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The Tripos Exam Stress Thread - Current Cambridge Students Only

I think everyone finds Fluids hard though.

The thing I don't understand is that it appears that there are a lot of differences between the modules and in terms of what people find difficult.

I had biomaterials today, although I had to cram a lot of material, I am certain it was not as hard as 3A1. I got 2 exams tomorrow yippeee... better get off TSR!

Are you doing 3A3 tomorrow? I heard thats tricky as well.

It is. I have no idea how that's going to go. This exam completely knocked me for 6, I've had real problems getting on with work. I think that after tea I'm going to go to ceilidh band for an hour and get an early night. Not a lot else I can do :frown:

Reply 81

username218989

1

Why is my Biochem written practical exam twice as long as the theory but worth half the marks?
Its also pretty much impossible, and I don't want to end up spending disproportionate amounts of time on it.. :s-smilie:

Reply 82

ukebert

13

Argh, revision going badly and I've got two exams on Tuesday and one Wednesday morning :frown:

Reply 83

ebam_uk

20

Original post by ukebert

Argh, revision going badly and I've got two exams on Tuesday and one Wednesday morning :frown:

Its weird, I almost miss last year when we just had 8 exams (mon - fri) so no weekends between exams, nevertheless, I must plough on... exams, mon,wed,thurs & friday - this week¬!

I just feel like there is so much to understand and they can put anything in... so its gonna be down to a bit of luck in the end.

Reply 84

ukebert

13

Original post by ebam_uk

I just feel like there is so much to understand and they can put anything in... so its gonna be down to a bit of luck in the end.

That's my feeling for much of them. Which is very frustrating when your degree hangs on it.

Reply 85

Chess Piece Face

Aargh, for the last three out of four nights I have gone to bed at approximately 1am and not fallen asleep until about 6am. I keep tossing and turning, moving the bed, readjusting the pillow and even changing my shirt and none of this seems to help. The problem is, I can only get stuff done when I wake up early. If I wake up at 2pm, no matter how much sleep I've had, my brain feels all cloudy and I can't concentrate or revise successfully. I've got so, so much to revise and learn between now and the beginning of June, as well as a 5-6,000-word essay due in two weeks' time that I need to do and I'm starting to get really concerned about the impact of my sleep problems. :frown:

I didn't have these problems last year!

Reply 86

alex_hk90

19

Original post by Chess Piece Face

Aargh, for the last three out of four nights I have gone to bed at approximately 1am and not fallen asleep until about 6am. I keep tossing and turning, moving the bed, readjusting the pillow and even changing my shirt and none of this seems to help. The problem is, I can only get stuff done when I wake up early. If I wake up at 2pm, no matter how much sleep I've had, my brain feels all cloudy and I can't concentrate or revise successfully. I've got so, so much to revise and learn between now and the beginning of June, as well as a 5-6,000-word essay due in two weeks' time that I need to do and I'm starting to get really concerned about the impact of my sleep problems. :frown:

I didn't have these problems last year!

Have you tried drugs or alcohol?

Reply 87

n_251

12

Original post by Chess Piece Face

Aargh, for the last three out of four nights I have gone to bed at approximately 1am and not fallen asleep until about 6am. I keep tossing and turning, moving the bed, readjusting the pillow and even changing my shirt and none of this seems to help. The problem is, I can only get stuff done when I wake up early. If I wake up at 2pm, no matter how much sleep I've had, my brain feels all cloudy and I can't concentrate or revise successfully. I've got so, so much to revise and learn between now and the beginning of June, as well as a 5-6,000-word essay due in two weeks' time that I need to do and I'm starting to get really concerned about the impact of my sleep problems. :frown:

I didn't have these problems last year!

Ouch, hate that feeling. I'm not an expert but try some sort of regular physical activity in the evenings ( :wink:

). Even something like a 20-30 minute run is probably enough to trick your body in to a sufficient state of fatigue that'll make you sleep like a baby :smile:

Reply 88

Zhen Lin

12

Argh. I spent almost an hour doing a single General Relativity question, only to get an answer that didn't make sense. A minute with Mathematica confirmed my mistake. Bah. I hate calculating on paper. I should devise a better system for computing Riemann tensors by hand...

Original post by Chess Piece Face

Aargh, for the last three out of four nights I have gone to bed at approximately 1am and not fallen asleep until about 6am. I keep tossing and turning, moving the bed, readjusting the pillow and even changing my shirt and none of this seems to help. The problem is, I can only get stuff done when I wake up early. If I wake up at 2pm, no matter how much sleep I've had, my brain feels all cloudy and I can't concentrate or revise successfully. I've got so, so much to revise and learn between now and the beginning of June, as well as a 5-6,000-word essay due in two weeks' time that I need to do and I'm starting to get really concerned about the impact of my sleep problems. :frown:

I didn't have these problems last year!

It's not quite the same thing, but the way I avoid jetlag is to stay up for a very long stretch of time, so that I'm exhausted by the time I'm supposed to sleep. So maybe if you haven't fallen asleep by 6am, you should give up and not try again until the next night.

Reply 89

Chess Piece Face

Original post by alex_hk90

Have you tried drugs or alcohol?

