how to pass repeats

ferdi

i have to repeat three 2nd year archaeology exams soon but i cannot figure out how i can pass when:

* there are no longer any academic staff to talk to
* i cannot get access to my exam scripts
* i've been out of college for a while and all the knowledge has left my head
* i'm studying the same notes/material i had the 1st time round

its a dilly of a pickle.

kittenkiller

There should still be a secretary in the department, ask her if there's any postgrads about that could give you a hand.
Or suck up to your mates that did pass & get hold of their notes/sample answers/essays & go over all of those.
Or get onto the SU Education Officer to see if they have any advice.

Best of luck.

ferdi

kittenkiller wrote:

There should still be a secretary in the department, ask her if there's any postgrads about that could give you a hand

the office is closed for the week

kittenkiller wrote:

Or suck up to your mates that did pass & get hold of their notes/sample answers/essays & go over all of those.

i have no mates or even casual acquaintances in my year.

kittenkiller wrote:

Or get onto the SU Education Officer to see if they have any advice.

i'll give that a go but going by past experience, i wont get alot out of them.

kittenkiller wrote:

Best of luck.

thanks. i ****in' well need it.

Pythia

ferdi wrote:

i have to repeat three 2nd year archaeology exams soon but i cannot figure out how i can pass when:

* there are no longer any academic staff to talk to
* i cannot get access to my exam scripts
* i've been out of college for a while and all the knowledge has left my head
* i'm studying the same notes/material i had the 1st time round

its a dilly of a pickle.

I don't mean to sound smart, but surely you should have contacted them before this?

Sangre

Look at past papers.
Work out how many topics you need to study to cover you for last 5 years.
Study topics with notes, reading lists, internet and library books.

You're only looking for 40%

TheVan

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Study!

Mr.Nice Guy

ferdi wrote:

* there are no longer any academic staff to talk to

Then you need to email them and if possible, set up a meeting. I emailed lecturers for my politics repeats and found them helpful.

ferdi wrote:

* i cannot get access to my exam scripts

They are obliged to show you your script to allow you to discover where you went wrong. This is your right. Phone up the department and demand a time when you may be given the opportunity to view your scripts.

Again, this is your right.

ferdi wrote:

* i've been out of college for a while and all the knowledge has left my head

I can relate but that's what revision is all about. Get online (blackboard is useful for me anyway) and find out what is essential reading for you and cram that sh*t into your brain pronto.

ferdi wrote:

* i'm studying the same notes/material i had the 1st time round

Do you feel your notes are inadequate? If so then talk to your lecturers and go through the key points you need to know.

Best of luck with the exams, ferdi. I have to face the repeats myself and I know they're a right oul' pain in the backside but I'd recommend planning out the key things you need to do and doing them straight away.

There's still time.

Pythia

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

They are obliged to show you your script to allow you to discover where you went wrong. This is your right. Phone up the department and demand a time when you may be given the opportunity to view your scripts.

Generally, I find, the lecturers prefer for you to view your script soon after you find out you fail. I'd say you've probably known for almost a month now, and although they might be closed this week, they were probably there every other week.

Rnger

I cant access blackboard. Anyone else having a problem wit this?

ferdi

Pythia wrote:

I don't mean to sound smart, but surely you should have contacted them before this?

i did. they set aside a few days after the results came out to talk to people. i was too late.

TheVan wrote:

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Study!

drdre

ferdi wrote:

i have to repeat three 2nd year archaeology exams soon but i cannot figure out how i can pass when:

* there are no longer any academic staff to talk to
* i cannot get access to my exam scripts
* i've been out of college for a while and all the knowledge has left my head
* i'm studying the same notes/material i had the 1st time round

its a dilly of a pickle.

i know exactly how you feel.i failed 3 this time around and i asked for help before and got none and student union is crap.i wasin dit for 2 years before i came to ucd and it was way better and staff was helpful.im really stuck and donot know what to do and who to bloody talk to.

ferdi

yeah its irritating.

i cant even celebrate my 21st (next tuesday) cause of this

FionnMatthew

* there are no longer any academic staff to talk to

You really shouldn't be thinking about bothering academic staff. Only you can get you through your exams. They can give you advice, but it really just comes down to common sense anyway.

