FE1 Exam Thread (Read 1st post!) NOTE: YOU MAY SWAP EXAM GRIDS

JHalpin wrote: »

I applied to have an exemption for March also, the email I received just said the application was granted. I'm not entirely sure what this means whether I now have 2 or 3 exams? I'll give them a ring later and double check.

Hamerzan Sickles wrote: »

There was a ton of these posts as time crept closer to the exams last sitting, and presumably any sitting before that covered within this thread's timeline. I don't know what it is about Irish culture generally and equating time studying with productive output. It's an incredibly arbitrary metric - everyone learns differently and everyone performs differently. There's no universal answer for how long one should study for the FE1s, though most people say you need 2 - 4 months. I did the vast majority of my work in the three weeks before the exams. 90% of what I put down on whatever paper was crammed the night before or the early morning of the exam. But I knew I could that and pull it off because I know what my strengths and weaknesses are from years of university attendance.

If you are the type of person who starts panicking now wondering do you have enough time, etc, then the only adequate answer is to start studying now. Take a look back at your previous exam performances in college, what worked for you and what didn't, how often you studied and for how long you could sustain it in the run up to an exam. Do not burn yourself out, do not panic.

Don't think in terms of "time studied" because hours on the clock really makes no difference whatsoever if you're not studying the right things. Get a copy of the exam grid, the past papers, figure out statistically what topic is most likely to come up, what type of question you can expect on that topic, and then work your way towards being able to answer all question types on that particular topic. Then move on to the next one. Half of the FE1s is just realising probability is on your side, the second half is capitalising on it.