I'm not sure whether this is the best time to be starting anything new. I have tried sleeping pill once before, several years ago (I can't remember which ones), and they didn't help - they just made my heart sleep faster. As for alcohol... hmmm... any recommendations? :tongue:

Original post by n_251

Ouch, hate that feeling. I'm not an expert but try some sort of regular physical activity in the evenings ( :wink:

). Even something like a 20-30 minute run is probably enough to trick your body in to a sufficient state of fatigue that'll make you sleep like a baby :smile:

I have actually asked for access to the college gym... The only problem is that it tends to be colonised by the kind of people in whose presence I am not entirely comfortable.

Original post by Zhen Lin

It's not quite the same thing, but the way I avoid jetlag is to stay up for a very long stretch of time, so that I'm exhausted by the time I'm supposed to sleep. So maybe if you haven't fallen asleep by 6am, you should give up and not try again until the next night.

I did actually get out of bed at 5.30am last night with the intention of doing this but I felt so tired that I just fell back in bed. :frown:

Reply 90

alex_hk90

19

Original post by Chess Piece Face

I'm not sure whether this is the best time to be starting anything new. I have tried sleeping pill once before, several years ago (I can't remember which ones), and they didn't help - they just made my heart sleep faster. As for alcohol... hmmm... any recommendations? :tongue:

I've never personally had alcohol to sleep, though I've heard it can work and it's always easy to sleep after having a few. :dontknow:

Generally my recommendation would be something strong that you like the taste of. :yep:

Reply 91

Melz0r

16

Original post by Chess Piece Face

I have actually asked for access to the college gym... The only problem is that it tends to be colonised by the kind of people in whose presence I am not entirely comfortable.

Sympathy on the gym front. My way of getting round this is to do exercise by going swimming (I go to Parkside Pools next to the Kelsey Kerridge). They have a lane system for fast, medium and slow swimmers, and I can happily bob along in the slow lane with the old people without needing to fear the super-fit.

Reply 92

ukebert

13

Or, if you can spare the time, do a brisk walk. Walking up to the white bridge and back would probably do and it's a nice walk. It does sound like exercise might be your problem, I've had the same problem whilst closeting myself in the Library over the last god knows how many weeks.

Speaking of which: two exams tomorrow, one the day after, it's all going to go HORRIBLY BADLY.

Reply 93

alex_hk90

19

Original post by ukebert

Speaking of which: two exams tomorrow, one the day after, it's all going to go HORRIBLY BADLY.

Good luck.

Reply 94

Mrs Cullen

10

Original post by Chess Piece Face

Aargh, for the last three out of four nights I have gone to bed at approximately 1am and not fallen asleep until about 6am. I keep tossing and turning, moving the bed, readjusting the pillow and even changing my shirt and none of this seems to help. The problem is, I can only get stuff done when I wake up early. If I wake up at 2pm, no matter how much sleep I've had, my brain feels all cloudy and I can't concentrate or revise successfully. I've got so, so much to revise and learn between now and the beginning of June, as well as a 5-6,000-word essay due in two weeks' time that I need to do and I'm starting to get really concerned about the impact of my sleep problems. :frown:

I didn't have these problems last year!

I've been having massive problems sleeping for the last few months too. Personally, I wouldn't recommend alcohol, because although it will make you fall asleep more quickly, often you feel crap in the morning (not just from the hangover) but because alcohol stops you from sleeping soundly. So you'll probably still be restless during the night and just as tired in the morning.

I'd recommend going to bed earlier, and then at least if you're lying there for ages, you should hopefully fall asleep at a reasonable time. Some people say that if you can't fall asleep you should get up and do something else for a bit, and come back to bed when you're tired, but you're probably exhausted anyway, so I'm not sure how much use that would be. I've found that avoiding screens for a little while before bed helps, and also trying to switch off 'work brain' before you try to sleep. If I've got things to think about, I write them down to deal with in the morning.

I've also invested in some ear plugs and an eye mask to stop me waking up in the night, because I'm a very light sleeper and often can't get back to sleep when I've woken up. I've found them very useful. Some people recommend having a warm drink before bed, or a bath. Reading a book (but not one that will get me thinking about it too hard) :wink:

sometimes helps me.

I know how rubbish it is to not be able to sleep and hope that things work out for you soon! My top tip would be to try to break the sleeping til 2pm pattern by going to bed and getting up at a regular time (as early as works for you) regardless of how much you have slept that night. Eventually your body should get back to its normal sleep pattern. I hope things gets better soon!

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 95

username398619

Original post by 03jenniferp

Blegh I know first year History exams don't count and stuff but it is still horrible that they're on TUESDAY and I have NO idea what I'm doing.

You'd think coming to Cambridge would motivate me...instead I seem to have lost the ability to revise or work.

Great.
:frown:

Dont worry my friend, we're all in the same boat.

Reply 96

03jenniferp

10

Exams are all done....feel free to hate me. Political history went ABYSMALLY, social/eco was ok and my HAP paper on revised definitions of patriarchy and their use to historians was the only one I felt went ok...

(Yes I have no idea why historians need to do patriarchy either)

Reply 97

alex_hk90

19

Original post by 03jenniferp

Exams are all done....feel free to hate me. Political history went ABYSMALLY, social/eco was ok and my HAP paper on revised definitions of patriarchy and their use to historians was the only one I felt went ok...

(Yes I have no idea why historians need to do patriarchy either)

Nah, I don't hate you guys - they weren't real exams anyway and you have to do 2-year's worth next year. :yes:

Reply 98

n_251

12

Original post by Chess Piece Face

I have actually asked for access to the college gym... The only problem is that it tends to be colonised by the kind of people in whose presence I am not entirely comfortable.