* i cannot get access to my exam scripts

Why do you want to view exam scripts that were inadequate to passing the exam? Your exam scripts cannot help you. You failed exams. That's not a matter of not getting it quite right. It's a matter of knowing next to nothing about your subject, and having no idea how to approach it. You should not be aiming to tweak your performance (as would be suited by viewing scripts); you should be aiming to change your attitude towards study and exams, drastically. Viewing your script will not help that. The answer is, as TheVan already said, "study". Curt though TheVan's advice might be, it's actually sound, and you could be a lot less obnoxious than that little photolink you posted. What TheVan appears to be saying is that no one else is going to study for you, you have to do it all yourself. By the sounds of this thread, that's very apt advice.

* i've been out of college for a while and all the knowledge has left my head

That's quite a cavalier attitude towards academic study. Really, if you were serious about your course, that wouldn't have happened. Also, if that lost knowledge didn't get you through your exams, you're probably not missing much. This is a chance to get down to some real work.

* i'm studying the same notes/material i had the 1st time round

Then make more use of them. And if you find them inadequate, go to the LIBRARY. Take initiative. Others may have the most popular books. But you will always find something that is relevant. But to be honest, you shouldn't be blaming your materials; your method is more important. As someone else on the thread said, look at all the previous exam papers, available online. The more you know what to expect on the paper, the better off you'll be studying. The most important thing is what you do NOW.

its a dilly of a pickle.

Is it really? Or is it just that you want to slide past with the minumum of effort? Throughout this thread, you focus on impossible and irrelevant things like whether or not you can consult your lecturers, or view your scripts, when really, the best thing you could be doing is sitting down and doing the work, hard as it may be to start. You sound like someone who is coming up with flimsy excuses for not doing any work at all, so that you can then blame your circumstances when you fail your repeats. It's actually in your hands, and it'll be your fault if you fail. Again.

Mr.Nice Guy

Look's like we have a troll in our midst in Fionn.

FionnMatthew wrote:

You really shouldn't be thinking about bothering academic staff. Only you can get you through your exams.

What rubbish. 'Bothering' academic staff? What do you think they're there for? They want people to come talk to them about how they can better themselves.

FionnMatthew wrote:

They can give you advice, but it really just comes down to common sense anyway.

Wow. Passing an exam only requires 'common sense'? We're talking about an academic examination here Fionn, not whether it would be a good idea to drink and drive.

FionnMatthew wrote:

Why do you want to view exam scripts that were inadequate to passing the exam? Your exam scripts cannot help you. You failed exams. That's not a matter of not getting it quite right. It's a matter of knowing next to nothing about your subject, and having no idea how to approach it. You should not be aiming to tweak your performance (as would be suited by viewing scripts); you should be aiming to change your attitude towards study and exams, drastically. Viewing your script will not help that.

Viewing the exam script can't help? You point out that the exam scripts were 'inadequate' yet you don't want him to find out the areas he had difficulty with the most?

Great advice, man. Kudos.

FionnMatthew wrote:

The answer is, as TheVan already said, "study". Curt though TheVan's advice might be, it's actually sound, and you could be a lot less obnoxious than that little photolink you posted.

The only obnoxious person here is yourself.

FionnMatthew wrote:

What TheVan appears to be saying is that no one else is going to study for you, you have to do it all yourself. By the sounds of this thread, that's very apt advice.

Amazing how you can deduce all that just from one word.

FionnMatthew wrote:

Is it really? Or is it just that you want to slide past with the minumum of effort? Throughout this thread, you focus on impossible and irrelevant things like whether or not you can consult your lecturers, or view your scripts, when really, the best thing you could be doing is sitting down and doing the work, hard as it may be to start.

Consulting lecturers and viewing scripts is impossible? That's strange because I found it pretty easygoing actually. Far from being 'irrelevant' it is something that lectuers would want students to do.

Of course what does all that matter when we have geniuses like you around to impart nuggets of wisdom such as 'Do work'.

