This edition is about dealing with midterms, because that is probably what your greatest concern at this very moment. “Hell Week”: it’s not as bad as it sounds. Upper years will all tell you: love hell week even if you hate it. Love it by using your time wisely.
Have a plan
Studying by opening the first page of your notes and reading from there is like going into Wonderland without looking at a map and spending two hours on the first merry-go-round you see. Realize how much time you have over the next week, and plan around when you have exams and when you are alert to study. Afterwards, create a detailed list of everything you need to cover. All the material you’ve learned so far can look very daunting, which makes it harder to get started and easier to procrastinate. However, dividing and conquering specifically the lecture on piecewise functions today is much more manageable.
Write it down on paper!
Now that you have a plan, avoid procrastination and actually follow through.
Firstly, understand how willpower is a limited resource and therefore easily depleted. Psychology has proven this over multiple studies. Secondly, recognize that our plain thoughts are weak: they are easy to make and just as easy to break. How effortless it is to say “I’ll start studying later” and completely ignore it or repeat it once “later” becomes now.
The sure-fire approach to avoid procrastination was made popular by a British psychologist who looked at old patients recovering from knee surgery. She found that patients who wrote detailed plans on the back of their given booklets stating when and how they were going to exercise (with the specific time, location and duration) got out of their chairs three times faster unassisted.
In simplest terms, writing your plan down gives you more willpower for later. Having something on paper is tangible, sitting in front of you, and cannot be easily changed or ignored. If you write down exactly when you are going to study, which subject and which specific problems you are going to do, psychology can almost guarantee that you will follow through.
Exams are just one big problem set
First year courses that are not unique to your discipline test you on problem solving. The entirety of CHEM 102, MATH 115 and PHYS 115 midterms will just be problems similar to the ones in your problem sets, tutorials, or those covered during lectures. (Linear algebra is a bit different, but proofs will NOT be the majority of marks). In engineering, rarely do we test you on defining abstract concepts or memorizing formulas – the idea is to determine whether you know how to apply these formulas to solve a problem.
So the real secret to preparing well is to practice what will actually be on the exam: solving problems. Don’t get hung up on the little details; solve real and difficult problems. The only proven combatant to fear and anxiety on a test is absolute preparation.
During the exam, you will also undergo intense, sustained concentration, so when you study, you want to best replicate these circumstances. The absolute greatest, most effective, and beloved study method is practice exams. Your professors may have some posted online, but you can also visit EngSoc’s exam bank. You’re not only solving good problems but also simulating that intensity. I cannot emphasize this enough: take these practice exams seriously by preparing for them while staying away from your solutions and your notes. Write in the allotted time uninterrupted.
After you write the practice exam, recognize your strengths and weaknesses. Hell week gives you the time to do that, so love hell week. Good luck.
Leave a Reply