Failed 2nd year exam, panicking?

LegacyUser

I am sure this has been posted here a millions times, but this is first time this has happened to me personally so I am very worried.

I transferred to this college for 2nd year, and everything else is passed (says "Exempted" (something to do with my transfer) but marks themselves are all in the 50s and 60s) but got 29 in one exam (Marketing) so failed that completely since I cannot pass by compensation.

I am just very worried now about this repeat. I will admit this: I do work, but I am not the greatest worker. I just put off wanting to study or do CA's until few weeks beforehand and usually I scrape a pass.
I am not sure whether I am just lazy or something else like mild depression, since I had a rough time during the leaving cert so I used to not want to study from being so tired and upset from school, and because of that only got 220.

I think it is to do with fear, because I am afraid that i could put all my time and energy into a CA or exams only to still come away with a measly pass or fail.

I just want a bit of advice from people who had to do repeats, like how did you plan out your study during the summer? Did you devote all your time to it, or did you still made time for other summer plans, also does it reflect badly on you even if you pass the repeat?
When are repeats usually held, is it to the 24th to the 28th August, or is it different for all colleges?

any help is appreciated, thanks

29% is a shockingly low mark to get an exam, given that continuous assessments would add towards this. That would also have to mean that you scored crazy low in the exam itself.

Why did you transfer college?

What you should do is work towards your exams year round. Continuous assessments are supposed to help you. Work harder on them. This means that you have a lot more leg room in the exam itself.

How are you in classes? Just remember; it is the lecturer's decision ultimately whether to compensate you if you score a few percent below a passing mark. If they see you trying in class, interacting with the classes, and actually putting work in, then they'll be more likely to do this.

semionova

It's low do you struggle with the subject? What is the subject?

Are you burnt out? Do you need more balance and support?

Talk to you counsellor and the college and maybe a GP you mentioned you might feel depressed etc.

LegacyUser

Deleted User wrote: »

29% is a shockingly low mark to get an exam, given that continuous assessments would add towards this. That would also have to mean that you scored crazy low in the exam itself.

Why did you transfer college?

I actually forgot about this until now, but last year there was a presentation that was worth 5% but I skipped it because I panicked about doing it in front of people. I thought I could make up for it in the exam, but was kept awake a long time from noises outside and majority of stuff I studied actually did not turn up. Regret it now though.

Was not happy in the last place, so transferred closer to home.

It not that I am stupid at this subject (I hope) it just that it is a lot to take in and it's a subject I cannot find interest in, and even though he is a nice man, he is the first lecturer I have had who does not bump you up a mark or two to let you pass it.

Ophere

Ophere wrote: »

I actually forgot about this until now, but last year there was a presentation that was worth 5% but I skipped it because I panicked about doing it in front of people. I thought I could make up for it in the exam, but was kept awake a long time from noises outside and majority of stuff I studied actually did not turn up. Regret it now though.

Was not happy in the last place, so transferred closer to home.

It not that I am stupid at this subject (I hope) it just that it is a lot to take in and it's a subject I cannot find interest in, and even though he is a nice man, he is the first lecturer I have had who does not bump you up a mark or two to let you pass it.

To be fair, if you're getting 29%, then there's no way he can bump you up at all. In my experience, lecturers want you to succeed and can do everything they can, but it's up to you. Show that you're putting the effort in. I'm unfamiliar with your course and whether you're in a 3 or 4 year course, but you're getting close to the point where your results are going to matter the most and will reflect on your degree.

Regarding this exam, you do need to just study your ass off. That's the only advice anyone can give.

However in September, try to spend an hour a week in the college library, just getting your notes together. Pay attention in class, get involved, interact. I know it's probably boring (but you don't know boring until you've studied ISO certification!), but you still need to work at it. Don't just study in the weeks before your exams. Work hard towards the CAs, because these are just as important as the exams themselves.

Go speak to a counselor and see if you can work on your self esteem issues, because presentations are generally a big part of college and you can't always run away - just imagine if you had done it and had that extra 5%.

Diziet

If this is important to you, then you need to systematically study the whole course, do past papers and actually work consistently to make sure you pass it. Yes, you have to put all your efforts into it, *if* passing is important to you.

For next year, the golden rules are: attend every lecture, do every assignment, and study every day. It is amazing how well these rules work.

If you are worried about studying and finding excuses not to do it then you need to ask yourself how much you want the degree and whether not studying and 'scraping a pass' gets you closer to the desired outcome. You can't fail to improve your marks if you put more study it; you should fear failure if you don't study, not if you do!

Go for it, it is a good feeling to do well.

LegacyUser

semionova wrote: »

It's low do you struggle with the subject? What is the subject?

Are you burnt out? Do you need more balance and support?