FionnMatthew wrote:

You sound like someone who is coming up with flimsy excuses for not doing any work at all, so that you can then blame your circumstances when you fail your repeats. It's actually in your hands, and it'll be your fault if you fail. Again.

I'd tell you what I think you sound like but I wouldn't want to add to the very long list of people banned from this forum.

Your 'advice', if it can be called that, is about as useful as telling a person suffering from depression to 'cheer up'. :rolleyes:

Sangre

No, its the equivalent of telling a fat person to get some exercise.

Start studying, its not that hard.

Mr.Nice Guy

Sangre wrote:

No, its the equivalent of telling a fat person to get some exercise.

No, it's the equivalent of telling a fat person not to consult a nutritionist about getting a better diet and to not worry about the food they naturally consume.

Simply 'lose weight'. Great advice, that.

Sangre wrote:

Start studying, its not that hard.

Indeed, but if you advocate a person studies just for the sake of it rather than the RELEVANT AREAS then you're a moron.

Sangre

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

No, it's the equivalent of telling a fat person not to consult a nutritionist about getting a better diet and to not worry about the food they naturally consume.

Simply 'lose weight'. Great advice, that.

My hope for humanity died a little when I read that reply. Mind boggling.
How does telling someone to get some exercise equate to telling them to lose weight?

I think you're just bitter MNG because you have a penchant for failing exams. Maybe if you took up InFront's advice it wouldn't keep happening.

Mr.Nice Guy

Sangre wrote:

My hope for humanity died a little when I read that reply. Mind boggling.

How does telling someone to get some exercise equate to telling them to lose weight?

Someone missed the point. The point, if I must explain it to you, is that Fionn here has not given advice that is remotely constructive. He simply trotted out clichés. 'Do work', 'study'. etc. Such unhelpful advice, as I pointed out, is akin to telling a person suffering from depression to 'cheer up' or telling an overweight person to 'lose weight'. In other words, it's unhelpful.

But don't worry Sangre you focus on being pedantic if it suits you.

Sangre wrote:

I think you're just bitter MNG because you have a penchant for failing exams. Maybe if you took up InFront's advice it wouldn't keep happening.

You know, I had a feeling you'd resort to that. Have a read of this.

An ad hominem argument, also known as argumentum ad hominem (Latin, literally "argument against the person") or attacking the messenger [or shooting the messenger], involves replying to an argument or assertion by attacking the person presenting the argument or assertion rather than the argument itself. It is a logical fallacy.

Oh diddums! Ah well, I still think you're smart Sangre and hopefully one day I can be as smart as you.

Sangre

Mr.Nice Guy wrote:

Someone missed the point. The point, if I must explain it to you, is that Fionn here has not given advice that is remotely constructive. He simply trotted out clichés. 'Do work', 'study'. etc. Such unhelpful advice, as I pointed out, is akin to telling a person suffering from depression to 'cheer up' or telling an overweight person to 'lose weight'. In other words, it's unhelpful.
)

Except he did give advice, so he didn't tell the fat person to lose weight but to exercise. Unfortunately you found this an affront to your morals. How dare you tell a fat person to lose weight with out detailed pyschological and physical analysis by a trained physician. Exercising is more than enough to lose weight.

Basically MNG you seemed to be under the illusion that passing an archaelogy exam actually requires something harder then studying. It doesn't, at all. Open notes/books/exam papers and start memorising.

Mr.Nice Guy

Sangre wrote:

Except he did give advice, so he didn't tell the fat person to lose weight but to exercise. Unfortunately you found this an affront to your morals. How dare you tell a fat person to lose weight with out detailed pyschological and physical analysis by a trained physician.

My morals were affronted at what was a smart-arsed post designed to kick a guy when he's down and looking for some advice. You can't seriously be suggesting to me that Fionn's post was a post which was designed to help? You and I both know it was a smart-arsed answer to a call for assistance. You consider comments like the following to be advice do you?

You really shouldn't be thinking about bothering academic staff. Only you can get you through your exams.

They can give you advice, but it really just comes down to common sense anyway.

