SCHOLS- The big mystery?

caffeinecat

Hi there!
I'm posting this out here (I guess due to a mix of frustration and indecisiveness ) in hope of getting some advice/ tips about taking the schols exams this year.
I know much of the schol advice is department-specific (psych student here!:)), but my problem is, I can't seem to find ANY information on how to approach these exams!
It seems like a well kept mystery, to be completely honest. I've asked the lecturers, the (unsuccessful) exam survivors, but it all comes down to one thing:

"All you need is a different approach"

Okay. Clearly these exams are harder and marked differently than the summer exams- otherwise, everyone would be a scholar. Clearly the way to study is to practice writing exam essays and research the topics in more detail.

But what IS this different approach to exams, exactly?
I'm not sure how to approach the annuals in the first place, never mind having an idea of adapting approaches to schol standard.

Do you guys have any experience/ advice on preparing for these exams? If you are a scholar, did you have a specific approach to writing essays?
Basically, is there anything I should and should not do in the upcoming months/the exam itself?

Ah, this is driving me crazy!
Anyone else out there sharing the misery yet?

-N

234

The best thing to do is to contact some of the current scholars in your school. In mine we organise a talk every year where the current scholars give their advice and those attending ask questions. Your school would probably be fine with it once it's made clear that the opinions expressed are those of the individuals and not the school/faculty/college. You can find a list of all the scholars, past and present, on the scholars website.

My biggest tip would be to develop your critical analysis skills.

For the most part schols are not secretive at all. The Secretary to the Scholars organises a large information session every year and most scholars are only too happy to give advice.

Ultimately there is an element of "you either have it or you don't". While an enormous amount of hard work will always be necessary, the exams will never repay rote learning. It's about developing a more critical way of thinking rather than just digesting large amounts of material.

Anita Blow

I'm not sure there's much advice to give.

I had to give a talk to 2nd years in my department last week who were thinking of sitting schols and I found it difficult to come up with much advice to give them, purely because everyone wants to be told "Do X, Y, Z & you'll get schols". Unfortunately that isn't really the case. What works for one person doesn't for another & everyone has different approaches.

Ultimately you have to get to grips with schols yourself. I know some people formed study groups, which they found helpful. Remember, you're not competing with other students so there's no limit on how many of yous can get schols so study groups can be a good way of sharing information and study techniques.
Best advice I can give is don't half-ass it. If you're going for schols, give it everything you have and sacrifice those nights out, that lie in on the weekend or days off or those breaks between lectures.

It's a hard slog but when you hear your name called out on Trinity Monday it's 100% worth it. Always keep that goal in mind

Grolschevik

234 has the right of it. It's about being able to think critically rather than simply remember.

EuropeanSon

You have to work very hard, and be very good to begin with. That's it. There's no shortcut, no easy way. They are just hard exams, and you have to do well in them. I got it in maths two years ago, so I can't really give much specific, useful advice to a psychology student, beyond that. There's no mystery, no special recipe. You just need to do really well in some pretty tough exams.

languagenerd

Focus on the past papers and read a lot of secondary material. It's not enough just to revise your lecture notes from last year, you need to go into greater depth with it. Research your topics as much as you can and try to draw your own conclusions. See if any of your lecturers would correct one of your practice answers and give you feedback on it.

TBH, I think Schols comes down to luck in a lot of subjects. Before anyone jumps on me, I don't mean that you could do no work and get lucky on the day - you have to do a hell of a lot of work to get it - but it really can depend on the combination of questions you get. One really good answer can just push you over the post and one awkward question could put you just under. I did it twice and didn't get it either time, but annoyingly if I'd got the 2010 Paper 2 with the 2011 Paper 1, I would have got it! That's not to say don't do it, if anything, it should keep you going: you never know, you might get the exact questions you need

Start working as soon as possible, get your head around the topics you'll need and work to as much detail as you can.

George_Foreman

This post has been deleted.

lfqnic

I think I sort of know what you mean about the mystery, in that they emphasise that a 1st in schols is marked harder than a regular first, etc, but it would be hard to demystify something that is probably fairly subjective to begin with. Basically, if you tend to get firsts, go for it, but be aware that you need to be at the very top of your game, and that there are no guarantees. Don't assume that because you do well without much effort in assignments that the same will apply. Work as much as you possibly can - above and beyond what you would do for an essay - and be honest about that. Don't think a few hours here and there will do it - give up on Christmas. If you are a very good student and you do your absolute best, you have a good chance. Just don't slack and don't assume, and don't let it crush you if you don't get it. Yes, it's worth a hell of a lot, and totally worth the hard work (I was exhaaaaausted after) but as languagenerd said, we've all had ****ty papers and it doesn't mean you don't have the substance to be an excellent scholar. I still have a feeling I got it by the skin of my teeth, but I'm not complaining