Talk to you counsellor and the college and maybe a GP you mentioned you might feel depressed etc.

Marketing. There is actually a lot of material that i really regret not looking over at least at the start of the year, coz it was only when i sat down to study, that i realised how much there was to do.

Not so much burnt out, just more stressed and lost as lecturers are impossible to come to for advice sometimes, and a lot of things are not being taught at all. Nearly would be better off teaching yourself, it is that bad.

Lecturers can only do so much though - the onus is always on you to do the work and all the heavy lifting. Just learn from your mistakes and work on everything.

Rubberchikken

if you want to pass the exams, then the simple thing is to do the work.
only you can decide if you're interested in the course and willing to put in the effort.

once you've done the work and passed the exam, you can enjoy the time off. if you're feeling down, a chat with your gp can help. also course head in college can be good to approach.

gline

worriedstudentpleasehelp wrote: »

I just want a bit of advice from people who had to do repeats, like how did you plan out your study during the summer? Did you devote all your time to it, or did you still made time for other summer plans, also does it reflect badly on you even if you pass the repeat?
When are repeats usually held, is it to the 24th to the 28th August, or is it different for all colleges?

Repeats are different for all colleges, but either during the summer or end of semester 1 (December) of the next academic year.

Dont worry about it reflecting badly, anyone can mess up and theres no shame in it. Im currently in university and have seen some of the brightest fail a module due to not putting the effort in. I even got 1 E and 5 A's in my first semester in 1st year. Also depending on what year you are in, the fail may not even count towards your final degree grade.

You can use this faill to motivate you though, so that you try your hardest for it not to happen again. Though it depends on why you failed? Was it due to lack of effort or difficulty with the subject? Or a bit of both? If it was due to the difficulty of the module, dont be afraid to ask for help.

The summer is a good oppurtunity for you to catch up and prepare. I studied last summer for some of my modules, my advice would be dont use all of your summer to study, take it handy, while still enjoying some of the summer. Maybe one day on one day off with a week or so break here and there. If you are struggling with the subject, try find someone that could help you with it.

As mentioned above aswell, never leave things until the last minute in college. You do not know what will happen coming close to the deadline. Even small things like leaving printing of assignments to the last day to print up, and then find out the printers are offline just when you need them. Planning ahead solves that.

PizzamanIRL

I know some people have an attitude towards CA exams such as "Ah it's only worth 5%, I won't bother doing much work for it"... Trust me, obviously all those 5% exams add up and it's great to head into your final exam with as close to a pass as possible. So in the future, put the effort into those CA exams.

That's not helping you now though, since you failed. Luckily you only failed one, so you can concentrate whole heartedly on this one exam. It's hard to study for the repeat exams when in your head you know they're 2 months away. Try revise some of the stuff you found difficult in the summer exam. Then do the usual stuff like looking at all the past exam papers and find some pattern or some type of question that comes up a lot.

There's not much else to say. It's one exam. Just fecking study and pass it.

EoghanIRL

Hi , OP.
If you have not done so already contact the lecturer or arrange a meeting.
Lecturers advised the class to do this if you failed in some modules I have taken.

You have adequate time left to prepare for this exam. You can spread it out over the summer to prevent stress building up. Make sure to look at past exam paper questions. Try and cover every thing if you can.
Don't leave it until the last minute
You saw where doing this got you.
Put in the effort and the results will follow.

Good luck

Minera

I failed a first year nursing and the repeats basically because I enjoyed going out too much a year out totally changed me and my attitude towards my goal! I got back in and graduated in 2010 I am currently a clinical nurse manager in the ward I work in. So let that alleviate some of your fears you can get back into your course do the work study at least an hour a day and more coming closer to the exam and you will find a subject u don't like/ failed will be a subject you love / are excellent in. But do put in the hours and then you won't have to take take a year out. And as for worrying about it being a poor reflection on you I use my failing as a strong point in interviews I tell all interviewers before they even ask and why I also tell them what I done about it ( I kept up my studies and took on a part time related course on my year out) I've always had a positive response! Good luck op

Hollister11

I had a programming module where we had weekly video quizzes to do. Now they were worth 15% in total. There were 7 over the course of the semester and your best 5 were counted. They were worth 3% each. A lot of my friends left them to the last minute and didn't care about their result because they were only worth 3% each.

Fast forward to the exam. I was on 35% going in (after getting full marks in the videos + other CA work) and all my mates were in the 20% range. They were all panicking in the exam, i was as cool as a cucumber. I came out with 70%, they all came out with results in the 40 and 50% range.

Having a high mark before going into the exam not only gives you a better grade overall, but it also relaxes you as most of the pressure to pass is off, and you can focus on doing well.

Overall in the course i'm on a first at the moments, my friends are just scrapping or 2:1 or a 2:2