Hey everyone, my name is Julian and I graduated in 2020 with a 99.95 atar. Since it is that time of the year again, with exams coming up, here are some tips that I found useful to make the most of the second half of the year.
- Deep Work - this is the work performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your brain to its limit, and in our studies, it is optimal to rely on deep work since it saves time but also allows you to enter a flow state to tackle more difficult tasks (like writing essays 🙂
- Mistakes - track all your errors. I had a notebook for subjects such as chemistry and maths where I would note down every question that I got wrong, then look at them before a test or SAC. This is because focusing on what we are weakest gives us the best result for our time investment.
- Feedback - try to get as much teacher feedback as possible for your essays, SACs etc, or go online to forums such as this one for feedback!
- Models - use sample essays or worked solutions in your study process since they offer great insights into what assessors what
- Recovery - make sure to take plenty of rest! I usually only studied to a maximum of 4-5 hrs each day, and the rest of the time was spent relaxing. Note that you don't have to study for 10+ hrs if you are fully focused for those 4-5hrs.
If you want more tips and advice, my youtube channel covers more tips and tricks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W5vGklgiZI&ab_channel=JLTutoring
All the best! Happy to address any concerns in the lead up to exams
