London Socialite Sees The Light

LondonGirl252

miggy wrote: »

Sounds as though you need a {{big hug}} as well as the glass of wine...

My exam days may be behind me (though currently sitting trying not to think about DD's A Level results tomorrow) but for years I used to dream about not being ready for an exam! It goes deep!

Is it allowed / appropriate / might it help to make a quick list of all the issues, however sketchy, at the beginning of the paper? If you can see them in front of you it may help you to be objective and focus on which are most important rather than juggling them in your head. It also shows the examiner that you have an overview of the issues, hopefully including the ones he or she wants.

Something that helps some people is to have a complete day off just before the exam so you come to it more refreshed and your subconscious has had time to sift all that knowledge.

Have another {hug} and I hope you get a good night's sleep.

Thanks for the :grouphug: I needed it!

How did DD do???? Hope she got what she wanted

We have 20 mins reading time before you're allowed to type so I can write and make notes on the paper during this time, I'm practising that to make sure my notes are clear and the right thing. But 20mins isnt long when you could have up to 6 sides of A4 to absorb... sigh

B and I stayed late at the office last night and went the one of the mocks that neither of us did well on and he gave me some good ideas for the areas I need to improve on

I have today off work to study, I've so far done the housework and had a shower so now I'm going to use one of the mocks we bought to practise my technique, I'm not going to do this one to time just so I can get it in my head what I should be looking for in the issues, on Sunday (Im at a wedding tomorrow) I'm going to do another mock to time to see if it helped. B is going to do the same mock then we can mark each others.

Feeling better about it today, on the day it really does just depend on me getting the issues clear from the start then I think I'll be OK. I find it too easy to get bogged down in the detail then it sends me off track...

You're right about the time out before the exam, I think that will help, I dont have time for a full day but will finish revision early afternoon and have some me time next Tues so Weds am I feel fresh and ready to rock n roll!!!

Thanks xxxx

MuffinTops

Hi LG,

I'm exactly the same as you sound with exams and also get bogged down with unnecessary information.

Your techniques to fix it, and your dedication to getting these exams passed is a real inspiration though, so you have my complete admiration.

I do personally believe, and can hear it from others too, that you will do ok on the day. You are doing everything you can to get through this successfully and I honestly feel that you will. The mock marks you're getting sound positive and are guiding you in the right direction, and you've taken all of that advice and using it to your advantage.

So, here's a lucky exam smiley for you ....

and some understanding sympathy ...

Good luck with it all LG.

Angry_Bear

A little bit of practical exam advice that may or may not work for you ...

• Allot an amount of time to make your decision on the main issues - no matter the temptation you use that ENTIRE amount of time to weigh up your decision before starting the report. This helps avoid diving into the report because you're worried about timing without giving a suitable amount of consideration to the key decisions.
• Do the pro/con list for ALL issues up-front (before deciding your top ones). This can be much lighter-weight than the final version but might point out things you hadn't considered when just reading the issues.
• Try to come up with a checklist of criteria and priority that helps you rank issues and use it every time you have to decide. From your comment above about formulae it sounds like you find structured decisions easier. The "trick" is to turn issue selection into a formula you can memorise - if you can create a good ranking formula then you're sorted.

Feel free to ignore, but exams are so different from real life and finding a technique that suits you can work wonders

miggy

Hi LG, I'm finding all the advice you're being offered most interesting, despite not having any exams looming! Some great suggestions.

It can be very difficult to edit out all the relevant but less important stuff in favour of cutting to the target, but it's a skill and knowing you need to focus on it is half the battle.

Hope today's study is productive.

Thanks, DD got what she wanted and has been offered both her first and second choices of Uni! How exciting! I have gone into Mum-mode and am making lists of care packages even though she is well able to look after herself.

Enjoy the wedding too. Even though it's not exactly the day before the exam it will help you to have that time out while your subconscious goes on doing its stuff, and the afternoon off next week is going to mean you come to your exam much fresher and stronger.

You can do it! :T:T

LondonGirl252

MuffinTops wrote: »

Hi LG,

I'm exactly the same as you sound with exams and also get bogged down with unnecessary information.

Your techniques to fix it, and your dedication to getting these exams passed is a real inspiration though, so you have my complete admiration.

I do personally believe, and can hear it from others too, that you will do ok on the day. You are doing everything you can to get through this successfully and I honestly feel that you will. The mock marks you're getting sound positive and are guiding you in the right direction, and you've taken all of that advice and using it to your advantage.

So, here's a lucky exam smiley for you ....

and some understanding sympathy ...

Good luck with it all LG.

Hey Muffin,

I love the smilies thank you!

