Home Work & Study
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.

First exams

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
I've got my first exams this week and I'm really worried. I'm looking through past exam papers and my mind is just going blank. I know all this stuff deep down but just the way it's all worded is panicking me a bit - I've got an exam tomorrow. I need to pass all my exams this year or I'll get kicked out of uni. In seminars I always appear really bright and with my written work I've got good marks, I know I'm capable of the course and it suits my skills and I really enjoy it. But I am facing the realisation that I am shit scared of exams, because heck if I get a question and I haven't prepared properly for it that could be the end of Uni for me right there.

Need to get a grip on my anxiety. If anyone is out there reply to this post to keep me sane! I don't know what I'll do if I get kicked out of uni :( I messed up last year, mum's told me I can't do that again and the pressure is getting to me and really I don't want to think about it at all and want to do something else to take my mind off it - but I know if I do that I won't be ready for the exam and will fail.
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Can I ask why you will get kicked out? Surely it can't be such big of a crime to to fail? And who says you're going to fail anyways?

    My best advice would be to choose the questions you feel most comfortable with, rather than the ones which you think the markers will be most impressed by or any other consideration. And then write up the points you will cover in that order.
    You'll have a plan in fron of you, and it will make it easier to just tick off the boxes and go along with it havng "hints" on the side, rather than making it all up as you go.
    We're always always always told to use the first ten minutes to plan the exam essays rather than just scribble everything down that we know on the topic.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We need to pass every exam in the first year or we won't make the second year, we can do retakes but I *think* we're limited to one retake in the first year i.e. if we fail two modules (out of six) then we're not 'up to standard'.

    I'm just panicking from the pressure :( the exam I have tomorrow is one where all the questions are compulsory, and they'll be definitions and then we'll have to prepare some accounts. It's all fairly straightforward but I'm just panicking, especially since exam papers don't call an apple an apple, as such.

    *breathes*

    There's no real other way to it than just doing it exactly perfect, I had an exam monday where we could come up with essay answers that wasn't too bad because I'm good at holding down general knowledge (though don't like the pressure of essay answers!). Im just a bit panicked because what if the main question is something that I haven't prepared for properly and then I get stressed and can't do it, because one question carries 2/3 of the marks so if you can't do it it's an automatic fail. Not the best system, really.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ok, so you wont be kicked out of uni. At the worst you'll have to do retakes.
    And from what you've written you seem to be pretty into your course.
    You can prepare to a certain extent, after that it's about taking a deep breath, and just doing your best. Can't do more than that, so no need to stress yourself out. It's not worth it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just relax and don't try and cram stuff. If you know the stuff deep down then you're grand. Forget about the whole getting kicked out crap and just get down to doing your best and prove them wrong. :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Plenty of sleep should help too :) don't stay up till late revising.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm better prepared for some, the one tomorrow is one I'm *naturally* good at because I'm good at Maths, but not so well prepared for. There are several 'sections' and in each we need to memorise a bucketload of definitions and then also be able to do some long procedure related to accounts. But, for one thing, this is one 'sections' worth (out of about 6 or 7 bits we cover) of memorisations:
    notes wrote:
    Profitability
    Gross profit margin = gross profit /sales
    Net profit margin = net profit / sales
    Profit before interest and tax / sales
    Profit after tax and pref div / sales
    ROCE
    PAT and pref/ shareholders capital
    Operating profit / total assets less current liabilities

    Liquidity
    Current = ca/cl
    Quick = ca-stock/cl

    Efficiency
    Debtors days deb / sales *365
    Creditor days cred/ cos *365
    Stock days stock/ cos *365
    Asset turnover = sales/total assets * 100

    Investment / financial
    Gearing = debt+pref /debt+pref+shareholders capital
    Interest cover = pbit/ Interest
    Earnings per share = PAT ?pref div/ nos of ord shares
    Price earnings ratio = market price per share / earnings per share
    Dividend per share = dividend/number of shares
    Dividend cover = PAT ? pref/ ord dividend
    Dividend yield = dividend per share/ market price per share * 100

    I ranted ages ago about this particular lecturer because he was new to the job and wasn't getting any of this info across to us. I studied from a different book to the core text and found it invaluable (got the core text too) and picked everything up from there. It's still such a headache *in case* I forget something like above. So even though I come from a maths background, I'm much more comfortable commenting on corporate culture or policy and critically considering them, than having one question with one definite answer in case on the day I forget something. In one sense it's kind of redundant because any accountant worth their salt uses sage these days anyway rather than traditional double entry book keeping, so making us memorise every single thing seems like an exercise in futility. I have signed up for a free sage course too though :thumb:.

