University exams

I've hated my first year at university and my overall experience has made me lose complete academic interest in my degree. Don't get me wrong, I love learning about it but maybe more as a hobby.
I've decided I'm going to transfer to an 'easier' course next year as I do it as part of my current degree and I actually enjoy it academically, however for me to transfer I need to pass my current modules in first year which is 40%. 3/6 of my modules require me to sit a final exam, instead of assignments.
However, even though I got an A in A-level Maths, I have 0% confidence that I'm going to pass my maths module. I now realise why my uni holds high standards for the people they admit, and its why most of them have done further maths.
I'm struggling so much that my exams are in approx a month and I haven't done any proper maths revision since my A-level exams.
I will eventually start revising for it, but I've started to have some sort of anxious/ptsd response from even starting to think about the things I have to cover and learn for the exam.
I genuinely have no idea if I'll be able to pass this module and its scaring me as this is my only choice since I can't drop out.
Since we've hardly had any practice exams, I have no idea how I will perform, and what the exams will look like (yes I've tried asking for materials already). I don't know if I'm just overthinking it and the exams wont be as hard, but if I underestimate it then I might not make the pass mark.

I want to know whether there are people on a similar boat or have been in a similar position and can offer some advice?

Reply 1

University of Huddersfield

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

I've hated my first year at university and my overall experience has made me lose complete academic interest in my degree. Don't get me wrong, I love learning about it but maybe more as a hobby.
I've decided I'm going to transfer to an 'easier' course next year as I do it as part of my current degree and I actually enjoy it academically, however for me to transfer I need to pass my current modules in first year which is 40%. 3/6 of my modules require me to sit a final exam, instead of assignments.
However, even though I got an A in A-level Maths, I have 0% confidence that I'm going to pass my maths module. I now realise why my uni holds high standards for the people they admit, and its why most of them have done further maths.
I'm struggling so much that my exams are in approx a month and I haven't done any proper maths revision since my A-level exams.
I will eventually start revising for it, but I've started to have some sort of anxious/ptsd response from even starting to think about the things I have to cover and learn for the exam.
I genuinely have no idea if I'll be able to pass this module and its scaring me as this is my only choice since I can't drop out.
Since we've hardly had any practice exams, I have no idea how I will perform, and what the exams will look like (yes I've tried asking for materials already). I don't know if I'm just overthinking it and the exams wont be as hard, but if I underestimate it then I might not make the pass mark.
I want to know whether there are people on a similar boat or have been in a similar position and can offer some advice?

Anon,

I think you should prioritise this Maths exam and start revising! It is easy to avoid subject areas that you don't feel so confident in, but it only gives you less time to make sense of it all. Think about the topics you have covered this year and what is likely to come up. Try to focus on understanding what you need to know to be more confident answering questions. Let that A from A' level Maths, remind you that you are more than good at Maths (!) and that you are capable of doing well : ) As you said, you only need 40% to pass so it's definitely doable. If you aim for higher than 40% then hopefully you will do even better (or at least pass)!

Perhaps you can get together with others from your class to look at questions. You could practice making up questions for each other or think about how you would approach such and such a question, even if it's going over some of the practice exams again and changing some of the questions.

(In my first year, I had a module that I really struggled with and used tell myself 'I am failing this module' repeatedly and used to feel so demotivated. When I changed my negative talk to ' I am going to conquer this' and had a more positive attitude, played music that made me feel more upbeat, and made time to study and revise, bit by bit I made progress. I went from believing that I could not pass the module to passing well.)

You haven't got long, so do revise now.

You don't want to regret wasted time when you are sitting in the exam!

All the best,

Oluwatosin – 3rd year student – University of Huddersfield

Reply 2

hallamstudents

Official Rep

Original post by Anonymous

I've hated my first year at university and my overall experience has made me lose complete academic interest in my degree. Don't get me wrong, I love learning about it but maybe more as a hobby.
I've decided I'm going to transfer to an 'easier' course next year as I do it as part of my current degree and I actually enjoy it academically, however for me to transfer I need to pass my current modules in first year which is 40%. 3/6 of my modules require me to sit a final exam, instead of assignments.
However, even though I got an A in A-level Maths, I have 0% confidence that I'm going to pass my maths module. I now realise why my uni holds high standards for the people they admit, and its why most of them have done further maths.
I'm struggling so much that my exams are in approx a month and I haven't done any proper maths revision since my A-level exams.
I will eventually start revising for it, but I've started to have some sort of anxious/ptsd response from even starting to think about the things I have to cover and learn for the exam.
I genuinely have no idea if I'll be able to pass this module and its scaring me as this is my only choice since I can't drop out.
Since we've hardly had any practice exams, I have no idea how I will perform, and what the exams will look like (yes I've tried asking for materials already). I don't know if I'm just overthinking it and the exams wont be as hard, but if I underestimate it then I might not make the pass mark.
I want to know whether there are people on a similar boat or have been in a similar position and can offer some advice?

Hi there,

This sounds like a tricky situation.

The first thing I would do in this situation would be to contact my academic advisor as they can usually help you of you are struggling. They may be able to give you some good revision tips or talk you through some things you don't understand. The same goes for your module tutors as they are here to help you too.

I would also think about potentially getting a tutor if your funds allow this. They can be expensive so it may not be an option but if it was to help you pass the exam it might be worth it. You could also ask your tutors if they know where you can go about doing this as they may know people at your uni who could help you with this.

I would also just start revising as much as you can! I know it can be hard revising, especially when you feel like you don't understand the content, but this way you can work out which bits you need extra help with and then you know what to focus more on. As you have said, you got an A in A-level maths which is really impressive so have faith in your abilities to do well.

It might also be worth asking any of your friends on your course how they are finding the course and see if any of them may be able to help you out a little bit with some revision tips. You could also see if they want to revise with you as sometimes this can be more motivating!

I hope some of this helps and good luck.

Lucy -SHU student ambassador.