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My Year 13 Journey to A*A*A*A*

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Reply 180
Original post by ExamsCry
Ahhh, I'll definitely try that routine. Thank you!:smile:


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Find what works for you! For some of my friends, working before midday is really unproductive so they'll start much later than me. As long as you get done what you set out to do, it doesnt matter at what time of day you do it!

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Reply 181
For those curious, this is a table I'm keeping of my past paper scores. The maths modules are all out of 75 and I put my physics (unit 4) scores as a percentage; I have to make up my own past papers from the old spec so the marks per paper differ each time :smile:
Reply 182
**DAY 278**
Not long till the real exams begin. I'm feeling as prepared as I can be for most of them so this next week I'll just try and perfect my exam technique but mainly take it easy. I might give myself one or two days off revision cos I think it'll do me good.

The issues I was having with impulsive tension in M3 have now been resolved (I think) - I'm much better at interpreting the physical situation that the questions describe now! My weakest two topics across all the modules are:
FP3 - reduction formula. The majority of the questions I am fine with but occasionally they'll require a bit on ingenuity to spot what to do. I (embarrassingly) got stumped today on sec^(n)x dx as I didnt spot to write sec²x as the derivative of tanx... arghhhh
S3 - best estimators. Again I can do most of the questions but sometimes I'll come across a question that totally baffles me.

I haven't spoke much about physics recently...partly because I haven't really revised it much. I wish physics a level was more interesting/had harder maths content as I have literally zero motivation to revise it at the moment. I'll try and put a few hours into it over the following week - my unit 3 exam is one week on Thursday!

Will likely update again soon.
Matt

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Reply 183
this isn't really an update: to the people that have PM'd me in the past week - I am not ignoring you!!! My TSR mobile app has been very glitchy and I haven't managed to log in on a computer to reply yet. I'll do my best to get back to you over the next few days

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Reply 184
**DAY 280**
Exams are definitely just as much a psychological challenge as an intellectual one for me. I feel confident that I know the course content for pretty much all of my exams now. For M2, S2, and FP2 I have done every past paper (probably twice) and consistently score over 70/75, often 75. For M3, S3 and FP3 I have done the majority of past papers; im saving the most recent papers for the time being and will do them closer to the exams. I consistently get around 70/75 in these modules though sometimes one question on the paper will cause me to drop 8 or 9 marks (it really depends on the paper).

For physics I have done every old spec PH4 and PH5 paper at least two, probably three times. I have done the specimen papers two or three times too. Im quite confident with these and I am averaging high 90%s in both units. The new specification could be quite different though so itll be interesting to see how I do.

Matt
Reply 185
**DAY 281**
I seem unable to concentrate again today. There's nothing urgent I need to be revising so I'm giving myself the day off!

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Reply 186
**DAY 282**
Today I reached a new level of procrastination. I made an "unofficial markscheme" for the C3 exam that my friends sat this morning instead of doing my own revision.

It's got to the point where I dont think I'm really benefitting from any more revision and I've kinda reached my peak performance (not perfect but my own limiting performance). I've also realised that I'm getting quite quick at past papers now. S2 and M2 take a little over half an hour and the other maths modules take me just under an hour.

Tomorrow I'm going to take a break from past papers and do theory for physics. I'm gonna set my own questions and then check with the textbook to see what details I missed etc. I also will probs scrounge around and look for some "weird" maths questions that will hopefully trip me up a bit (so I feel like I'm learning stuff yano)

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(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 187
**DAY 283**
All of this week I've been using an app called "Forest" that tracks how much revision you do. I have been doing significantly less this year than last year since I have revised for a lot (a lot a lot) longer prior to this exam season. Today I did just over four hours total; I'm averaging about 5hrs a day.

I'm feeling confident for S2 next week - I find it very easy now. My only niggle comes from last year's paper - there was one very weird question that was worth a large number of marks. Thankfully the grade boundaries dropped 9 marks for 100ums so I'm guessing the majority of people made little-to-no-progress on this question.