Why do you want to view exam scripts that were inadequate to passing the exam? Your exam scripts cannot help you.

You failed exams. That's not a matter of not getting it quite right. It's a matter of knowing next to nothing about your subject, and having no idea how to approach it.

I don't consider that helpful and as I pointed out above it is totally unhelpful.

Sangre wrote:

Basically MNG you seemed to be under the illusion that passing an archaelogy exam actually requires something harder then studying. It doesn't, at all. Open notes/books/exam papers and start memorising.

No I'm under the impression that it requires pinpointing WHERE YOU WENT WRONG and studying the KEY POINTS.

Both of which would require talking to lecturers and viewing exam scripts. Do you think this is a bad way to go about trying to pass a repeat exam?

Dave!

FionnMatthew and Sangre are obviously trolling

Sangre

I consider his advice perfectly legitimate and probably the soundest on the thread so far.

You really shouldn't be thinking about bothering academic staff. Only you can get you through your exams.

They can give you advice, but it really just comes down to common sense anyway.

Staff isn't going to remember you individually, he isn't going to know your weak points. He won't give tips on what is coming up (normally). Any clue on whats coming can be seen from the past papers. The staff can't make you do work, you have to accept this is on you

Why do you want to view exam scripts that were inadequate to passing the exam? Your exam scripts cannot help you.

Scripts don't come with little helpful suggestions and encouraging remarks. The only thing they'll serve to do is remind him he didn't study enough. He is studying for arch., not trying to grasp the finer points of quantam mechanics.

You failed exams. That's not a matter of not getting it quite right. It's a matter of knowing next to nothing about your subject, and having no idea how to approach it.

So basically get studying. You need to do next to no work to fail an exam like that or most college exams for that matter. What is looking at you script going to achieve. Hmmm, oh yes I knew I should have studied that etc.,. I won't tell him what he is weak at because this course is about learning not understanding.


Seems pretty sound advice to me.

darth insidiari

FionnMatthew wrote:

You really shouldn't be thinking about bothering academic staff. Only you can get you through your exams. They can give you advice, but it really just comes down to common sense anyway.

I agree with this. As Sangre said, the lecturers can't tell him what will come up in the exam. They can only offer study advice, which Fionn and Sangre already provide. Besides, the OP doesn't ask for study advice. He seems to just list the barriers that he has come across. Focusing on these barriers will not help him to pass the exam. The only way to pass an exam is to study, as Fionn has said. The lecturers are, of course, there to help students. However, the OP has known for several weeks that he will be facing these repeats and chose the time when many staff are on holiday to try to contact them. Fergi, if you need to contact a lecturer email them and stress that it's urgent but I can't see that this will improve your chances of passing the exams.

The most important things to do now (as have already been said by Fionn, Sangre and others):
1.Get past papers
2.Get the reading lists for each of your courses
3.Photocopy as much of the above as you can
4.Make a list of all topics that come up at least twice on the papers
5.Study

This method has got me through pretty much every exam I've done. Good luck!

humbert

darth insidiari wrote:

1.Get past papers
2.Get the reading lists for each of your courses
3.Photocopy as much of the above as you can
4.Make a list of all topics that come up at least twice on the papers
5.Study

This method has got me through pretty much every exam I've done. Good luck!

that's about it, the repeats are just a second shot at the exam, I suppose in case you were very unlucky with what came up in the summer or didn't give your best effort for some other reason, if you could go through your scripts with a tutor over the summer it would be quite an advantage imo but that's not what the repeats are about.
They are tough, trying to study over the summer is crap and having not attended the course for a while doesn't help. Best of luck!

Sangre

shouldn't you be studying?

FionnMatthew

Mr Nice Guy wrote:

My morals were affronted at what was a smart-arsed post designed to kick a guy when he's down and looking for some advice. You can't seriously be suggesting to me that Fionn's post was a post which was designed to help? You and I both know it was a smart-arsed answer to a call for assistance. You consider comments like the following to be advice do you?

If I'd wanted to kick Ferdi when he was down, I would have told him that he's obviously not cut out for academic work, that there's absolutely no point in him doing any work to pass, because he's just not going to, and even if he does, it'll mean next to nothing.

