Midterms

[PhuturePriest]

Greetings, beloved peasants.

Tomorrow I have my first midterm. Firstly, please pray I do well (I'm hoping for at least a B) lest the poor people of my diocese gave away their $50,000 for nothing.

Secondly, any tips? I feel pretty well prepared for it, but from what I gather in the pop quiz I had last week in which I missed several obvious answers I knew resulting in a poor grade, sometimes in the moment of panic over time pressure I forget the right answer and rush through.

Your cooperation in either or both matters is appreciated.

[cappie]

Maybe this prayer may help 

A Student's Prayer To St. Anthony
St. Anthony, you distinguished yourself for truly human and Christian wisdom, I entrust my studies to your guidance. You know how important they are for my life and what commitment they require of me: may your intersession grant me a firm will to apply myself with constancy, the intelligence to penetrate the depths of my studies, and a strong memory to recall and use all that I have been taught. May my education be an arena of life where I may learn together with human knowledge the teachings of the Gospel. Through your help, may I continue and conclude successfully my studies, and thus be of better service to God and humankind. Amen. 

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be...

[Nihil Obstat]

I find a drink before the test often helps.

[CatherineM]

My first midterm was in statistics. We went to happy hour to study. I was ripped. Spelled my name wrong, but got 100% on the test. 

[little2add]

i find a good nights sleep on the night before helps

[McM RSCJ]

Tips:

It is probably too late for this test, but for the future:

1.  Form or join a Study Group in which you make up challenging exam questions ahead of time and then push one another to come up with the best possible answers.  Divvy up the review.

2. Read over the entire test before beginning any answers.  Believe it or not, your subconscious mind will be working on coming up with responses to the harder questions, or the ones that on first read freak you out, while you answer the easier ones.  In an image, it is as though your mind is running a "search" on background, while you focus on questions in your foreground.

3.  With all due respect, aim higher than a "B," not because you are unduly grade conscious, but because in so many of our college and universities today, Grade Inflation means a "B" is often the lowest grade given, since the grading scale has become so compressed.  (Ignore this if your university is a rare instance in the U.S. of "B" still being an indicator of "very good" work.)

4.  Watch the clock and manage the time you spend on each section or question. And don't be worried about using the entire time, even if other students are finishing early.  If they are, don't let that psyche you out.

5. Bring an extra pen or two, some Kleenex, a cough drop, water if that is permitted. It can throw you off, if you suddenly get a cough or runny nose or your pen doesn't work. . . . 

6.  If you do not understand the directions for a section, question, or problem during the test, be sure to ask the Prof (who may or may not choose to answer).  Better to stand and approach the Prof at the desk or podium to ask your question quietly, than to raise your hand from your place.  If it so happens that your question helps the Prof recognize an error or possible confusion, the Prof is likely to be:  a) grateful to to you and b) quick to inform the entire class and clarify.

7.  Make certain that any books, notes, devices, etc.,  you bring with you to the class are fully closed up and out of sight (e.g. zipped in a back pack) before you begin the exam.

Good luck, courage, and confidence.

 

[PhuturePriest]

8 minutes ago, McM RSCJ said:

Tips:

It is probably too late for this test, but for the future:

1.  Form or join a Study Group in which you make up challenging exam questions ahead of time and then push one another to come up with the best possible answers.  Divvy up the review.

2. Read over the entire test before beginning any answers.  Believe it or not, your subconscious mind will be working on coming up with responses to the harder questions, or the ones that on first read freak you out, while you answer the easier ones.  In an image, it is as though your mind is running a "search" on background, while you focus on questions in your foreground.

3.  With all due respect, aim higher than a "B," not because you are unduly grade conscious, but because in so many of our college and universities today, Grade Inflation means a "B" is often the lowest grade given, since the grading scale has become so compressed.  (Ignore this if your university is a rare instance in the U.S. of "B" still being an indicator of "very good" work.)

4.  Watch the clock and manage the time you spend on each section or question. And don't be worried about using the entire time, even if other students are finishing early.  If they are, don't let that psyche you out.

5. Bring an extra pen or two, some Kleenex, a cough drop, water if that is permitted. It can throw you off, if you suddenly get a cough or runny nose or your pen doesn't work. . . . 

