almost there! - exam tips 2012

7/27/2019 Almost There! - Exam Tips 2012

1/23

Almost there!

Words of advice for your final exams


2/23

Some little tips to make a big difference in your final weeks

It is funny how your final exams have a way of creeping up on you. It probablyseems like just yesterday you were starting Year 12 and now, your final exams(and the end of high school!) are just weeks a way.

We all know from experience how easy it is to get caught up in the stress of thefinal weeks. So to help you keep your head above water for the final weeks ofYear 12, we thought we would send through a few tips from our presenters.These are the little tips and insights our presenters used to stay sane, focused,motivated and ace their final exams.

And, just remember no matter how stressful the final weeks become just keepthis little thought in the back of your head:it is almost over, it is almost over.

It has been fantastic working with you this year, we wish you the best of luck inyour final exams and with whatever you choose to do next year! Weve got ourfingers crossed for you!

Douglas BartonManaging DirectorElevate Education
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3/23

Pace yourself! It's very easy to findyourself in an 'eyes bigger thanstomach' kind of situation when itcomes to exam preparation.

Doing a practice exam for each subjecteveryday to be super prepared isimpossible! Not even the best studentscould handle that heavy a work load.Having a longer preparation periodwith more rest time is a lot lessstressful! It's really important to make

sure you only do high powered brainwork when you're in a mental state todo so.

Pace Yourself

The biggest trap here is that we say"OK, so I am feeling a bit lack-lustre, Iwon't do a practice exam today, I willdo it tomorrow!", then all of a sudden

its the day before the exam and we'vedone one per subject (if that!). Usingan exam planner, enables you to makea sort of 'practice paper to do list', andgradually get through them all, ratherthan trying to cram them all in rightbefore the exams start. Keep itbalanced and don't bite off more than

you can chew!Best of luck to everyone, take it onestep at a time!!

Georgie

Georgie studies Arts / Law at MonashUniversity


4/23

For me, exams were the ultimate test,so I sought help. I consulted myteachers and got some extra resources,but nothing helped me as much as mypeers. One mate and I, who was asimilar standard in English to me,

spent every day for a week together.That week, was all about English. Wedwake up, do a couple of hours study,then organise to meet. We would talkfor half an hour about the texts wewere studying, bouncing ideas of oneanother and discovering new angles.Wed take these ideas, write anintroduction and compare it.

Teamwork

Wed talk about it then write another.Wed write whole essays, compare

these, take them to our teachers, getthem marked, get their perspective,meet up and compare again. Weevaluated, analysed, discussed,compared and contrasted until we weresick of each other. Finally though,when it was all over, we both hadEnglish as our best subject.

Tim

Tim studies Arts / Law at MelbourneUniversity


5/23

Carmen

Carmen studies Arts / Law at SydneyUniversity


6/23

In the lead up to my final exams I found that reading over my notes wasbecoming more of a chore than ever. Summer was approaching and Iwanted to spend my time outside enjoying the nice weather rather thancooped up in my room. What I eventually decided to do was read my

notes out loud into a microphone and then transfer the audio files onto myiPod. I could then go for long walks and revise for my exams at the sametime. Getting out of the house more often really cleared my head and Iwas in a really positive frame of mind by the time exam period rolledaround.

Mix it up!

Andrew

Andrew studies Media &Communications at RMIT


7/23


8/23

Do not underestimate the importanceof list making and planning! Asthe year goes on the to do list getsincreasingly longer and if youhave no plan, it is nearly impossible toget everything you need doneand on time. In the final months of my

year 12, I wrote a list everyafternoon of tasks to be done.Everyone knows the feeling of havingso much on your mind, all these thingsbuzzing around in your head, andsimply creating anxiety and stress. It isan amazing relief to just infact write these things down. Just by

having them on paper, you haveremoved the burden of a clutteredmind so that you can actually nowthink... and get done what you need

to.