I didn't do that. I told him that he seemed to be wasting time worrying about side-issues, when the most important thing is to get on with it, and start studying. When you really study, you begin to alter your approach, and the exams seem less and less of a challenge. It's hard to start, but it's the only way.

Far from being a put-down, this is actually complimentary. Rather than blaming Ferdi's failure (and therefore any success he could ever have) on his circumstances, I encouraged him to blame himself, thereby realising his full potential. Any success he has with this mindset will be entirely his own, not the effect of preceding circumstances.

I don't think that was that hard to grasp, and neither do I think that it was the work of a troll. In fact, I think your own blatant misinterpretation of what I said rather more inappropriate, since you turned the discussion away from the original topic.

You also set yourself up as quite the hypocrite, by selling me as a troll, and then coming out with such unnecessary votives as "Oh diddums! Ah well, I still think you're smart Sangre and hopefully one day I can be as smart as you.". (an hypocrisy, to which, it would seem, DaveMcG also applies, with his single curt, erroneous, off-topic contribution.)

Then, I might draw attention to the inherent comedy in your assumption of the role of haughty pedagogue, during which you quote an encyclopedia definition of ad hominem as a reply to Sangre, after having already offered such erudite and valid contributions as...:

The only obnoxious person here is yourself.

You demonstrate little or no ability to appreciate the actual message in what I said, preferring to take issue, pedantically, with individual sentences, with an evident and deliberate misunderstanding as the kernel of your objection.

Here is a series of examples:

Mr Nice Guy wrote:

FionnMatthew wrote:

You really shouldn't be thinking about bothering academic staff. Only you can get you through your exams.

What rubbish. 'Bothering' academic staff? What do you think they're there for? They want people to come talk to them about how they can better themselves.

The point, I think, Mr Nice Guy, is that they are not there for anything. They are not there. They are on holidays. At which point aimless requests for advice from someone who failed exams already could be construed as "bothersome". They cannot tell him what questions will come up. All they can tell him, he could already know himself, if he made recourse to common sense (see next reply).

Mr Nice Guy wrote:

FionnMatthew wrote:

They can give you advice, but it really just comes down to common sense anyway.

Wow. Passing an exam only requires 'common sense'?

No. Passing an exam requires an awful lot of specialised knowledge garnered through study.
Approaching that study, however, requires only common sense.

Mr Nice Guy wrote:

We're talking about an academic examination here Fionn, not whether it would be a good idea to drink and drive.

The only reason you should be careful who you patronise is that you could end up sounding like a complete idiot. Believe me, I need no clarification on what we're talking about or on the nature of academic examination. If you'll forgive me for resorting to evidence, your own qualifications on the subject, as supplied by Sangre, rather undermine your authority on this issue.

Mr Nice Guy wrote:

FionnMatthew wrote:

Is it really? Or is it just that you want to slide past with the minumum of effort? Throughout this thread, you focus on impossible and irrelevant things like whether or not you can consult your lecturers, or view your scripts, when really, the best thing you could be doing is sitting down and doing the work, hard as it may be to start.

Consulting lecturers and viewing scripts is impossible? That's strange because I found it pretty easygoing actually. Far from being 'irrelevant' it is something that lectuers would want students to do.

Of course what does all that matter when we have geniuses like you around to impart nuggets of wisdom such as 'Do work'.

In fact, in this case, as Ferdi has already stated, both of those things are impossible. The lecturers are on holidays. The window in which one may view scripts is now past. My point was to convince Ferdi that neither of these avenues is a proper substitute for actual study, and that both are actually, at the moment, serving as distractions from the one thing that can really get Ferdi through exams: study.

I don't pretend it's a nugget of wisdom. Sometimes the best course of action is right in front of our eyes, and yet we remain blithely oblivious to it. Ferdi offered us an array of information that suggested that he already knew everything he should do, but that he was unwilling to just do it. All of the advice you gave him earlier on in the thread is useless. You told him to contact his lecturers, when they are not available. You told him to consult his scripts; he's missed the window. The only remaining alternative is to study. As it happens, this is the best avenue of action, and the way in which someone might go about it is always quite evident to anyone who has actually tried to do it. This is not the advice of a genius, as you so callously suggested, but the advice of someone who has learned, successfully, by experience.