6.  If you do not understand the directions for a section, question, or problem during the test, be sure to ask the Prof (who may or may not choose to answer).  Better to stand and approach the Prof at the desk or podium to ask your question quietly, than to raise your hand from your place.  If it so happens that your question helps the Prof recognize an error or possible confusion, the Prof is likely to be:  a) grateful to to you and b) quick to inform the entire class and clarify.

7.  Make certain that any books, notes, devices, etc.,  you bring with you to the class are fully closed up and out of sight (e.g. zipped in a back pack) before you begin the exam.

Good luck, courage, and confidence.

 

Thanks for the help! Reading all the questions first and bringing water will be particularly helpful, I think.

I am blessed (and challenged) by the fact that my university (University of Dallas/Holy Trinity Seminary) has very high standards, and it's not one you can typically skate through without studying the reading well. There are of course a few odd classes with easy professors, but those are a reprieve from all the others.

[Guest]

Our Lady, Untier of Knots, FP needs your prayers for his midterms, please.

[Quasar]

Dress lightly and wear sandals.  It's best to be a little cool.  

Drink an orange juice right before the exam.  The sugar will help your brain.  

Don't let nerves phase you.  Some anxiety is good for performance.  When you feel anxious, remind yourself it's your body's way of helping you focus on the task at hand.

[PhuturePriest]

46 minutes ago, Quasar said:

Dress lightly and wear sandals.  It's best to be a little cool.  

Drink an orange juice right before the exam.  The sugar will help your brain.  

Don't let nerves phase you.  Some anxiety is good for performance.  When you feel anxious, remind yourself it's your body's way of helping you focus on the task at hand.

Bwahahahahaha.

The first makes me laugh because I can't imagine what trouble I would be in for going to class in sandals. My seminary has a strict dress code, especially concerning being on the university campus. I'm not even allowed to go to it on a weekend for five minutes without wearing at least a polo and slacks.

But thanks for the reminder on the usefulness of anxiety. Too often I forget it's meant to be a help and not a hindrance.

Edited September 28, 2016 by PhuturePriest

[Quasar]

35 minutes ago, PhuturePriest said:

Bwahahahahaha.

The first makes me laugh because I can't imagine what trouble I would be in for going to class in sandals. My seminary has a strict dress code

Ask them who they are to ban the favorite footwear of Jesus Christ. :-) You'll get extra credit for that argument.

Edited September 28, 2016 by Quasar

[PhuturePriest]

24 minutes ago, Quasar said:

Ask them who they are to ban the favorite footwear of Jesus Christ. :-) You'll get extra credit for that argument.

They are some of the most sarcastic priests I've ever met, so I'd love to hear their answer.

24 minutes ago, Quasar said:

Ask them who they are to ban the favorite footwear of Jesus Christ. :-) You'll get extra credit for that argument.

They are some of the most sarcastic priests I've ever met, so I'd love to hear their answer.

[Luigi]

Testing under moderate time pressure actually yields the best results. Too much time? Pholks lose focus. Not enough time? Pholks phreak out. Some time pressure, pholks apply themselves best. 

As you pre-read the test, note the point values of each question. Devote more time to high-point questions. 

You don't have to answer the test questions in top-down order. Personally, I prefer to answer the questions I'm sure of first - build a base of more or less guaranteed points, then go on to those I'm less sure of or need to spend more time on. And as McM RSCJ says, your mind will be mulling those questions over simultaneously. 

If it's a standardized test like the ACT or SAT, the question is multiple choice, and you simply don't know the answer, better to leave it blank - they deduct 1.33 points for incorrect answers but deduct only 1 point for unanswered questions. Doing so compensates for guessing.

If it's a non-standardized test (no guessing penalty), eliminate the obviously incorrect answers until you have two choices remaining, then choose the longer answer. The test writer will tend to be more specific in telling the truth than in making up a plausible lie. 

Be suspect of answers that include absolutes such as "all, every, none, no one, always, never" and the like - they're almost never correct.

On True-False questions (with no penalty for guessing), choose True. The test writer will tend to write the correct answer rather than make up a plausible lie. 

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None of these techniques always works. It's easy enough to change a date by just one year on a true-false question (Lincoln was assassinated in 1864 - true or false?). Many of these techniques don't apply to vocabulary tests, or grammar, or math - they're better suited to history, political science, psychology, etc. And, of course, none of these apply to essay questions. So it depends on which subjects you're being tested in, and what kinds of questions show up on the test. 

