: »

555 points (580 points for 2012), with As in English, Engineering, Biology and Chemistry and B1s/B2s in the rest (Save for Irish).

Wow, congrats! Just wondering (always wondered) is engineering Metalwork for leaving?

ChemHickey

partyatmygaff wrote: »

555 points (580 points for 2012), with As in English, Engineering, Biology and Chemistry and B1s/B2s in the rest (Save for Irish).

Wow, congrats! Just wondering (always wondered) is engineering Metalwork for leaving?

Geo10

I'm definitely NOT an early morning person but I am very much a late night person!! So looks like I'll be staying up till 4/5 the night before every exam (other than English Paper 1 obviously... You can't study for that and the desperate housewives finale is on the night before that exam so I'll be watching that and hoping for inspiration!!)
I never studied for my Biology summer exam last year but I absolutely CRAMMED everything till 4 am the night before and got 98%
That better not fail me now! For some reason really late the night before exams is the only time I ever have the motivation/ drive to study really well!

Astrozombies

I have been trying so hard for WEEKS to wake up at 6am and study before school or whatever, but as soon as I pick up my alarm, it's snooooooze until 10:30am every morning! I can't sleep before 1am regardless so I think Ill stay up and spend that time studying for most things.. Geography, English, Irish(not counting it) and art Ill stay up cramming for.... Maths is gonna be fairly difficult for me, Im trying to improve my usual HL grade of 45% to roughly a D1/C3, so I doubt stressing the night before will help me concentrate the next day!
I've 5 days off before physics so that should be grand, as for french, it's the one subject I have great confidence in, very little cramming needed.

partyatmygaff

ChemHickey wrote: »

Wow, congrats! Just wondering (always wondered) is engineering Metalwork for leaving?

Not too sure. In its own right, i'd say the practical element deals with the physical design and fabrication of "things" (Like snowmobiles or model gantry cranes) whereas the written exam deals with engineering analysis, testing, processes and pure theory such as chemical polymerisation in plastics.

It's quite a broad subject theory-wise. There are elements of chemistry, physics and pure engineering. For a better idea, check out last year's paper.

Mysteriouschic

I won't cram anyway I learnt my mistake last year it doesn't work well not for me anyway. I'll sleep earlier I may wake up earlier to go over a few things but I won't stress myself out trying to learn any new material.

Wesc.

Astrozombies wrote: »

I've 5 days off before physics so that should be grand, as for french, it's the one subject I have great confidence in, very little cramming needed.

Those 5 days before physics are an absolute godsend for me! It's just gonna be physics physics physics all day I intend to do about 9 hours a day! I'll do applied maths Q1 too but that's it... I need and A1 in physics, there's such a difference between an A1 and an A2, 10 points!

Astrozombies

Wesc. wrote: »

Those 5 days before physics are an absolute godsend for me! It's just gonna be physics physics physics all day I intend to do about 9 hours a day! I'll do applied maths Q1 too but that's it... I need and A1 in physics, there's such a difference between an A1 and an A2, 10 points!

I know it's gonna be flat out physics! I hope you get your A1... as for me, I'll be delighted if I get a B1! :P

biohaiid

Im going to do my mocks over again, each one the night before that exam.
Then Im gonna grade myself on them and wherever I dont do well go over that.
And then go over the flashcards Iv'e made and whats most likely to come up.
Definately getting a good nights sleep, I get tired really easily.
Also gonna need a lot of sugar the morning of to stop myself getting dizzy during the exam. :S

fizzyorange

Astrozombies wrote: »

I know it's gonna be flat out physics! I hope you get your A1... as for me, I'll be delighted if I get a B1! :P

Those days before physics are a life saver! I have German on the Friday, but other than that it's all physics. Hoping for an A1 myself (albeit, an Ordinary level A1 :P)

GV_NRG

partyatmygaff wrote: »

The rest, I stayed up until 1-2AM and woke up early at 6AM trying to perfect everything (And in certain cases learn things for the first time!). For a certain few, I stayed up almost all night.

same for me!

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Most people would say "cramming doesn't work" and to an extent that's true. You can't learn *everything* from scratch the night before the exam. But if you've paid attention and did all that was expected of you over the past two years, it's evidently a valid studying technique.

i would say it definetly works! im in college now and during my 2nd semeseter tests i had 2 tests in a row and i was up for 40 hours over a 48 hour period! how abot 10 cups of super strength coffee and 4 cans of red bull strategically drank around the whole 40 hours! sure by the time i got to the second test i was falling asleep in it and i was having strange hallucinations for a while aswell... but the main thing is because i stayed up and had crammed all that stuff i had learnt enough to get me good marks and i was still able to remember all that stuff even though i was that wrecked!! so its up to you but i would definetly say cramming works!

Nicole.