Mr Nice Guy wrote:

No I'm under the impression that it requires pinpointing WHERE YOU WENT WRONG and studying the KEY POINTS.

Mr Nice Guy wrote:

Indeed, but if you advocate a person studies just for the sake of it rather than the RELEVANT AREAS then you're a moron.

As I've already suggested, having failed exams, Ferdi's problem is not to find out WHERE HE WENT WRONG. His problem is ACTUALLY MOVING HIMSELF to DO SOME WORK. Nobody with an ounce of intelligence who does any work could fail their exams. Either he's lazy, or he's an idiot, or he has an extenuating circumstance, like death in the family, (which he hasn't mentioned), and I'm inclined towards the formermost option.

As to identifying KEY POINTS, and RELEVANT AREAS, it is exactly this exercise that I linked to common sense. Undergraduate exams are not hard, so long as you have done some, nay, any work at all. Provided you study, it will be all too easy to identify KEY POINTS and RELEVANT AREAS. Come on! It's just a second-year summer exam.

Mr Nice Guy wrote:

No, it's the equivalent of telling a fat person not to consult a nutritionist about getting a better diet and to not worry about the food they naturally consume.

And as for your questionable simile, I will suggest this. In the academic world, as undergraduates, we're all supposed to be studying the same subject as the academics under whom we study; it's our occupation. We should be minor experts in that subject ourselves. To suit your little simile, we'd all have to be apprentice nutritionists, with an already adequate idea of what type of things we should be eating. To an apprentice nutritionist, even a neglectful one, the word "diet" should have a specific and instructive meaning. Likewise for the student and the word "study". Any other attitude is unworthy of a university student.

Jonny Arson

All ferdi's asking for is a bit of constructive advice on how to approach his repeats under the circumstanses and not a character assination or a flame war.

Let it go lads

darth insidiari

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

All ferdi's asking for is a bit of constructive advice on how to approach his repeats under the circumstanses and not a character assination or a flame war.

Let it go lads

FionnMatthew provided good advice. I think it's fair if he wants engage with Mr. Nice Guy's misguided comments.

Fergi didn't directly ask for advice. He listed impediments to his passing his exams. I would say these are irrelevant and he probably realises this. Study is the only thing that can get him out of this "pickle". I'm sure he knows this too. We've all procrastinated before exams. But if this procrastinating leads to failure and repeats, it's just gone too far.

As far as viewing scripts, I'd like to agree with other posters. Viewing your scripts can be useful when you suspect the mark you recieved is incorrect. It is also useful when you want to improve on your mark during the following year (say, from a 2.2 to a 2.1). You may like to view your script to see which subject brought an expected mark down or up.

None of these apply here. To fail an entire subject you really have to know very little about it. It is not a matter of finding out where you went wrong. The entire exam was "wrong". Here is a description of what is evident in a failed exam:

Fail between 30-39%
Unacceptable performance, with more than one of the following limitations evident:
ÿ insufficient understanding of the question displayed
ÿ largely irrelevant answer to the topic or question
ÿ display of some knowledge of material relative to the topic or question posed, but with very serious omissions/errors and/or major inaccuracies included in the answer
ÿ descriptive not analytical
ÿ lack of clarity of expression
ÿ lacking evidence of capacity for logical thinking generally
ÿ poorly structured answer
ÿ unacceptable number of presentation errors (spelling, punctuation, etc.)

Fail between 20-29%
Wholly unacceptable performance, with more than one of the following limitations evident:
ÿ unfinished answer (but not fragment) with deficient understanding of the topic or question displayed
ÿ little relevance to the topic or question
ÿ descriptive not analytical
ÿ confused expression
ÿ lacking evidence of capacity for logical thinking generally
ÿ poorly structured answer
ÿ unacceptable number of presentation errors (spelling, punctuation, etc.)

