My exams...

[Sorafrosty]

Right, so I have never asked for advice in the Advice Forum before, but it said all types of advice, so here goes. I would be very grateful if you guys would help me out on this one.

I just came back from my exam now (not allowed to say more than that, for some reason) and I read in my book that my answer was completely off the mark. Now, I, as everyone else who applies, I suppose, need certain grades to get into University, and this one can throw me off completely. I have back-up plans, and all that, but I am just wondering what to do now to make myself feel better.

Perhaps if you could share some of your experience, or perhaps say what you do when having mistaken one thing for another in an exam/work related situation, or similar?

Thank you so much=)

 

[Dyme]

I once ended my ~10 pages of analysis of some poem with the words "Or it was irony. Would be sad.".

Turned out later that the poem's message was completely the opposite of what I wrote. Still got a really good grade. And the teacher liked me more. Win-win.


My ways to feel better involve music and chocolate. At least chocolate.

 

[Drakane]

I can't really say about how it works for you guys, I assume you are non-American since you called it a Uni, but my grades were not so great and I was still able to get into college... well actually 4 different ones in the long run (granted 2 were community colleges, which I hear you guys don't really have but details) lol. One grade shouldn't stress you to much IMO.

I once accidentally applied to an amazing position at Bank A, by calling it Bank B through the entire cover letter, and vice versa for a second position w/ Bank B... needless to say, I didn't get either job.

And my personal de-stressing agents... beer, boobs, and guns.. in no particular order.

 

[The SettingSun]

You can't say how well you did in your exam until you get your result. Anyway it's out of your control now, just forget about it, be concerned when you get the result.

Also, NEVER LOOK IN THE REVISION GUIDE AFTER THE EXAM

 

[Sorafrosty]

Thank you so much, all of you. I will do as you say, and everything will be alrightWill not look into revision guide, will supply myself with chocolate, and will play videogames after exam time^^

You guys helped tons!

 

[Goofguy]

After 4 years of engineering at college, I always had one ritual after an exam and that was to shut it down, at least temporarily.

When my friends and I would be leaving the exam hall after time was up, they would always go in to the whole "What'd you get for question 2? How was I supposed to solve 3b? etc" In my attempt to avoid the stress of possibly wrong answers, I would literally just steer away from them and make my way to the exit. I guess you could call it an irrational fear of not wanting to let post-exam doubts settle in. It's not like I could change the outcome at that point, it was more so that I didn't want to hear if I was wrong.

So, I'd be content to go back home, pat myself on the back for completing an exam to the best of my ability, crack open some beers and relax with my arts friends. The idea really is that what's done is done, I can't change what I wrote and I certainly don't want to hear if what I wrote is wrong. So what did I do to get over it? Forgot about the exam, at least for one night... at least until I officially found out the results and then I would cross that bridge when I got there.

 

[Zantos]

Our usual post exam is beer and pool in the local public house. Plus the important thing about exams is they set them up to be really hard to fail. If it was a sciency/mathsy exam they invented ECF marks, so if the first step of your calculation is wrong but the rest would be right then you still get shed loads of method marks. If it was more essay based then you can still get a fuck ton (standard SI unit equal to one billion crap) of marks for structure and presentation even if your evaluation is a bit off.

 

[BonsaiK]

Perhaps if you could share some of your experience, or perhaps say what you do when having mistaken one thing for another in an exam/work related situation, or similar?

Thank you so much=)

Firstly, don't count your chickens before they hatch. I went out of my final music theory exam at Uni thinking "jesus christ I sure fucked that up" only to find out a week later I got 88% which was the highest grade in the whole class. Sure the book says you got it wrong but sometimes going out on a limb works...

Secondly, what's done is done - even if you did screw it, you can't change it now.

Thirdly, don't stress about your future, there's always a way. My school scores were waaaay too low to get into University because my school was an ultraviolent hellhole full of drugs, stabbings and sexual assault which made it hard to get much learning in. Instead I went into the workforce, saved money for a few years and then got into Uni as a mature age student, where my school grades didn't even matter - they just made me sit an entrance exam, which I aced.

Good luck anyway.

 

[Sorafrosty]

Perhaps if you could share some of your experience, or perhaps say what you do when having mistaken one thing for another in an exam/work related situation, or similar?

Thank you so much=)

Firstly, don't count your chickens before they hatch. I went out of my final music theory exam at Uni thinking "jesus christ I sure fucked that up" only to find out a week later I got 88% which was the highest grade in the whole class. Sure the book says you got it wrong but sometimes going out on a limb works...

Secondly, what's done is done - even if you did screw it, you can't change it now.

Thirdly, don't stress about your future, there's always a way. My school scores were waaaay too low to get into University because my school was an ultraviolent hellhole full of drugs, stabbings and sexual assault which made it hard to get much learning in. Instead I went into the workforce, saved money for a few years and then got into Uni as a mature age student, where my school grades didn't even matter - they just made me sit an entrance exam, which I aced.


Good luck anyway.

Wow, that is quite impressive. You are right, I should not count my chickens before they hatch; your story proves that to me.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I think it was wise of you to do what you did, and I think I will do the same should my exams prove not to be enough. I will be going abroad anyways, to do the same as you did, work and save some money, before having retakes and applying again. I just had my second exam in this subject today, and I think I made up for yesterday with this one.

Again, thank you for showing me that there is always a way.

 

[BonsaiK]

Thirdly, don't stress about your future, there's always a way. My school scores were waaaay too low to get into University because my school was an ultraviolent hellhole full of drugs, stabbings and sexual assault which made it hard to get much learning in. Instead I went into the workforce, saved money for a few years and then got into Uni as a mature age student, where my school grades didn't even matter - they just made me sit an entrance exam, which I aced.

Actually, given that I'm soon going to be in a position where I will have to resume my studies as a mature student - I've badly failed my university exams and will be forced to drop out of the course - how do you go about getting a job with only secondary school qualifications, particularly in an economically depressive environment? Is it possible to get a full-time job in any area that isn't retail?

Employers don't care much about school grades. They understand that school is just school. What they care about is if you can do the job, and they know good school grades are no guarantee of that. So what that means is they care about:

* Any skills you might have that are relevant to what you're applying for
* Your work ethic
* What sort of a person you are

If you can solidly demonstrate that you have those things, then you're in and it really doesn't matter what was on your report card, or even your Uni certificate if you had one.

 

[BlueberryMUNCH]

This thread is epic.

Had 2 of my hardest exams today aaand...yeah I don't think I did great and I need good grades for uni.

Ugh.

Ah well, *bookmarksthread* :].
I'm just gonna keep my fingers crossed. Besides, there's always resits, right?

 

[endnuen]

Go grab a few beers after an exam with your friends. Talk about it a bit, and discuss the exam. Unless it was a math test or a multiple choice test there is no real correct answer. So just joke about it and start discussing the next exam? Or just talk about all other kinds of stuff!

It's in the hands of the censors, so don't worry too much about it. You will know soon enough.