I'm also feeling moderately confident for unit 3 physics. I got 98/100 on the specimen paper today though I expect the actual exam will be significantly harder. I'm not really looking forward to a 20 mark comprehension question at the end of the paper either....I signed up for physics not English language :/:/

Today I realised that my M3 and S3 exam date is before the FP2 exam. I just assumed FP2 would be first, partly because we covered it earlier in class and partly because "2" comes before "3" . I guess I'll have to prioritise the applied modules for the time being and ease back on the pure stuff.

Not much else to report really. I'm trying to get in the exam frame of mind as that is very important in my opinion... early nights on the cards for me!

Matt

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Original post by 98matt
**DAY 283**
All of this week I've been using an app called "Forest" that tracks how much revision you do. I have been doing significantly less this year than last year since I have revised for a lot (a lot a lot) longer prior to this exam season. Today I did just over four hours total; I'm averaging about 5hrs a day.

I'm feeling confident for S2 next week - I find it very easy now. My only niggle comes from last year's paper - there was one very weird question that was worth a large number of marks. Thankfully the grade boundaries dropped 9 marks for 100ums so I'm guessing the majority of people made little-to-no-progress on this question.

I'm also feeling moderately confident for unit 3 physics. I got 98/100 on the specimen paper today though I expect the actual exam will be significantly harder. I'm not really looking forward to a 20 mark comprehension question at the end of the paper either....I signed up for physics not English language :/:/

Today I realised that my M3 and S3 exam date is before the FP2 exam. I just assumed FP2 would be first, partly because we covered it earlier in class and partly because "2" comes before "3" . I guess I'll have to prioritise the applied modules for the time being and ease back on the pure stuff.

Not much else to report really. I'm trying to get in the exam frame of mind as that is very important in my opinion... early nights on the cards for me!

Matt

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I don't know if you know about the Online Exam Review things

http://oer.wjec.co.uk

Navigate to GCE maths and you can see statistics for each of the questions and should be able to see the mean mark per question to see how accessible they were in general. Commentary on exemplar scripts also available.



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Reply 189
Original post by PedanticStudent
I don't know if you know about the Online Exam Review things

http://oer.wjec.co.uk

Navigate to GCE maths and you can see statistics for each of the questions and should be able to see the mean mark per question to see how accessible they were in general. Commentary on exemplar scripts also available.



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Ooo thanks I didnt know about this! Just checked the specific paper. The mean mark for the s2 question I earlier mentioned was 4/14 so people performed pretty badly!

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Reply 190
**DAY 284**
These updates seem to be a daily thing now; there's a lot more interest during exam season & I'm happy to write a little post everyday. There is also more for me to talk about since exams are (almost) on top of us.

Today's update is early as im having a revision break and so needed something to fill the time with! I've had a productive morning so far, clocking in just under 3 hours on the "forest" app I mentioned yesterday. In that time I've done an M3, S3 and M2 paper. I thought it would be a good idea to get used to sitting M3 and S3 back-to-back, as I'll have to do that in the real exams and so it's good practise.

The M3 paper went well, I scored 72/75 due to a silly integration error saying that ∫v dv = (what an idiot). Though I hate making stupid mistakes like that I guess it's better than getting something wrong due to a misconception/lack of understanding. The S3 paper went okay... though id done it before so probably should have done a little better. I scored 70/75 as I messed up a bit of the expectation algebra and sampling distributions right at the end :/
There was no real reason that I chose M2 as the third paper, just fancied it as I hadn't done any M2 yesterday. I did the January 2002 paper so it was the old specification (with a couple of current m3 current spec qs thrown in). Very pleased with this paper as I got full marks , though the style of questions has changed considerably in the 15 years since then.

I'm moving onto to Unit 3 physics after this post. Physics is incredibly boring to me at the moment & I'm struggling to find motivation to study for it. I know that it will be much better at university and actually have maths in it...so I'm looking forward to that :biggrin:

I was thinking of perhaps doing some additional posts on this thread to talk about some exam related topics. I've got a few ideas in mind such as "The work-life balance" , "Is extra time during exams fair" and "Quality vs Quantity for exam revision" . Please let me know if you'd be interested in reading/sharing your opinion on these. Also if you have any other suggestions for topical discussion please let me know! I may just start some new threads to discuss them, I haven't decided yet.

