How to revise for uni exams?

Puddles the Monkey

It feels harder at uni compared to A-level because there's less standardisation across the board.... :hmmmm2:

What's your #1 revision tip for uni students?

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Reply 1

Clearing and Applications Advisor

Look at past papers
Read the module spec
Attend any revision lectures (lecturers SET THE QUESTIONS - they know what's in the exam and aren't going to focus on other content in the revision lectures)

Reply 2

ChaoticButterfly

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

It feels harder at uni compared to A-level because there's less standardisation across the board.... :hmmmm2:

What's your #1 revision tip for uni students?

It does? That's not my experience. A-Levels up from GCSE was a nightmare. You go from looking at picture of wind turbines to this.

Spoiler

What even is GCSE physics? I learned literally nothing useful from it :-/. it isn't where I got my interest in science from (if that had been my sole exposure to physics I would have never done it) and it didn't teach me anything (I did get an easy A* out of it though :tongue:

)

A-Levels to uni was continuing at the same level except I got to fob off the other subjects and just focus entirely on the one subject I liked and was better at. No more chemistry or biology with the endless fact rote learning. Hello nice logical physics and maths. Where I only need to learn some axiom and then do maths to it. You are given the first year to just learn the stuff, as time goes by and you get better at maths and how to learn maths (not being scared of it). BY the time you ae in final year you are home free. Dissertation is on something interesting and as long as you do science it doesn't even matter if your experiment goes wrong all the time and is an opportunity to get more marks. Also say good bye to all that terrible group work based projects of first and second year where no one did anything.

CB's revision top tip:

I just made sure I could answer and understand the physics behind the tutorial questions. I made loads of neat study notes, made as if I was explaining the concepts and how to answer the questions to someone else. They were the shrine I would centre my studying devotion around :adore:

They were the centre of my intellectual universe :moon:

The frame of reference to what questions are important in life, such as how to calculate a canonical ensemble. :albertein:

When the lecturers say: "Do the tutorials". Do the tutorials. They say that for a reason :indiff:

(They literally write the exams, they know what is gonna be on it, unlike in A-level, another case of where Uni is better than A-Levels)

If you happened to choose a humanities subject (what masochist does that?) then enjoy all your "reading" and essay writing. You're on your own kid.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 3

SophieSmall

I wish we got past papers to look through :frown:

always just feel like I'm going in blind.

Reply 4

AccountingBabe

Depends on the subject.

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Reply 5

super_kawaii

Original post by PQ

Look at past papers
Read the module spec
Attend any revision lectures (lecturers SET THE QUESTIONS - they know what's in the exam and aren't going to focus on other content in the revision lectures)

I wish my department did past papers!

I agree with everything else though.

MFL subjects, like the course I'm doing, plenty of grammar and vocab practice throughout the year proves invaluable

Reply 6

Chr0n

Really depends on your subject. For Philosophy and Politics where I had to read lots of papers and write essays in the exam I made summaries of the lectures and papers and read through these as many times as possible. I also read beyond the syllabus (wikipedia, stanford encyclopedia of philosophy) and made some short notes on how to extend the topics covered in the lecture (if you want high marks in essay based subjects you need to go beyond what's on the syllabus).

For economics and general maths type subjects: Make sure you really understand the concepts, calculations and proofs. You will usually not need to go beyond the syllabus but need to understand the covered material really well. Do lots of examples, practice questions and most importantly do timed past papers.

Reply 7

Millie-3

Not at uni yet, but wanted to put a question forward--what good habits did you form in sixth form that youre grateful for in uni life? For revision and beyond?

Reply 8

merrrrr

Original post by Millie-3

Not at uni yet, but wanted to put a question forward--what good habits did you form in sixth form that youre grateful for in uni life? For revision and beyond?

all nighters

Reply 9

Kam Brar

Original post by Millie-3

Not at uni yet, but wanted to put a question forward--what good habits did you form in sixth form that youre grateful for in uni life? For revision and beyond?

When I was revising for exams I found mind maps, colour co ordinated on topics, being able to cut down on information and only focus on what is relevant very helpful as it means you save a lot of time and it allows you to focus on the important topics. Always remember to take breaks, and when you finish revising give yourself a treat to keep your self motivated. It's amazing what a cup of hot chocolate can do :smile:

Reply 10

HMPD97

Really need revision tips for studying Law!

Thanks :smile:

Reply 11

Clearing and Applications Advisor

I'm really surprised at how many people say they can't access past papers for university exams.

Ask your student office, search the intranet, ask your lecturers. The past papers might not be handed out to you but they're usually available. At my uni they were kept in box files behind the desk in the student office, we had to check out a box file, look at it in the next room then check it back in. It was a pain but well worth while. Eventually they all got put onto the intranet but you had to search to find them.

Reply 12

Puddles the Monkey

For past papers - I also used essay assignment questions related to the topic and practised them under exam conditions, which helps too.

Reply 13

username1221160

1. Look at map of pathways .....

2. Give up and seek out alcohol.
3. Consider dropping out and reapplying to study folk dancing.

Reply 14

Puddles the Monkey

Original post by Quantex

3. Consider dropping out and reapplying to study folk dancing.

I dunno... swings and roundabouts....

....

Reply 15

username1221160

Original post by Puddles the Monkey

I dunno... swings and roundabouts....

I think I may be more suited to the university of life.

Reply 16

SophieSmall

Original post by PQ

I've asked and they were just like "no".

...thanks :frown:

Reply 17

tinkerbell_xxx

Attend revision lectures!
Attend your labs/classes- in my course some lecturers would hand out their own revision materials that they make to people in that lab/class, so if you aren't there you may get a less focused revision sheet from the website
Try to get past papers or ideas of what the questions will be from lecturers

Reply 18

SecretDuck

The most effective studying method I found was to write my lecture notes in my own words and ensuring I know the reasoning behind every concept. If I couldn't, I turned to my textbooks and online resources until I did. I then taught the material to my peers who gave me feedback on any gaps in my knowledge.

This made answering questions much easier because I know the logical flow to get to the answer.

This was for a maths proofs module. I changed my study method because the lecturer presented everything in a complicated way and he skipped a lot of the steps. Other lecturers were more intuitive in their reasoning.

I got a first in this hardest module while my other modules were not so great.

Reply 19

aroosa2010

I feel like I'm going crazy with all the content to revise. o.o Mindmaps and cue cards ftw I guess.. I really ideally want to remember everything but memorising is a b*tch. There is honestly no point. I'm just going to plan out my revision and aim to understand everything and try and memorise as I go along. Wish me luck ppl. 6 weeks until my exams.