Reflecting on the semester

[Hopelesshopefull]

Hi everyone,
So I finished my exams for uni yesterday and have been reflecting on the semester whilst things seem somewhat fresh in my mind. Mainly reflecting on the the things I did wrong, and would not want to repeat in the future. So I thought it would be a good idea if I shared them in the hopes for advice and maybe others could share their own and we could all benefit from each other
So things that I feel Ive messed up:
1) pracs and labs
2) keeping up with content ( which is the cause for everything else)
3) not knowing all the content by exams due to above point. Ended up guessing and leaving questions blank on all of my exams, because cramming meant I had to prioritise significant concepts over smaller ones.
4) time management(I started working mid semester-ish and it ruined any form of routine)

So any advice that y'all have  for the above thing?
Also interested to hear about ur own thoughts on ur semester ( or semesters if u have been at uni longer than I ) 😊

[AngelWings]

1) pracs and labs
2) keeping up with content ( which is the cause for everything else)
3) not knowing all the content by exams due to above point. Ended up guessing and leaving questions blank on all of my exams, because cramming meant I had to prioritise significant concepts over smaller ones.
4) time management(I started working mid semester-ish and it ruined any form of routine)

So any advice that y'all have  for the above thing?
Also interested to hear about ur own thoughts on ur semester ( or semesters if u have been at uni longer than I ) 😊

1. Do the pre-reading and all the pre-lab activities well before the day of your prac/ lab. Don't do it at the last minute. Do the necessary research, activities and/ or reading from external sources if you need clarification.
2. This one I think you know what to do. Keep up and make sure you watch and/or attend the lectures. Ask questions, email people, talk to friends doing the unit and revise.
3. see point 2. Also, be prepared. (although I really shouldn't talk)
4. Yeah, I still suck at this too, so I'm not going to be your mentor on that in case I lead you astray.

I haven't finished my semester yet, as I still have one last exam to go. I had a killer of an exam yesterday and haven't fully recovered from that so I'm here, answering your post.

In summary for semester 1 2016, this has been definitely my most intense semester so far. I switched jobs in the summer holidays, tutoring someone separately and still completed the typical 4 units. This meant I spent more hours working, thus less time and energy to study for uni. It was a stupid move, but I survived it. It was my fault for accepting it all. I think I still did okay... or at least I hope so. Besides that, my units were very interesting and the content, fascinating. I'll be working even harder next semester with the same job + tutoring (I've got reasons) to revive my dying grades, but I know I can do it with a bit of a push and renewed determination.

I won't be posting negatives of the semester because they all relate to time and those are easily fixed, but I wouldn't mind some good uni science study tips via PM. Actually... I'd highly appreciate that.

[h545]

For me this semester seemed to go quite well so I might list some of the things that helped me:

• Watching lectures on LMS rather than in person (probably complete opposite to most people but I found I could concentrate so much better at home)
• Having a subject that I really enjoyed, so extra study was something I wanted to do
• Efficient study and exam preparation (I used different methods for different subjects)
• Experience in sitting uni exams

[Hopelesshopefull]

1. Do the pre-reading and all the pre-lab activities well before the day of your prac/ lab. Don't do it at the last minute. Do the necessary research, activities and/ or reading from external sources if you need clarification.
2. This one I think you know what to do. Keep up and make sure you watch and/or attend the lectures. Ask questions, email people, talk to friends doing the unit and revise.
3. see point 2. Also, be prepared. (although I really shouldn't talk)
4. Yeah, I still suck at this too, so I'm not going to be your mentor on that in case I lead you astray.

I haven't finished my semester yet, as I still have one last exam to go. I had a killer of an exam yesterday and haven't fully recovered from that so I'm here, answering your post.

In summary for semester 1 2016, this has been definitely my most intense semester so far. I switched jobs in the summer holidays, tutoring someone separately and still completed the typical 4 units. This meant I spent more hours working, thus less time and energy to study for uni. It was a stupid move, but I survived it. It was my fault for accepting it all. I think I still did okay... or at least I hope so. Besides that, my units were very interesting and the content, fascinating. I'll be working even harder next semester with the same job + tutoring (I've got reasons) to revive my dying grades, but I know I can do it with a bit of a push and renewed determination.

I won't be posting negatives of the semester because they all relate to time and those are easily fixed, but I wouldn't mind some good uni science study tips via PM. Actually... I'd highly appreciate that.

I definetly agree with everything you've said! Especially the pre-lab stuff, at the start of the semester I would try to do it and I later progressed to the (not so) good-Ol 'imma just wing dis' attitude. Again due to my lack of time management.
Thank you

For me this semester seemed to go quite well so I might list some of the things that helped me:

• Watching lectures on LMS rather than in person (probably complete opposite to most people but I found I could concentrate so much better at home)
• Having a subject that I really enjoyed, so extra study was something I wanted to do
• Efficient study and exam preparation (I used different methods for different subjects)
• Experience in sitting uni exams

Seems like ur semester went smoothly, tell me more of thy ways! Like pls give me examples of 'efficient study', I know I struggled with this a lot. I spent tonnes of time trying to remember a specific concept that when I moved on , I would forget it (damn u lists of protist names!).
Thank you

But ur post brings me to another one of my dilemmas- to be at lectures in person or to not ?
Like the whole semester I went to like 3 maybe 4 lectures (due to my friends pulling me along) and idk. Cause like I tend to phase out a lot and so pick nothing up if I'm there live but I don't think I can trust myself to actually keep up with the content by watching it at home. Like idk, any suggestion anyone? Thanks 

[h545]

The methods I use:

For subjects that are content-heavy I make flashcards with diagrams and notes, but it's the process of making the flashcards that is most useful (i.e going through all the lecture slides until I can condense the info onto the card in a way that I can explain it). In this semester and previous, I didn't do a full practice exam for these subjects but was familiar with the structure of questions in the exams.

For a maths subject I did a few practice exams, checked my answers, then focused on certain parts (like proofs, which was lucky because the exam was full of them). I'd stayed up to date with the subject during the semester though, which is important for subjects that get progressively more difficult.

Mainly a focus on understanding and being able to apply concepts rather than memorisation (my memory is... ugh). Also attempting to explain the main topics of a subject to someone (or an imaginary person) can be useful. If you're given solutions (esp with marking criteria) to past exams/assignments read them because you might find out what particular things you need to include for full marks.

On watching lectures at home: motivation is very important, ideally watch the lectures as soon as they are posted.