How do you do your past papers? (1 Viewer)

[mrpotatoed]

Just curious as to how everyone does it? Do you sit there for the full 3 hours, and actually do the 5 minutes reading time, or just go through trial papers like an exercise from a textbook? I try to do the former, but 3 hours straight everyday eventually becomes so hard to mentally endure

 

[Speed6]

Since you will actually be sitting for a 3 hour exam +5 minute reading time, I think it's a good idea to replicate that so you can get used to working user pressure by this thing called 'time'.

 

[DatAtarLyfe]

Just curious as to how everyone does it? Do you sit there for the full 3 hours, and actually do the 5 minutes reading time, or just go through trial papers like an exercise from a textbook? I try to do the former, but 3 hours straight everyday eventually becomes so hard to mentally endure

I am currently in the process of doing past papers for my prelim's, and yeah I do abide by time restrictions, reading time etc. I then mark my work at the end, to make sure i can fix any gaps in knowledge. Yeah it can get quite exhausting so I would suggest maybe doing one every second day, just to give your mind some rest but tbh, most of the year 12's i talk to tell me the they do one past paper per day :/. Also, try adding variety in your past papers, so do a maths papers one day, then do a phys or whatever you do the next day. That way, your still working and practicing under exam conditions but you not doing the same monotonous subject.

 

[leehuan]

Extension 2 I usually use up 2hr30min of my 3hr anyway. Because there's always some question that stumps me.

 

[Kaido]

You're NOT going to need the whole 3 hours. It's set up to be done in 2 and a half hours with half an hour of checking (For pretty much all maths and sciences).

 

[porcupinetree]

Sometimes I do it timed for 3 hours, sometimes I just do it like an exercise. It is true that doing the former increases your exam technique, however as you said, it does become very exhausting after a while. Personally I would suggest doing a mix of both and do whichever one you feel like doing on the day - if you can find motivation and energy to do a 3 hr exam then that's great, but don't put yourself under the pressure of timing yourself if you're not having the best day and feel tired.

 

[iamaloser17]

I do about three past papers without prior study to get a feel of what I know and don't know, my strengths/weaknesses etc. etc. Then I revise everything, with a larger focus on what I found myself to be weaker in. And then do past papers again under a 2h 45min limit. If cracks still appear, repeat. And if it doesn't still doesn't work, then I think of the scrubs I'd rek if I could fix my mistakes, become motivated to fix, rek and get 99.95 atar.

 

[BLIT2014]

Sit there for a full 3 hours, unless you manage to finish the paper earlier.

It is advisable to simulate exam conditions.

 

[SilentWaters]

*simulate

otherwise that sentence sounds semi-erotic

 

[Chris_S]

Yeah just try to replicate the real exam as best as possible!

 

[enigma_1]

Don't over do it

You don't have to replicate 3 hour exam conditions every day. Best not to wear yourself out. Even like 3 timed exams a week done properly will suffice. But make sure you actually do timed exams because as Blit said, the best way to prepare yourself for an exam is to replicate the exam conditions exactly how they will be on the day. So no breaks in between the 3 hours - just focus, and that way when you have the exam you'd be used to the pressure. If you can't do it at home, do the exam in the library, and pick a hard exam. A lot of people don't do timed exams and that's their major downfall.

 

[mrpotatoed]

I'm doing two papers a day at the moment, I find it hard to get through the last questions, as I just can't be bothered at that point... (this doesn't happen to me in actual exams of course), yet I feel like I haven't done enough work if I do less papers a day/do it like an exercise.

 

[Axio]

Does anyone have some advise for how to actually finish an Ext 2 paper in 3 hrs ? Because most of the time I start doing question 8 with very little time left...

 

[faisalabdul16]

Does anyone have some advise for how to actually finish an Ext 2 paper in 3 hrs ? Because most of the time I start doing question 8 with very little time left...

Make sure you thoroughly understand the content in 4u. Because often questions can be done in a very quick way.
Also a tip, if you can't do a question, don't dwell on it and spend most of your time trying to figure it out. Move on. With 4u, it's better to do 80% of the paper and get 80 raw/100 rather than doing 100% (with iffy answers) of the paper and getting 50/100.

 

[leehuan]

Everyone works at different paces, but if you divide 3hr (180min) by 100 you should never be spending more than 1.8min per mark as a rule of thumb. Of course, this rule is not definitive due to question difficulty.

Personally, I can complete a paper if I don't get stuck in 2hr30

 

[Axio]

Make sure you thoroughly understand the content in 4u. Because often questions can be done in a very quick way.
Also a tip, if you can't do a question, don't dwell on it and spend most of your time trying to figure it out. Move on. With 4u, it's better to do 80% of the paper and get 80 raw/100 rather than doing 100% (with iffy answers) of the paper and getting 50/100.

I'm not sure what it is, I think I might have a tendency to dwell on questions I don't know. And I only just started doing past papers a few days ago. But I did the 2010 HSC exam the other day and I ran out of time but just kept going and I got out all of question 8 (except part a )

 

[porcupinetree]

I'm not sure what it is, I think I might have a tendency to dwell on questions I don't know. And I only just started doing past papers a few days ago. But I did the 2010 HSC exam the other day and I ran out of time but just kept going and I got out all of question 8 (except part a )

I would suggest not doing actual past HSC papers until perhaps September - for the moment, it's better to do school trials. Often HSC exams are harder and like to mix up topics a lot - personally I find it a lot more useful to do school trial papers just to make sure I am very competent with the concepts, before delving into HSC exams.
Especially seeing as you are struggling to finish in time, I reckon it would be useful to spend more time on school papers imo. Good luck

 

[anomalousdecay]

Been doing this since year 11 and I still do it now.

Just spam the whole thing out in one go then mark it. Marking takes a dedicated one hour or so to make sure I learn everything properly according to marking guidelines (in the case of prelim, HSC, maths at uni, etc). For my more dedicated courses, I mark by checking answers with others/solutions then redo any questions with mistakes from scratch. Still do the whole paper in one go though!

Also, in the case where you have the time, use feedback from one or two past papers as where your weaknesses lie. When you figure out your weaknesses, do other extra questions from textbooks or some other sources and consolidate your foundation for that weakness.

If you are cramming, might be worth cutting your losses and just keep doing past papers and hope for the best. If you have the extra time then don't let the weaknesses limit your final marks.

 

[dan964]

It is advisable to start with "open book" exams i.e. if you can't do something refer to notes (not to answers/marking guidelines); if you don't have notes that help you, refer to teacher or tutor, if they cannot help (or you don't have tutor), then maybe ask others.

Then I reckon do "closed book" where no materials are aside you. Practice the entire 3 hours, you are going to have to get through it. Make sure to break (I reckon 45 min break) before resuming study or doing another one. (You can spend that time marking, it is more preferable to get someone else to mark for accountability)

 

[dan964]

the other thing (which I actually did in the MX1 trial) which works better for MX1 (or 2U if you happen to be a MX1 student on the MX2 forum), is to attempt the paper backwards.