Thanks, I hope I do well, I've really taken studying seriously this last 18 months and I really just want it to end now so I can focus on work, freinds, money saving... love life... maybe??? LOL!

Going to take time to post on here more as these comments really do boost my motivation and more importantly confidence too.

Thanks xx

LondonGirl252

Angry_Bear wrote: »

A little bit of practical exam advice that may or may not work for you ...

• Allot an amount of time to make your decision on the main issues - no matter the temptation you use that ENTIRE amount of time to weigh up your decision before starting the report. This helps avoid diving into the report because you're worried about timing without giving a suitable amount of consideration to the key decisions.
• Do the pro/con list for ALL issues up-front (before deciding your top ones). This can be much lighter-weight than the final version but might point out things you hadn't considered when just reading the issues.
• Try to come up with a checklist of criteria and priority that helps you rank issues and use it every time you have to decide. From your comment above about formulae it sounds like you find structured decisions easier. The "trick" is to turn issue selection into a formula you can memorise - if you can create a good ranking formula then you're sorted.

Feel free to ignore, but exams are so different from real life and finding a technique that suits you can work wonders

Hey Angry Bear,

This is so useful, thank you. I read in the examiners article that the most common reason for failure are time managment and changing your mind halfway through so the report in disconnected so I will definitley do this, I had a vague plan in my head but I think I need it to be much more structured

Having a balances report is worth a lot so the pros and cons is a must

Thank you

LondonGirl252

miggy wrote: »

Hi LG, I'm finding all the advice you're being offered most interesting, despite not having any exams looming! Some great suggestions.

It can be very difficult to edit out all the relevant but less important stuff in favour of cutting to the target, but it's a skill and knowing you need to focus on it is half the battle.

Hope today's study is productive.

Thanks, DD got what she wanted and has been offered both her first and second choices of Uni! How exciting! I have gone into Mum-mode and am making lists of care packages even though she is well able to look after herself.

Enjoy the wedding too. Even though it's not exactly the day before the exam it will help you to have that time out while your subconscious goes on doing its stuff, and the afternoon off next week is going to mean you come to your exam much fresher and stronger.

You can do it! :T:T

Hey, yeah there is some brilliant advice coming my way and I'm definitley using it

MASSIVE WELL DONE to your DD you must be one super proud Mum! Thats a fantastic acheivement an to have the option of her top 2 uni's is fabulous!

Thanks, as today was so productive Im really looking forward to having tomorrow off! :beer:

LondonGirl252

A quick general update before I turn off the PC

Today has been mega productive, got up at 8am, cleaned my room, gave the flat a spruce which meant my working environment was much more relaxing.

Started working about 10am, door open onto the balconcy, nice breeze and fresh air.

My friend M joined abou midday, she's doing her dissertation and we seem to spur each other on to work hard and today was no exception, I tell her off for being on her phone and she tells me off for being negative on myself! LOL

Stopped for lunch around 2 for an hour, made yummy fajitas

Worked till 6pm, during the day Ive washed and dried my bedsheets and emptied my laundry basket which is an acheivement trust me!

went for a mini walk at 6, carried on working until she left just now. Today I have:

Made a timings plan for the mock I do on Sunday
Done a mock exam not focusing on time this time but focusing on the pro's con's of each issue and its impact on the business and getting in enough real life example and calculations.

So on Sunday I wil try to repeat today but with my timings the same as in the exam room.

I have just checked my email and Ive been emailed back my marked mock I did on Wednesday - the one I definitley failed - I passed with 65%

No idea how! When we went through the solution in class I had their top issue as my bottom and Im sure the tutor said that was an immediate fail but the comments I was given were brilliant and he said the only thing that let me down was the prioritisation. So it seems I was wrong and it is possible to pass if you have the issues wrong as long as your logic and justification is good!

On Sunday I will read my script again and compare it to one where I failed to see if I can pin point the differences.

So I'm going to bed on a good note, thanks for the lovely comments I can't tell you what a difference they've made

Night all x

mark55man

is there a pattern in your prioritisation

* are you failing to focus on making enough money )or are you too focussed on the money)
* likewise on accounting disciplines
* likewise on board governance / legal responsibilities compliance

LondonGirl252

mark88man wrote: »

is there a pattern in your prioritisation

* are you failing to focus on making enough money )or are you too focussed on the money)
* likewise on accounting disciplines
* likewise on board governance / legal responsibilities compliance

Each tutor thats given me comments has said I miss the key points that would point me in the right direction, like the urgency of it or weather it is really important at all. Also I've noticed that I need to start looking at the issues as a whole and think about the impact one has on another.
I do struggle on the money side sometimes because my calcs are either really good or really bad!

Will practise another to time tomorrow and see how that goes...