Plan

Then plan out when exactly thesethings will get done! This meanswriting next to the task: a day and atime... your life is now inorder... now you just have to do it!!!Good luck year 12 students, itcomes down to you in the end, just

give it the best youve got!

Lily

Lily

Lily studies Arts / Law at MonashUniversity


9/23

While you focus intensely on your

upcoming exams, it's important to

keep in mind that you will still be

alive once they are over. This means

that you should try not to neglect

other important aspects of your life,such as your friends, family and your

health. Stay in touch with friends,

exercise regularly, and most of all,

keep enjoying life.

Ollie

Ollie studies Science / Law atMelbourne University
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10/23

Imagine this. You are at the London2012 Olympics representing Australia

and are about to compete in themarathon. The race starts at 9am

tomorrow morning. It is now 5pm thenight before.

To perform your best tomorrow, you

must prepare yourself thoroughlytonight. Do you:(a) As last minute preparation, run

two marathons and go to bed sweatyand exhausted at 2am? Or:

(b) Relax. Pour yourself a tallglass of water. Eat dinner, watch TV

and go to bed at a reasonable hour to

get a great nights sleep.

Sleep

The best answer obviously is (b).But it is surprising that students evenexperienced ones will often exhaustthemselves with practice exams andcramming the night before an exam.The night before the exam is too lateto learn new information. Cramming

the night before is therefore a waste oftime. You might as well spend the timerelaxing and resting. After all, you are

running a marathon tomorrow.So the key rule is at 5pm, STOPSTUDYING. It might feel counter

intuitive, but trust me. Cramming until3am is the easiest way to stuff up an

exam. And as if you need an excuse tochill-out?

Cheers,Sam

Sam

Sam studies Commerce / Law at theUniversity of Melbourne


11/23

Don't factor in the day before an exam as a cram day. It's so temptingto take things pretty easy the week preceding an exam telling yourselfyou can just work for twelve hours the day before. Inevitably, thefirst thing that hits us when we really crank up the study is how muchwe don't know, and this is not a feeling you want the day before anexam. I've always found it helpful to work pretty consistently on

every subject throughout swotvac, but have a few days where youexclusively focus on one or two subjects. For me, these days are farmore productive than the days where I try to have a look at a bit ofeverything, but don't make it the day before the exam that you dothis. Ideally, the day before the exam should be the most relaxed.Often it's a day I use to get a study group together and chat aboutany problems you still have. I find this relaxed, very helpful interms of preparation and above all it allows you to overcome any

concerns you have about the exam.

Give yourself time

Conor

Conor studies arts at the University ofMelbourne


12/23

"Make sure you break things up a bit

when you are attempting to study for

long periods of time. Even just a

quick walk around the block every

hour is a really easy way to wake

yourself up and get the blood flowing

again. Drink LOTS of water and keep

windows open to let fresh air into the

room and keep it well lit while you are

studying."

Anna

Anna studies Arts / Law at theUniversity of New South Wales
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13/23

Nearing the end of year your weekends

and holidays became less like theweekends and holidays you are used to.The amount of homework and extra studythat needs to be done in this time canseem significant, however, one strategywhich really helped me cope with doingwork during this time as well as ensuringI got the break I needed was every Fridayafternoon when I got home from School Iwould get a blank A4 piece of paper. Onthis piece of paper I would write downeach subject I was doing and underneathall the homework or extra study I wantedto do for that particular subject. I wouldthen put it up on my wall where I could

constantly look at it. By addressing allsubjects it made sure I didn't miss anyout, and as I also knew when I had workand sport on, I could find time aroundthese activities to get this work done.

To-do lists

Nick

Nick studies Paramedic Science at theUniversity of Melbourne

I would then cross of each item of work

when it was done (don't tick it, put across through the completed work...itfeels much better!)

Although at this time of year it seems somuch work has to be done, one thoughtthat kept me going was knowing that 3-4 months of holidays awaited me, and ifI put in the hard work now I would enjoythose holidays so much more.