Bestof luck!  

 

[Archaeology cat]

I wrote my notes on a deck of cards and played Rummy to study one semester

[<3 PopeFrancis]

17 hours ago, PhuturePriest said:

Tomorrow I have my first midterm. Firstly, please pray I do well

God bless you and your achievements.  Our Lady of Knots is as immediate as St. Anthony's prayers.  Our Lady loves her little priests so.  

[EmilyAnn]

I'm sure you're done with this test but for the future:

If you don't know an answer, move on. You're better off getting the things you're confident of out the way and then going back to the shakier bits.

Bring extra pens. So many extra pens. I once had three pens run out in an exam and finished it in pencil. True story.

Whatever you do, do not stand outside the exam hall reading notes. If you don't know it by then, you're not going to learn it in the next five minutes and all you're going to do is stress yourself out. Use that time to breathe, listen to music, etc.

[LittleWaySoul]

Apparently studying in the way you take the test is helpful. For example, don't listen to music while studying since you can't listen to it during the test. Eat a mint while studying and eat one before the test. That sort of thing. Not sure how helpful this actually is, but it's worth a shot.  

[PhuturePriest]

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

The questions on the test were largely way different than the ones I had been told to prepare for, so I didn't feel as confident as I would've liked and I know for a fact I got two of them wrong, but I'm hoping I at least scraped a pass. If not there's a 15 point learning curve, so certainly with that I'll have passed.

Any advice for feeling overwhelmed with reading and essay assignments? I got an unexpected overload of reading today due tomorrow and had a minor panic attack. I wasn't able to get it all done, but decided at eight to stop for my own well-being.

Also, how do you prepare for midterms? I felt very lost as to how to go about it.

[truthfinder]

Sorry to hear that your exam didn't go as well as you hoped.

We had a thread a little while ago about choosing how to do readings, effective techniques here:http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/142913-in-need-of-some-study-advice/

Luigi's advice in particular.

As to midterms and final exams - this kind of depends on the prof - some are literally the 'you must know everything' type and therefore STUDY EVERYTHING - but in a way which synthesizes the information.  (Also, quite possibly the most important class of the year is the first and last where they discuss course goals and sometimes offer a summary of the course - often you can guess what will be on the exam just from the 3-4 themes given). So, ask yourself how do individual ideas, persons, debates (whatever) fit together, why are they important? A technique for doing this, is imagine you're the prof and you're setting the exam - what sorts of questions would you ask, and what sorts of answer would you expect? 

 

[Fr. Antony Maria OSB]

Greetings there, PP!

I'm sorry I didn't see this before your midterm: UD is my alma mater, and while I was not in the seminary at the time, I majored in philosophy and almost had a major in theology, so I basically took the seminarian curriculum....just not as a seminarian

Overwhelmed with reading and essay assignments: UD, lol. In all seriousness, try to look ahead at your syllabus and schedule out your assignments ahead of time so you can split them up into more manageable chunks. This is especially important for you as a seminarian, since you don't have as much time as the non-seminarian students due to your formation at Holy Trinity (something I didn't realize until I started seminary as a monk).

As for preparing for midterms, first and foremost make sure you take good notes in class. I've always studied oddly, but the way that worked best for me was to read over all of my notes that pertained to the test, and, if possible, re-read the works covered (not always possible, but at least review them to refresh your memory). If the professor gives you the essay questions ahead of time (many philosophy professors will do this), write the essays out before the test and review those over and over.

But also, make sure you're getting enough sleep, eating well, etc. One thing seminary makes you learn fast (if you don't want to crash and burn) is the necessity of having a balanced life. If you need to sleep, sleep. Try not to get too far behind, but often you'll find that you'll be able to be more productive after a good night's sleep than if you were stressing out over an assignment the night before when exhausted.

Along with that, keep try to keep up your prayer life. As crazy as this may sound, when I was at UD I discovered that when I kept my daily Holy Hour, I seemed to have more time to get my homework done (and work 10 hours a week and hang out with my friends). Prayer is essential, and it's often the first thing to go when we're stressed.

Good luck, and you'll be in my prayers!

Pax