Sorry this post is a long, rambly one. Was not intentional.
Matt
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Reply 191
**DAY 285**
I spent a large majority of my time today going through the Unit 3 physics specification. I went through each point for each topic in a lot of detail, including all of the practical methods I need to know. Physics exam is on Thursday.

I'm starting to dislike revision more and more at the moment. I've had to turn down going out and social things bcos of it which really annoys me. I doubt I'll have much a life outside of revision for the next 3 weeks but hopefully it'll be worth it.

Matt
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Reply 192
**DAY 286**
Weekends always end up being less productive, this one is no exception. I got a decent amount done yesterday though today I've kinda slacked. I've been watching the French Open most of the afternoon.

This morning I did:
M2 June 2001 (72/75)
S3 June 2014 (74/75)
FP2 {old spec P4} June 2004 (74/75)
PH4 June 2012 (66/67)

I felt like I earned an afternoon off since I haven't got anything urgently that needs learning. S2 and Unit 3 physics are next week and I'm feeling moderately confident. I'm going to try and get 100% in both though that's probably slightly out of reach in physics due to the stupid 20 mark comprehension question. I'm not really sure how I can prepare for this as they've never set anything like it before; the specimen paper one was simple though I still dropped 1 or 2 marks on it bcos the mark scheme was VERY specific.

The following week (w/c 19/06) is the real test for me - those exams will ultimately decide if I get into Imperial. I'd say FP3 is probably the hardest module but that's not until my third week of exams. If all of the maths ones before that go well then FP3 won't even be required (it will effectively become my 7th module) so I may feel less pressure. Conversely if the applied units are awful then it's major stress on me to pull out a 100ums for FP3.

update again tomorrow
Matt

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Reply 193
**DAY 287**
I've been quite distracted recently and my revision schedule has sort of gone to sh¡t. I have however kept up a pretty steady workload (average of 5 past papers a day) but it has been at random times of the day.

I wish we were allowed to leave exams once we were happy with our paper - I'd definitely leave early in Wednesday's stats exam as it doesn't take hrs!

Today I've done M2 M3 S3 and Unit 3 physics. I did an old 2001 M3 paper that turned out to be pretty brutal. I got 68/75 on it due to a very weird horizontal circles question and something on moments that I dont fully understand (I swear my answer is correct not the model answer's). M2 and S2 were fine, so was the 2015 physics paper :smile:

I think I'll go over some of the trickier S2 questions later and learn a solid definition, word-for-word, for the Central Limit Theorem. I know what it is but I might as well take the time to learn the exact WJEC markscheme answer in case it comes up. I'm aware that I've neglected FP3 for perhaps 4 days now which is slightly worrying. I may try and squeeze a paper into my schedule tomorrow just to keep me fresh. I definitely won't be cramming S2 tomorrow since that would be a waste of time for me. I'll likely do 2 papers, including the 2016 one and that'll be that.

Next week is going to get real hectic. I'm confident on M2 and so will probably not priortise that after this week's exams. I want to practice sitting some more M3 and S3 papers back to back. I also haven't done the 2016 papers for either module yet and I dont think I've done the 2015 ones either. (This is intentional as I want to do them quite close to the exams). I'll probably spend a morning going through all of my unit 4 physics notes; I want to go over the practicals since those are probably my weakest points at the moment.

I think getting the right balance is crucial for me over the next weeks. I'll keep you guys updated.

Matt

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Hey Matt, do you have any tips for mechanics 1?

I've left it really late and I've got super low marks the few past papers I've done. I'm really slow and don't understand how it makes sense:frown:

Thank you if you have any tips


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Damn, just saw you do M2 papers in about 30 minutes. For me it takes probably double that!
I find it's drawing the diagrams that take extra time, or do you skip that and just do working out on the question paper?
I fear doing that as I feel I might lose method marks or something.
Reply 196
Original post by ExamsCry
Hey Matt, do you have any tips for mechanics 1?

