exam technique

Dahecall

I generally regard myself as bright and intellectual. As a result of this I go into exams with quite a bit of self confidence. However this year I got back my JC Results and only got 4 As and 7 Bs. I was particularly disappointed with Irish history and maths which I normally get As in without any study. I was my confidence may not have helped but then again a lot of our teachers tell us to have confidence in ourselves. So what is your opinion on this is it better to go into exams with confidence or not.

ForeverX17

Go into the exams with confidence yes. But do not let your confidence affect how you prepare. Like don't just not study for a subject just because you think you're great at it.

Dahecall

ForeverX17 wrote: »

Go into the exams with confidence yes. But do not let your confidence affect how you prepare. Like don't just not study for a subject just because you think you're great at it.

I think this us where I went wrong. I probably went in with a bit too much confidence and felt as though I didn't need to study at all for particular exams. My history teacher was surprised when I didn't get an A and asked me.what happened similar in other subjects I mentioned. This though I find makes me feel as though I don't need to study. Aswell as this I never study for class tests and generally get over 90% in the. So to get into the habit of studying is hard.

randylonghorn

Gavinmcgirl wrote: »

I generally regard myself as bright and intellectual. As a result of this I go into exams with quite a bit of self confidence. However this year I got back my JC Results and only got 4 As and 7 Bs. I was particularly disappointed with Irish history and maths which I normally get As in without any study. I was my confidence may not have helped but then again a lot of our teachers tell us to have confidence in ourselves. So what is your opinion on this is it better to go into exams with confidence or not.

As mentioned, this is your problem.

You were probably able to coast along up to about second year doing little or no study, but from here on in it's a different ballgame.

There is an old (dry!) joke which kinda illustrates the point:

Joe, an old man of great faith prayed to god for years that he might win the lotto, and have a little spare money to enjoy his retirement, but he never did.

One day, a little aggrieved, he addressed god thus: "Lord, I have always had faith and praised your name, and trusted in your infinite love and mercy. Is it so much to ask, just a small win in the lotto, a few spare quid for my old age?"

And the room shook with a great sigh, and the lord answered: "Joe, help me out a little here!! BUY A FREAKING LOTTERY TICKET!!"

By all means have confidence and faith in yourself, sounds as if you have reason to, but enter the draw / open the books!!

Corvo Attano

I have the best quote ever for this:

Assumptions are the mother of all fúck ups

Be confident but dont ever assume you know everything. Thats foolish.

stampydmonkey

just be content that you have the ability and intellect to deal with all eventualities..however don't forget that you need the groundwork to fully express the confidence you have. cover and know the material and practice previous exam questions to get into exam mode. then do your best and don't look back after. what's done is done. move on, next exam, next chance to show your knowledge.

EuropeanSon

Confidence is a good thing, just make sure that the amount of confidence you have is merited. I was super confident for my Maths, Accounting and Applied Maths LC, and knew I needed less work for those than for Chemistry and History, which I was still pretty confident for, but a good bit less so. I worked hard at those, and ended up getting A1s in them all, and my average mark in the latter two was exactly the same as my average in the first three, because I rationed the work I needed to do accurately.

Long story short, you should be exactly as confident as your ability merits. You probably aren't self aware enough to know your own ability well, so err on the side of caution.

Dahecall

EuropeanSon wrote: »

Confidence is a good thing, just make sure that the amount of confidence you have is merited. I was super confident for my Maths, Accounting and Applied Maths LC, and knew I needed less work for those than for Chemistry and History, which I was still pretty confident for, but a good bit less so. I worked hard at those, and ended up getting A1s in them all, and my average mark in the latter two was exactly the same as my average in the first three, because I rationed the work I needed to do accurately.

Long story short, you should be exactly as confident as your ability merits. You probably aren't self aware enough to know your own ability well, so err on the side of caution.

The thing is the confidence is well founded. I regularly get 100% or so in summer or Christmas tests but only got Bs in the junior cert. I suppose it's just a case of actually studying for state exams and maybe the odd summer one. As I want to do medicine Bs won't be good enough do I don't want another repeat of the junior cert ( even though everyone tells me I done brilliant and I got the third highest in our year). Although I am very competitive and am determined to beat them both in the LC. Especially as they live so close to me.

Exo

"..only got 4 As and 7 Bs" - You'll be fine, there's no earth-shattering technique to getting the A's. Once you've learned the material, you'll be fine. However believe it or not, some textbooks have wrong information within which decimates results every August (speaking about the LC specifically, the JC comes and goes and has little relevance).

Just go in relaxed. Never leave anything too late, make sure you know the content and how to put it on paper since that's what matters, and what the examiner sees before grading your paper.

EuropeanSon

Gavinmcgirl wrote: »

The thing is the confidence is well founded. I regularly get 100% or so in summer or Christmas tests but only got Bs in the junior cert. I suppose it's just a case of actually studying for state exams and maybe the odd summer one. As I want to do medicine Bs won't be good enough do I don't want another repeat of the junior cert ( even though everyone tells me I done brilliant and I got the third highest in our year). Although I am very competitive and am determined to beat them both in the LC. Especially as they live so close to me.

None of that means it is well founded. Your teachers setting most of those tests means they are of limited relevance. They might be easier than they should be, they might be harder.

You are not competing against your neighbours. You are competing against the rest of the country. You being in the top X% in your year doesn't mean you are in the top X% nationally.

