How to study for university exams

[Joseph41]

Heyo. I originally wrote this thread in relation to VCE/HSC exams, but have adapted it to be applicable to the university experience. 👌

As they always are, uni exams are upcoming.

Do I start this thread to, like, scare or worry you? Nah – quite the opposite.

I start this thread to spitball about how to best use that time, and to offer some thoughts of my own. ATAR Notes fam, let’s help each other out here on how to best prepare for university exams. Please contribute with your own thoughts and questions.

What's the go with practice exams?

Spoiler

In high school, you might have had access to a bunch of practice/trial exams for your specific subjects. Many people use these as one of their primary forms of revision before exams - which makes sense, because they typically give a pretty good indication of what the end-of-year exam might be like.

At uni, practice exams may or may not be available for your units - you can see more in a lot of our university subject reviews.

If I have endless practice exams at your disposal, how many should I complete?
How long is a piece of string?

This is a really fruitless question, but also an understandable one. Heaps of people say that doing practice exams is the best form of revision, and I don’t necessarily disagree with that. But there’s simply no set number that you should – or need to – be doing.

Case in point:

I scored a perfect score for one of my subjects in Year 12. I probably sat like 30-40 practice exams for that subject in the lead-up to the exam. Does that mean that you need to do the same? No – absolutely not. I’m thinking of two other AN members right now who also achieved a perfect score oin the same subject. Between them, they completed one practice exam for the subject. They averaged 0.5 practice exams, whilst I sat 30-40. We achieved the same score.

They still studied, don’t get me wrong; they just studied in a different way to how I did. And that’s perfectly fine. My major point here is that there’s no answer to this question.

What I will say, though, is this:

Treat each and every practice exam you do attempt with respect. There’s simply no point cruising through practice exams. You could do 100 exams for very little gain if you’re not treating them seriously, or not getting anything out of them.

And if there are no practice exams available?
That's a bit frustrating, but no stress - everybody will be in the same position. More often than not, the materials given to you throughout the semester (lecture slides, skills learnt in pracs/labs etc., tute discussions) will be enough to get you through.

I can't really think of many units where I did have practice exams available at uni, so one of my major revision techniques was sort of taken away from me. Instead, I emphasised summaries much more, to ensure I had a really good conceptual understanding of the things I was studying. For more mathsy/sciencey degrees, practice questions may be of great benefit.

How much should I be studying?

Spoiler

Again, hard to say.

I’d contend that most people would probably study a little more in SWOTVAC/STUVAC than they have been, but that’s not like, a hard and fast rule or anything.

From my experience, the increase was pretty gradual and, honestly, I didn’t notice it until the end of exams.

Don’t overwork. It’s great to have hefty ambitions and whatever, but don’t think doing well necessitates hour upon hour upon hour of study.

How do I manage stress before and on exam days?

Spoiler

For me, a big part of this was feeling prepared.

Good preparation = confidence = good exam performance. That was pretty much my formula.

So I guess the question is, then, how do you be prepared? The answer is pretty simple in my mind: work now, reap the rewards later. Tonight, do five practice questions. All of a sudden, you’re in a better position than you were yesterday.

Do the same thing again tomorrow, and you’re in an even better position.

Consistent (not necessarily intense) study like this didn’t stress me out too much, and also gradually built my knowledge and skills in each of my subjects. Come exams, I felt confident (enough) walking into the exam room.

Otherwise, though, managing stress is really important. Make sure you take some time out for yourself. Look after yourself and your own health. I didn’t, and it came back to bite me.

Talk to people. If you’re struggling, seek help. That’s all a part of the stress management game.

On exam day, people relax in different ways. I hated talking to other people sitting the exam; they tended just to stress me out, what with their cramming and panic. As such, I stayed to myself as much as possible; I’d listen to music, read the paper, go for walks. I never studied on exam day (or the day before exam day), but different things will work for different people here.

I'm worried about exam timing

Spoiler

That’s okay – a lot of people probably are.

I think the best thing to do here is practice exams in timed conditions. It's great if you can get 100% on an exam, but what if it takes you six hours to do it? Realistically, you will have finite time in the exam(s), so it makes sense to practise in those conditions.

I'd go one step further and, along with the timed conditions, make the whole thing a simulated exam. If possible, sit in the room where you'll have your exam. If possible, do it at the same time as your exam. No phones, no notes (unless accepted in the actual exam), no discussion. Just you and the exam paper, with a restricted number of minutes on the clock.

What's sitting a uni exam actually like?

Spoiler

It's not so bad - pretty similar to every other test/exam you would have sat, really.

There are invigilators (the people who administer the exam and, like, walk up and down the aisles). They're nice - they're nothing to worry about. You'll have an allocated seat based on your student number. Make sure you take ID in with you. You'll have to take off your watch and put it on the table. You should take pens and stuff in in a clear bag.

There are things like that you'll get used to (which also will be the case for uni exams). Overall, it's a pretty... average? experience. Nothing too unexpected, hopefully.

What are some ways I can study?

Spoiler

If you feel like you've studied pretty well thus far, I don't see a need to change your study techniques.

If you want to mix it up, though, try this article!
18 Ways to Study That Aren't Completely Boring

What if I stuff up?

Spoiler

You use it as a learning experience, and move on. I promise you: it's not the end of the world.

GPAs and WAMs and all that shit probably seems super important. I felt the same way.

But like, what's their relevance? Probably limited, in the wider scope of things. Take them seriously, no doubt. But if you try, and don't do as well as you would have liked - well, that's not a failure.

ATAR Notes is here for y'all, 24/7. <3