GOOD LUCK!.


14/23

Week 1: 1 practice paper openbook, open timeOpen book, open time means the papershould be completed with all your notesand textbooks available without thepressure of time constraints. Aim tocomplete it over 3 days in 20 minute

sessions. Enjoy this process, have somemusic on in the background, take yourtime.

Week 2: 1 practice paper closedbook, open timeComplete the 2nd paper without yournotes and textbooks. However, continueto take your time with it. Aim to completeit over a few weekdays, or over aweekend.

How to do Practice Papers

Dan

Dan is studying a Juris Doctor atMonash University

Week 3: 2 practice papers examconditions

The third and final week before yourexam is the most important. By this

stage, all your notes should be finished.Try to do this with friends if you find itdifficult on your own. Perhaps going to

the library with some friends onSaturday afternoon, complete the paper

under exam conditions then have theevening off. Meet again the following dayand discuss the answers. A great way to

brainstorm and share ideas!


15/23

The only way I can muster up the energy to study isto work with friends so study groups are a key partof my exam prep. To get be motivated, i like to makethese study sessions really epic: massive to do list,phones off, whiteboard, diagrams the lot. If I lockout a whole afternoon, take over a whole room and

tell myself that we are going to get a stack of workdone, then I kind of pump myself up for it.Before you meet map out everything you plan to doMake sure you have something (notes, practisequestions) to do in preparation it will force you toget it doneBring something delicious to share tea and

biscuits will make everything easier. `Use a whiteboard or big bits of paper to draw thingsoutBring along a list of things youre unsure about andsee if you can work it out as a group. If none of youget it, write it down and take it to your teacher toexplainSet a clear end time - so you know how long you

need to concentrate for.As much as possible, make it fun and creative. Planout incentives for you along the way When Istudied Indian history, my friend and I would getIndian food after a big day of study.

Sarah

Sarah studies Arts / Law atMonash University


16/23

One of the most important elements of anexam period is being able to completeeach consecutive exam to the same highstandard. The greatest challenge in doingthis is keeping your focus from one examto the next. With everyone having atleast 5 exams, during what is sometimesa very short exam period, a reallyimportant skill is being able to forgetabout an exam the moment you put yourpen down. Once you put your pen downand walk out of your exam room doorthere is absolutely nothing constructiveyou can do about that exam. The best

thing to do is leave the exam room andchange your focus to the next examimmediately.

Forget about it!

Christian

Christian studies Arts / Law atMelbourne University

Whatever you do, do not spend the nexthours (or days) analysing, worrying,dreaming and comparing your answerswith others and finding all the mistakesyou will undoubtedly think you havemade, this serves no purpose apart fromdestroying your confidence and hurtingyour chances in that nextimportant exam. Once an exam isfinished, forget about it. Move on. Whenthe final exam is finished, forgeteverything and celebrate.

Good luck.


17/23

For me, practice papers are by far themost powerful study tool I came across inyear 12. Here's a quick story for you thatmay make me sound a little full ofmyself, but it is true. Basically, I justfinished a science degree at uni, so youwould think I would be ok at science atschool. During my trial HSC exams, Ifailed chemistry. I got 42/100. I wasdevastated and sort the help of a teacherat school who said she'd tutor me. Ithought she'd just teach me the wholesubject again, but instead she handed mea pile of 15 HSC past papers and told meto do them all. She said, "don't write

another note, don't learn another note,just go away and do as many of these aspossible". She said to do them openbook, meaning if you don't know theanswer use your notes to find it, but justdo as many of these papers as possible.

