How not to make stupid mistakes?

[Michael0007]

Any particular strategies you guys have invented/discovered?

I tried going at a steady pace for the vcaa 09 exam and didn't get anytime to check. Ended up making less mistakes than usual. Is going fast and checking for 15-30 mins the most efficient way? What do you guys think?

[matt123]

put 100% into every question .. most the time , your original answer is correct ..
although think your answers through and ask yourself if they make sence

for e.g .. in 2009 exam .. i calculated the concentration of something as 4.5 molar .... after doing the question i realised ... you barely get anything higher than 0.1-1 molar hcl concentration ...

so yeah .. just ask yourself if it makes sence and you tend not to make silly mistakes

[stonecold]

Best time to get a mistake is as soon as you make it.  Always go back and read the question as soon as you've answered it to make sure you did the right thing.  Go over your calculations as well.

And any stoichiometry question worth two marks or more requires more than one calculation, or has some complexity/trick to it.

[Michael0007]

cool tips guys, cheers

[happyhappyland]

Use your reading time well... leave 30mins to check the whole paper

[kyzoo]

Just practice really. Most of the mistakes I've made haven't been stupid as such, but rather lack of skill with the finer details.

And 30 minutes to check the whole paper ... I don't think I could finish in an hour =/

[m@tty]

Really? Do you do the questions slowly? =S I finished even '09 with 25 minutes to spare.

[kyzoo]

I am very slow lol when I did '09 I finished 90 minutes exactly >.<

[TrueTears]

re-read questions and your working, most of time you could pick up your silly mistake. Or redo the question with another method, sometimes that helps.

[m@tty]

I am very slow lol when I did '09 I finished 90 minutes exactly >.<

Ohhhkk. I don't know why but I have been taking copious amounts of time to do physics recently.

[stonecold]

My problem is that I rush the first bit of the paper to ensure I get through it, and then have like 45 mins to do the final two or three of questions.  Then I just slack off subconsciously because I know I'm going to make the time.  And then I'm only left with like 15 mins at the end to check, and this isn't enough to do it thoroughly...

I need to push hard to finish earlier, but at the same time not compensate accuracy.  :tickedoff:

[chansthename]

I am very slow lol when I did '09 I finished 90 minutes exactly >.<

I was like that but then I learned the MC in reading time technique, now I have spare time on all practise exams

[appianway]

I finished VCAA 09 25 minutes early and yet still dropped 2 :/

I just try and redo the stoich questions, and think about every single word in the multiple choice as there are often tricks there. Even then it's obviously not failproof...