I've left it really late and I've got super low marks the few past papers I've done. I'm really slow and don't understand how it makes sense:frown:

Thank you if you have any tips


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I messed up on vertical motion in M1 last year because I mixed up my +/- signs for acceleration & displacement etc. I'd recommend being consistent with what you assign g to be. For me I always use g = -9.8m/s² and then worry about the other values for any particular question.

Diagrams really help understanding! Almost every m1 questions can be visualised with a diagram and this often clears up the direction/angle of forces, motion etc which can make the qs a lot easier!

Although not necessary, and this doesn't just apply to mechanics, it is useful to know common trig values like sin/cos/tan of 30,60,90,180 etc (assuming you can convert to radians easily). I find myself not reaching for my calculator that much in mechanics now until I get to the final line of calculations. This helps you stay focused on the question you're doing but often you'll be able to easily cancel a few terms in your equation.

Good luck. Any specific qs you get stuck on, just PM me and I'll try & reply quickly!


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Reply 197
Original post by pereira325
Damn, just saw you do M2 papers in about 30 minutes. For me it takes probably double that!
I find it's drawing the diagrams that take extra time, or do you skip that and just do working out on the question paper?
I fear doing that as I feel I might lose method marks or something.


I draw a diagram for maybe 2-3 questions on the paper, but I used to draw one for every question. Unless there is a question that says "draw a diagram" you will never lose method marks for not including one as it's not essential (though often useful).

I expect I'll take close to an hour on the actual exam. I guess I've just got used to spotting familiarities in questions which speeds up the paper a lot. The circular motion questions on WJEC often come with a diagram on the paper so that saves time. I find that the vectors questions take me longest as there's so many terms and +/- signs flying around; I want to make sure I don't make a stupid numerical mistake. Good luck with M2!

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Original post by 98matt
I messed up on vertical motion in M1 last year because I mixed up my +/- signs for acceleration & displacement etc. I'd recommend being consistent with what you assign g to be. For me I always use g = -9.8m/s² and then worry about the other values for any particular question.

Diagrams really help understanding! Almost every m1 questions can be visualised with a diagram and this often clears up the direction/angle of forces, motion etc which can make the qs a lot easier!

Although not necessary, and this doesn't just apply to mechanics, it is useful to know common trig values like sin/cos/tan of 30,60,90,180 etc (assuming you can convert to radians easily). I find myself not reaching for my calculator that much in mechanics now until I get to the final line of calculations. This helps you stay focused on the question you're doing but often you'll be able to easily cancel a few terms in your equation.

Good luck. Any specific qs you get stuck on, just PM me and I'll try & reply quickly!


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Thank you so much!:smile:)


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Reply 199
**DAY 288**
My first "real" exam is tomorrow. I put that in inverted commas as FP1 was nearly a month ago and doesn't really bare any impact on whether or not I make my uni offer. I'm feeling confident for S2 - very confident in fact. Today I did the 2016 paper, which was by far the hardest and scored 74/75. When I first did the paper I got around 67/75 but 100ums was only 65 so that is pleasing. I haven't done any more S2 today; I dont think cramming past papers will help me tomorrow, I'll either know how to answer the questions or I won't.

I went through some Unit 3 physics again earlier, but didnt do a past paper. Theres not that many papers available and I've done them all so many times it's kinda pointless now (I remember all the answers lol). I'm feeling confident for this too though a little apprehensive for the comprehension.

Like I mentioned yesterday, I did indeed manage to squeeze in an FP3 paper this morning. I did the June 2010 paper and scored 69/75 - made a few silly mistakes but overall was fine. I also dabbled in a bit of M3 just to pass some time :biggrin:

I'm pleased that exams are finally here. That sounds really weird but I've been preparing for these exams for close to one year and so I'm ready to finally put my work into action! I'll update tomorrow with how S2 goes.

Matt

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