Everyone tells you you did brilliantly: This matters even less than the above. If you get over 500 I imagine most will tell you you did brilliantly, that still won't get you a place in medicine.

MegGustaa

Being naturally good at a subject has little or no bearing on the State Exams. They have far more to do with hard work and persistence. No one gets an A1 without hard work, no matter how smart you are. Also a word of warning - LC Maths requires a hell of a lot more work than JC Maths, even for the best mathematicians, so either way you'll need to get rid of that assumption that you can expect As with minimal work!

EuropeanSon

MegGustaa wrote: »

Being naturally good at a subject has little or no bearing on the State Exams. They have far more to do with hard work and persistence. No one gets an A1 without hard work, no matter how smart you are. Also a word of warning - LC Maths requires a hell of a lot more work than JC Maths, even for the best mathematicians, so either way you'll need to get rid of that assumption that you can expect As with minimal work!

The "even for the best mathematicians" line may be popular to hear, but it isn't true. I found LC maths and applied maths very, very easy, and I know multiple better mathematicians than myself.

Also, being good at things is most of the bearing, actually. Saying it has little or no bearing is simply a complete lie.

MegGustaa

EuropeanSon wrote: »

The "even for the best mathematicians" line may be popular to hear, but it isn't true. I found LC maths and applied maths very, very easy, and I know multiple better mathematicians than myself.

Also, being good at things is most of the bearing, actually. Saying it has little or no bearing is simply a complete lie.

All due respect but I'm saying that as someone who finds maths, applied maths, physics, and the like very, very easy too. I have great natural ability in them, I won't deny it. However, while that natural ability makes the whole process much easier, most people need to put in a lot of work to get the A1. You don't get A1s without practice when it comes to maths, in particular, and yes it's great to be very smart but the point I'm making is you probably won't get all As in your JC or LC without some level of hard work. I don't believe that all intelligence is rubbish and it's all about hard work in general, but in the context of the State Exams persistence - on top of innate smarts - is what gets you the A1. Natural ability is important, but it counts for very little if you never do a tap because of your own arrogance.

Doing hard work doesn't mean you have to find it challenging at first and work to overcome it. But to get A1s you still need to practice and study and keep the material in your head, as well as perfect your exam technique. That all counts as work and preparation. I doubt anyone who gets an A1 in Applied Maths never did an exam question or any homework for it in 6th Year...

Dahecall

MegGustaa wrote: »

All due respect but I'm saying that as someone who finds maths, applied maths, physics, and the like very, very easy too. I have great natural ability in them, I won't deny it. However, while that natural ability makes the whole process much easier, most people need to put in a lot of work to get the A1. You don't get A1s without practice when it comes to maths, in particular, and yes it's great to be very smart but the point I'm making is you probably won't get all As in your JC or LC without some level of hard work. I don't believe that all intelligence is rubbish and it's all about hard work in general, but in the context of the State Exams persistence - on top of innate smarts - is what gets you the A1. Natural ability is important, but it counts for very little if you never do a tap because of your own arrogance.

Doing hard work doesn't mean you have to find it challenging at first and work to overcome it. But to get A1s you still need to practice and study and keep the material in your head, as well as perfect your exam technique. That all counts as work and preparation. I doubt anyone who gets an A1 in Applied Maths never did an exam question or any homework for it in 6th Year...

In fairness saying that LC maths is extremely hard and requires lots of hard work for even the best mathematicians is a huge exaggeration and untrue. So far I have not done any study granted I've always done my homework but in two tests I have got 100% and 98% ( made stupid mistake multiplying signs) . Now most people failed these tests with most of them studying hard for it but the questions were contained within a lot of English and required some manipulation. For this reason you have to be able to problem solve which good mathematicians are better at.

MegGustaa

Gavinmcgirl wrote: »

In fairness saying that LC maths is extremely hard and requires lots of hard work for even the best mathematicians is a huge exaggeration and untrue. So far I have not done any study granted I've always done my homework but in two tests I have got 100% and 98% ( made stupid mistake multiplying signs) . Now most people failed these tests with most of them studying hard for it but the questions were contained within a lot of English and required some manipulation. For this reason you have to be able to problem solve which good mathematicians are better at.

Well on the whole, it's quite a step up from JC. I wouldn't take the first few months of 5th Year as indicative of the whole LC, just as you wouldn't consider 1st Year to be representative of the JC experience. Plus, LC topics in isolation are manageable enough, it's only when you come to late 6th year when you're juggling the whole of Statistics, Probability, Calculus, Trigonometry, Complex Numbers, Algebra etc and trying to remember it all that you might regret not studying them properly the first time around, or revising them enough.

And I'm not saying it's ridiculously difficult, but the whole course packed into 2 years in addition to maybe 5-8 other subjects is tough enough. I personally don't think LC Maths stretches my ability enough when it comes to the actual maths we're doing, but in the context of 7 other subjects I'm happy to let it be for now.

Also, it's become markedly more difficult to get get an A1 since the introduction of Project Maths - it's relative easy to get a C/B, and wayyyy more people are passing, but the marking scheme is such that the top marks require more of a distinction than they used to. The grades are being pulled towards the middle of the bell curve, so to speak. So you need to really shine for the A1.

Pretty much the worst thing you can be when it comes to schoolwork is complacent, if you want to get top marks. I'd take your teacher's tests with, ok maybe more than a pinch of salt, because they don't mean nothing, but don't fool yourself into thinking that's how the real LC will go, especially with Maths.