The power of practice

Paddy

Paddy has finished a Bachelor ofApplied Science and is currently doingpractice papers to try and get into

Medicine

So that is all I did. We would meet oncea week to mark them, but otherwisepractice papers is all I did for chemistryfor the last 6 weeks of year 12. And inmy final exam I ended up getting over90. The more practice papers you do,the more comfortable you will becomeanswering exam questions. You will alsobegin to see the same or similarquestions come up over and over again.I cannot emphasise enough what thisstudy technique did for me, so feel freeto use it. Good Luck!!


18/23

One of the things that I did

during my HSC was record mynotes on my phone and thenplay it back to myself before Igo to sleep and just when Iwake up. That way, its the firstand last thing Im thinking

about during my day. Also, ithelped me learn my notes adifferent way theres only somany times you can look atyour notes without going a littlebit crazy, so mixing it up a bit

can make a big difference.

Tyler

Tyler studies Arts / Law at SydneyUni
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19/23

Mind mapping is a term most studentsgroan about when they hear. It issomething that I rarely, if ever, used untilmy final year of school. Howeverthroughout Year 12, and now in my thirdyear of university it is something I useevery single essay I write. Normally assoon as the invigilator says you maystartwritingpeople go bananas trying towrite as much and as quickly as possible.Instead, I would turn the page over, drawup an essay structure and write down the

start of the quotes I was going to use.

Mind-Maps

Adam

Adam studies International/GlobalStudies at Sydney University.

I learned that it was better to write a 55-minute essay with a good structure than60 minutes of whatever came into myhead. I was also more likely toremember quotes in the first fewminutes of the exam than the last tenwhen I was frantically trying to finish anessay.Adam.


20/23

James

James studies Arts / Law at MonashUniversity

At the end of your final exam, the invigilators will say you must now stop writing.You can drop your pen.

Thats it.Its over.

And so begins the rest of your life.If youve worked hard, itll be a good feeling.

If youve worked really hard, itll be a really good feeling.If youve absolutely busted your gut;

ignored the voice in your head that kept sayingjust do that work later; not been on

Facebook or watched TVfor weeks; given it everything youve got.

Well then itll be one of the greatest feelingsyouve ever had.


21/23

There are 2 reasons that we stress aboutexams. Firstly, we worry that somethingmight come up in the exam that we dontknow, and secondly, we worry that wemight not be able to answer a question.In reality though, there is no need tostress about either. Firstly, there is only afinite body of information that can comeup in the exam. If you have worked yourway through the syllabus / study design,made notes on all the points andmemorised all of these points then thereis nothing that can come up in the examthat you dontknow. So that is stressorone taken out of the equation. Secondly,

if you do enough practice papers, youbecome used to answering hardquestions. When you are doing practicepapers you might stress the first time you

Dont stress

Doug

Doug studies a Business at MonashUniversity

see a hard question, but then after your2nd or 3rd practice paper, you stopstressing when you see something out ofleft-field, because you begin to realisethat no matter how difficult the question,you know you will be able to find yourway to the answer.

There is no need to stress about exams,because there is no mystery to what youneed to do. If you have made notes oneverything in the course, memorisedthese notes and practiced writinganswers you are ready.

Trust in your preparation and relax.


22/23

We Want You

Elevate is recruiting NOW for 2013!

Join Elevate Educations team of award winning speakers delivering study seminars to high schools.

Flexible to fit around your university schedule

Get the reward of mentoring Year 12 students

Extensive public speaking training and development

Ultimate CV builder

Young, dynamic team environment.

For more information or to apply go to: www.elevateeducation.com/jobs
http://www.elevateeducation.com/jobshttp://www.elevateeducation.com/jobs


23/23

Best of luck for your final exams!!!

Best of luck to everyone from:

James

Dan

Nick G

Sarah

Kinnersley

Claire

Georgie

Ryan

Luisa

Nick W

Bracha

Mietta

Tim

Sam

Ayrton

Lily

Matt

Gem

Adam

Jamie

Rob

Dav

Adam

James

Anna

Carmen

Shaun

Angela

Sam

Richie

Doug

Bec

David

almost there! - exam tips 2012

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