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Too Many Mistakes
LeCaustic
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I need some recommendations. I've been recently doing something I never did for a long time. LONG time. This is school related. I'm in a masters graduate program in my final semester. Last semester, I did ridiculously well, while working full time (3.67/4.0). I aced it, so to speak. This semester, I'm not off to a great start. I mean, I have an A and B+ in two classes, but two classes I did terrible in. And it's not that I did terrible, it's why. I got a C and B- and I looked at the test and there was just a ridiculous amount of errors on my part. I literally counted the questions I knew the right answer to but just blindly put the wrong one down for no reason other than carelessness. The other course I got a B- in for the same reason. Those stupid mistakes slipped me from an A for both tests to the respective grades. I don't know the why/how but I just need advice on how to avoid this from becoming a common occurance.
TLDR - I'm starting to slip on tests due to carelessness and just need advice on how to avoid this. The answer may be obvious, but I just need recommendations to avoid this in the future.
TLDR - I'm starting to slip on tests due to carelessness and just need advice on how to avoid this. The answer may be obvious, but I just need recommendations to avoid this in the future.
Your sig is too tall. -Thanatos
LeCaustic on
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Eat better and exercise, reduce or eliminate the things causing stress in your life, and check over your answers on tests and homework.
Not much you can do other than be very very careful, and go over your test twice, or for as long as they allow you to stay and take the test.
Take the test once, then take a deep breath, and go through it as though you were taking it again, thinking on your answers. Do that one more time if you have the time.
Make sure to do the general pre-test routine, eat fruit, wake up in plenty of time to do review before the test, wear comfortable clothing, all that jazz.
Sleeping more, eating right, anything you can physically and mentally do to reduce stress will help. Work my not have gotten in your way last semester but if it's causing you detriment now, it should be addressed.
Good advice. I'm in pharmacy school and pretty much all my tests are multiple choice. It really pays to look over your answers again to catch simple mistakes. My worst offenders are when they have questions like: Which of the following statements are TRUE? ... and then you get used to looking for a true answer, then they do Which is FALSE? I've caught myself a couple of times putting down the wrong answer because of misreading the problem.
Additional advice if you don't find an answer off the bat is to make sure you read every answer that is listed in the multiple choice. Eliminate the ones that you know are wrong and then make an educated guess on the remaining ones. Usually I can get down to a 50/50 choice this way.
And welcome to the human race. Don't beat yourself up. Best way to make new mistakes is to keep thinkin' bout the old ones.
Don't drive yourself crazy from this, just learn from the experience, think about any good study habits that you might have let slip or neglected, and be more careful on your final exams. Good luck, and congrats in advance on your pharmacy degree.
Thanks
I did it for one semester and if I'd tried it the following semester I would have cracked under the stress. Sustaining that kind of workload for a long period is going to really test your patience, discipline, and motivation. I dialed it back to 9 credits + 40 hours and found myself with just enough free time to not feel like I was an indentured servant. One afternoon a week of disc golf/video games/hanging out with friends at a bar = much happier me.
It's probably just stress. You're overlooking things because your mind is preoccupied with the other bazillion things you need to do that day just to maintain (let alone excel). I took the easy way out and decided to do less because that was an option. If you can't do that (and I wouldn't recommend it because here I am in my sixth year feeling like I'll never be done) then you're going to have to learn to manage stress in a healthy way.
Sleep away your free time, get some exercise when you can, and eat better. It really does make a difference. You'll feel less rushed, less stressed, and happier even though you're just as rushed, just as stressed, and in the same damn place. But you won't feel it so much.
Honestly I do this sometimes, and it wasn't until I read this post that I realized it is an effective little tactic. Relaxing after you finish and just kind of spacing out clears your mind before you go over the test the second time, and puts you in a better state of mind for checking your answers. Everything won't be as fresh, so you might have to rethink problems in your head from a fresh angle, giving you some new insights.
What I'm getting at is that your problem obviously isn't understanding the material, but silly mistakes. So, find yourself some sample tests where you find the material very, very easy, and instead of the test material, focus on eliminating all careless mistakes, and properly doublechecking every answer. It's an exhausting bit of mental gymnastics, I find.
Yeah I really wish I made use of my own advice more often. Too often I blow through a test thinking I kicked its ass, then when I get it back and review my answers I am like "wtf, why the hell did I chose the obviously wrong answer?!?" and its because I was in a hurry and misread something. The only thing you need to make sure and do is to not change answers unless you are damn sure you misread something or you found other info elsewhere in the exam to help you figure it out; cause your gut instinct is normally right.