For me personally, I'll only stay up until 11pm doing study. All of my exams are from the 6th to the 12th so I'd be drained after 2 or 3 nights if I stayed up late studying. I'm so afraid that I'll sleep in and miss one of my exams. Oh and before English paper 1 especially it's recommended to get a good nights sleep the night before because you really need to be able to form your own opinions etc so I'd be going to sleep at 10pm (being an optimist)

Random_Person

It annoys me to see this many people advising cramming as a good way to spend the night/morning before an exam.. For those who have been studying from day 1, know their stuff but are maybe a little bit nervous do not cram. Get a good night's sleep and you'll be fine, you know the material, you just don't know that you know it..

And to those who haven't been working all year/who have done nothing and think they can get a decent grade by simply cramming all night/morning, let me know how that works out for you. I'll be still asleep, laughing at the stupidity of cramming in my dreams..

EDIT: Oh and if you won't take my word for it check out this thread from the Trinity forum. Take their advice for your own sake.. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056656963

Geo10

Wow at these people saying they can fall asleep at 10. I couldn't do that if I was given a million euro! :eek: My body doesn't get tired till at least 2am every night! Even in the holidays and times when I have no tests or exams I go to bed around 2, watch YouTube on my phone for an hour or so and fall asleep doing that. So staying up till 4 the night before exams won't be a problem for me. I think I have a very different body clock to most people cos even though I go to bed what others would consider "late" every night.. I get a headache if I don't get up before about 8/9 am. My body just must not like sleeping!
Cramming FTW! Seriously, it is the key to a good grade!

Hayezer

Seriously annoying, I tried bed at half 10 yesterday to get up at like 6 this morning and have a productive day. Was just lieing in bed till about 1 half 1, getting stressed at the fact I couldn't sleep !

Starting to wonder now if I'd be better off cramming on the nights before rather than telling myself to get early night, and then when I find I can't sleep I'll get even more stressed ahhhhh

Togepi

Think I'll do a three or four hour cramming session before English Paper II, finishing up at twelve to allow for a two hour break before the exam so my brain doesn't fry. Then something similar for Maths Paper I, seeing as it starts at two as well.

reznov

Random_Person wrote: »

It annoys me to see this many people advising cramming as a good way to spend the night/morning before an exam.. For those who have been studying from day 1, know their stuff but are maybe a little bit nervous do not cram. Get a good night's sleep and you'll be fine, you know the material, you just don't know that you know it..

And to those who haven't been working all year/who have done nothing and think they can get a decent grade by simply cramming all night/morning, let me know how that works out for you. I'll be still asleep, laughing at the stupidity of cramming in my dreams..

EDIT: Oh and if you won't take my word for it check out this thread from the Trinity forum. Take their advice for your own sake.. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056656963

Quoted for truth.

FaoiSin

Cramming is very effective. I don't see how reading over something once or twice more won't help you. Read a blog from a former Leaving Cert student who got 600 points and he said he got 2 hours sleep before Ag Science and Music exams and got A1s in both. Do whatever you want to do.

padocon

I'll read over stuff, but wont get stressed and a good sleep, thats if I can.

Grealish123

I actually plan on getting up at around 4:30 each morning, starting on Monday to get me into a routine going for a run to clear my mind and then getting a couple of hours study in from say 5:15 - 8:45. As all my exams are on different days (except Monday week) I plan on going for a quick nap after each exam so I can forget about it and move on. This ensures I will get proper rest and get loads of study in. Im a great believer in felling good=performing good, hence going for a run each morning. What do you think?

123 LC

for the mocks i crammed the night before geography until like 4, and got 84% (that being said i had learned for my class tests and stuff over the 2 years) i don't really think tiredness effects u for those kind of exams where you just have to get all the info out onto the page, didn't effect me anyway, maybe it was the rush of the exams! :P . But maybe for english, i'll try and get a better nights sleep

Random_Person

reznov wrote: »

Quoted for truth.

I have faith once again in fellow leaving cert-ers :pac:

reznov

123 LC wrote: »

for the mocks i crammed the night before geography until like 4, and got 84% (that being said i had learned for my class tests and stuff over the 2 years) i don't really think tiredness effects u for those kind of exams where you just have to get all the info out onto the page, didn't effect me anyway, maybe it was the rush of the exams! :P . But maybe for english, i'll try and get a better nights sleep

It wasn't the cramming that helped but instead the knowledge base compiled over two years. A fine line must be established between:
"From scratch cramming", pointless, and "Quick surge of information to remember small details", useful.

EDmon

YeaaahFaoiSin wrote: »

Cramming is very effective. I don't see how reading over something once or twice more won't help you. Read a blog from a former Leaving Cert student who got 600 points and he said he got 2 hours sleep before Ag Science and Music exams and got A1s in both. Do whatever you want to do.

Can you please link the forum / blog that you're referring to ?

Thanks.

FaoiSin

EDmon wrote: »

Can you please link the forum / blog that you're referring to ?

Thanks.

http://theleavingcert.com/600-point-student-open-to-questions/