    Really with how in depth some of this is we should have had weekly seminars to work through problems like I did in Maths. *shrug*

    Anyway I'm not really criticising the system I'm just nervous. Though if I was the lecturer I would do it differently :p.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    squeal wrote: »
    Plenty of sleep should help too :) don't stay up till late revising.

    I might go bed now. The exam isn't until 4pm anyway. I need to take my sodding textbook for my other module back at some point tomorrow too :(
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    I might go bed now. The exam isn't until 4pm anyway. I need to take my sodding textbook for my other module back at some point tomorrow too :(

    Good Luck then :) I'm sure you will do fine anyway !! Just stay calm and you will sail through the exam. Let us know how it goes.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    I might go bed now. The exam isn't until 4pm anyway. I need to take my sodding textbook for my other module back at some point tomorrow too :(

    I stayed up till half 3 this morning for an exam at half 9. :shocking:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yerascrote wrote: »
    I stayed up till half 3 this morning for an exam at half 9. :shocking:

    I went bed at 12 on sunday night but didn't get sleep til 4 cos I was so worried about my 9am exam the next night :(. A levels were really easy cos I knew what to expect, we'd done about 50 mock papers (rather than the 1 we get at uni, but the format has changed - new lecturer - so it's next to useless anyway) and in Maths at least it was normally just a game to try to get 100%. Always one git of a question caught me out.

    I think it's fear of the unknown rather than fear of the subject. How does the uni handle failure? What will I do if... or if... I used to be really good at controlling my overactive imagination, just these recent exams have got under my skin. Anyway, night :) and thanks everyone for your support, I needed it!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    How does the uni handle failure?

    From experience, very helpful indeed. Good night and good luck with the exam. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think at York if you retake you can only retake to pass and score a max of 40. I know that's no comfort...sorry.
    Good luck though :) I had my horrible exam yesterday and another one tomorrow.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think at York if you retake you can only retake to pass and score a max of 40. I know that's no comfort...sorry.

    Yeah it's like that where I am. If you re-take you can only get 40%.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    This year doesn't count, I just have to get 35% or more in every module. I think I need to get more than 40% overall though.

    I think this thread is less about the exam and more about me panicking ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Woo! J'ai fini!

    I did ok. Got something down for a lot of it, though there was a question I couldn't answer (worth 15 marks out of 100) that I couldn't really do because I hadn't properly covered the stuff. Basically we have two exams and they've shifted this one bit from the second exam to the first one. My own fault though, we did get warned to revise it, even if we didn't have any lectures on it :p. I thought it would be a minor thing.

    Glad it's all done now though :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm glad the exam went okay.
    ShyBoy wrote: »
    In one sense it's kind of redundant because any accountant worth their salt uses sage these days anyway rather than traditional double entry book keeping, so making us memorise every single thing seems like an exercise in futility. I have signed up for a free sage course too though :thumb:.

    Even though most use sage you do need a good grasp of the basics of double entry. Even though I'm working for a bank at the moment and the concept of every debit has an equal credit still comes in useful. Sage courses are good though.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm glad the exam went okay.



    Even though most use sage you do need a good grasp of the basics of double entry. Even though I'm working for a bank at the moment and the concept of every debit has an equal credit still comes in useful. Sage courses are good though.

    Yea I know that :) I kept going off on tangents because I was trying to justify to myself the exam was fundamentally stupid and therefore I can protest at a poor performance :p. I think I said the thread wasn't about the course but about my exam stress. The course ranting was just me going on about bollocks as you do when you're stressed.

    I worked for a bank in the summer, good work and yea a lot of it does come in useful :) - sometimes :p. It is quite involved with my course, taking financial information and I couldn't remember in the exam whether you account for depreciation on the balance sheet in current assets or whether you put them down at their purchasing price and put accrued depreciation in liabilities, but nvm :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Omg...just sat in the library all night and it is now after 7.30am...I seriously think I might die...and my exam is at 9.30am...well...at least my coursework is now completed and I have half a clue about the exam questions...:D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I had my first exam yesterday. It went way better than I thought it would :D.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Woke up this morning before my last exam and felt really good. Imagine being stressed and then all the stress stopping and you're just 'there'. Like in the matrix when Neo stops time :p.

    And guess what? It was my day! First half of the paper was all complicated economics that I love :yum: and second half was about market segmentation which I wrote 3 pages on. Filled the whole exam booklet.

    Just feel dead chuffed with myself, I do :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Had 2 exams so far, first went ridiculously badly .. the second went pretty well. Joy.
Sign In or Register to comment.