Fail between 10-19%
Wholly unacceptable performance, with more than one of the following limitations evident:
ÿ fragment of answer with almost no understanding of the topic or question displayed—irrelevant response or unfinished answer (but not a fragment) with almost no understanding of the topic or question displayed—irrelevant response
ÿ descriptive not analytical
ÿ confused expression
ÿ lacking evidence of capacity for logical thinking generally
ÿ almost no structure to the answer
ÿ clear evidence of plagiarism in sections of the essay or script
ÿ unacceptable number of presentation errors (spelling, punctuation, etc.)

Fail between 5-9%
Wholly unacceptable performance, with the following:
ÿ clear evidence of plagiarism throughout the essay or script (mark awarded irrespective of the argument, expression or structure of essay or script)

Fail between 1-4%
Wholly unacceptable performance, with more than one of the following limitations evident:
ÿ essay or script entered in name of student
ÿ response of up to one sentence
ÿ clear evidence that entire essay or script has been plagiarized

Fail of 0%
ÿ no essay or script entered


It really comes down to this. We are all grown ups here and we must all take responsibility for what we do and don't do. It's up to Fergi to study and pass his exams. If he does not it is his responsibility, not his lecturers'. As I said before, he has known for several weeks that he has to repeat. I have talked to several lecturers since I got my results. My department scheduled particular days for script-viewing with plenty of notice and LARGE reminders on the webpage.

The only advice I can offer is that which I have already stated:

"The most important things to do now (as have already been said by Fionn, Sangre and others):
1.Get past papers
2.Get the reading lists for each of your courses
3.Photocopy as much of the above as you can
4.Make a list of all topics that come up at least twice on the papers
5.Study"

But then, that's just common sense.

darth insidiari

Fergi-I actually do have one more bit of advice. Get through these repeats and then talk to your lecturers. Tell them if you are struggling in a particular area or with the subject as a whole. They do appreciate that students can have difficulties but they will be all the more understanding if you show you're really trying. In my experience, the more you get to know your lecturers the more responsive they will be. Exams and stress can have a strange effect on all of us. The more comfortable you are with your department and subject the better.

ferdi

FionnMatthew wrote:

If I'd wanted to kick Ferdi when he was down, I would have told him that he's obviously not cut out for academic work, that there's absolutely no point in him doing any work to pass, because he's just not going to, and even if he does, it'll mean next to nothing.

i'd have to agree with you there mate, you've really opened my eyes, what have i been doing with my life? would you like fries with that?

FionnMatthew

Ferdi wrote:

FionnMatthew wrote:

If I'd wanted to kick Ferdi when he was down, I would have told him that he's obviously not cut out for academic work, that there's absolutely no point in him doing any work to pass, because he's just not going to, and even if he does, it'll mean next to nothing.

i'd have to agree with you there mate, you've really opened my eyes, what have i been doing with my life? would you like fries with that?

I think your sarcasm is misplaced. Please see the emphases in the next quote.

FionnMatthew wrote:

If I'd wanted to kick Ferdi when he was down, I would have told him that he's obviously not cut out for academic work, that there's absolutely no point in him doing any work to pass, because he's just not going to, and even if he does, it'll mean next to nothing.

I didn't do that. I told him that he seemed to be wasting time worrying about side-issues, when the most important thing is to get on with it, and start studying.

I didn't say those things. I was saying that if all I'd wanted to do was kick you when you were down, I could have said things like that. But that's not what I wanted to do, and I didn't say those things because I don't believe them, and I wouldn't have meant them. I don't actually think that academic work is all that elevated a pursuit, and I believe that everyone is inherently capable of passing their exams quite easily, if they actually get down to it.

You have no prerogative to respond to that sentence as if I had said it and meant it, since it remains in the hypothetical. Your sarcasm is particularly defunct, seeing as I didn't proffer that advice, but other, more helpful, hopeful advice. I'd recommend you read more carefully, instead of seeing casual insults where there are none. Responses such as the one you've just given only serve to publicly incriminate your own reading comprehension. Carry on like that for a while and you won't need detractors.