Pre-exam jitters: How do you guys deal with the anxiety?

Ugh, I’m also totally over all the comments about my college major... I think Amy Gomez36 is actually right on this one; it really just comes down to how much someone chooses to interpret things... and honestly, how much they even care in the first place.

I mean, I’ve never actually studied for an exam for more than a week at most, but I am a total pro at cutting corners... It seems like the people who are willing to actually grind through every single piece of literature end up pulling those A's and B's and then writing these fancy little applications for scholarships...

I guess I’m pretty happy being somewhere in that middle ground, especially since most of my classes are actually interesting enough that I don't need to go overboard. There have been some absolutely brutal, nightmare-level exams too, where I actually put in the work (though still probably not enough) and ended up passing with just a C...

It seriously drives me insane when my friends start talking trash about how easy or hard my major is. We seriously have a massive amount of material to learn and work through, but the reality is that most of my classmates are basically just natural-born posers who know exactly how to talk their way out of stuff, which most of the professors actually love (because they’re equally eccentric) so everyone passes. The students who are actually hardworking and book-smart are definitely in the minority, but like I said, they’re the ones walking away with the better grades...

Amy Gomez36 said:By the way, Ashley Vaughn79—congrats on passing your exam! 😉

Thanks 😁

I suppose talking about college is a bit silly... Like someone else mentioned earlier, I guess it all comes down to how you look at it.
It felt a little easier for me, given how little I actually study, and I've already finished four exams... With average grades (not that it really matters to me. Just one B, one F, and two Cs 😁)

But maybe we should get back to talking about pre-exam stress and panic.

My next six months are going to be pretty packed—lots of exams and those last four credits I still need to clear. It might be a struggle...

These exams have to be absolute garbage if you're expected to cram everything in just one week!

Seriously—I can barely prep for a single elective in seven days, let alone some "major" exam.

Look, if you're juggling 22 exams a year and only studying for maybe two hours every week or two (if you're lucky...🙄 )... that adds up to roughly three months of study per year. Hello?!

It's a complete joke. 😠

Maybe you all are just geniuses while I'm clearly the idiot here... I guess that's how it works.

👋

You know what really gets under my skin?!

It’s the crowd from those "easy" colleges who—always, but ALWAYS—insist on complaining about how their workload isn't actually that bad and how they "have to study" too. I’m not saying you don't have to study—of course you do—but a week of intense cramming? It’s honestly ridiculous... I mean, that was basically my entire high school experience.

Why can't you just be happy and satisfied that you managed to get into such easy programs, instead of constantly feeling the need to act tough—like, "oh, it’s not easy for us either"???

Susan Miller65, what kind of brutal degree are you even tackling?

I mean, does it really matter if I have seven exams with 800 pages of reading each, or fourteen exams with 400 pages...
It’s not like I’m counting how many hours someone spends studying or deciding whose major is "harder."
At the end of the day, my goal is just to come out of this as an expert—someone who actually knows their stuff, can land a great job, or maybe even launch a private business and make good money doing what I actually love...

So what happens if you have, say, nine files—where a few are massive 2,000-page beasts, but the rest are just sitting between 400 and 800?

Don't even get me started... I could probably knock that out in a couple of weeks by grinding through an hour or two every day, I guess 😠.

Nevermind.

Look, I’m not trying to pick a fight with you! I honestly thought you might have a point there—those exams over there are absolute monsters.

I mean, I’ve never been the type to just pull two hours of studying and call it a day. For me, it’s at least six to eight hours every single day. Then, once the exams are finally over, I just take a few days off and completely zone out... If I start grinding like that back in December, you can imagine how much work I actually put in.

😁 😁 😁

I might have gotten a little carried away... 😳

My bad, Casey Palmer5! 😘

Susan Miller65 said:Oh, sure, I guess you guys are all just super geniuses and I’m just totally clueless... that’s probably how it works.

👋

Look, I’m sorry, but I honestly find any debate about how "hard" a college major is to be completely pointless.

Thank Bog I chose a field I actually care about and one that comes relatively naturally to me. Why even complain if you picked what you picked? If I had wanted to go to medical school, I would have gone because that was my interest, and I wouldn't be sitting here comparing my workload to majors that don't have midterms or a thousand pages of reading every single week.

It's not like I'm "smarter" than anyone else who spends more time hitting the books... if I were, I'd be studying way harder, pulling straight A's, and I'd have been off my parents' payroll a long time ago. I just want to bust this myth that certain majors are "lazy"—every single program requires work, it just depends on you... The reality is that in most of them, a little bit of luck and knowing how to navigate the system goes a long way.

Amy Gomez36, sorry for going off on a tangent here...

Luck and being resourceful, I suppose... That’s just how I handle things—whatever happens, happens.

Some people just seem to have all the luck and get what they want without much effort, while others... well, some really have to grind for it.

I have a friend in med school who studies from sunrise to sunset... I think she's given it her all so far, mostly pulling A's and B's, though maybe she's snagged a C once or twice, I guess.😁

Honestly, everyone’s getting a little high-strung—I suppose finals week is looming over us all like a dark cloud.😁

Seriously, what is there to argue about when it comes to which college major is "harder"? At the end of the day, we all made our own choices regarding what to study—so let's be real: nobody is to blame if one person ends up grinding harder than another.
Take my best friend, for example. She’ll be staring down fifteen exams in a single term while I’ve got half that load. By the time I’ve knocked out one, she’s already cleared three. But there’s a reason for that—she spent four years being a total academic machine, showing up to every lecture, waking up at dawn, and sticking to a rigid, disciplined schedule. Meanwhile, I’ve always preferred to manage my own time—organizing my study sessions whenever and however I see fit.
It really just comes down to individual willpower and how people handle their business. 🙂

I don't have any exams coming up right now, but I totally get it when someone is "in the zone" because they've got some nasty midterm looming over them—they just shut everyone else out. Honestly, I’m no better. Usually, when I’m in that headspace, my study partner just sends me to the kitchen for a quick snack to cool off. And yeah, I'll head there myself whenever I see her nerves are starting to fray...

Hey Susan Miller65, what exactly are you majoring in?😕

As for me... two hours a week basically translates to one less exam to worry about! 😉 Not all twelve, mind you! 😉

Besides, it’s all pretty subjective—if you’re actually studying something you enjoy, it won’t feel like a grind... but if you're stuck doing something you hate, then yeah, it's going to be a struggle. Whatever.

Anyway, no big deal on the off-topic thread. It's totally fine. 😉

...I'm heading off now to knock out my two hours for the day. 🙂

Amy Gomez36 said:[

...if you're studying what you actually love, it won't feel hard...

[/B]

Yeah, right.🙂

Do all your exams feel that fascinating?

Honestly, I’ve lost interest in all that nonsense anyway!!! 😁

You make a fair point regarding that specific issue... but if you're actually interested in the whole picture, then this remaining part—if you can even call it that—won't be too much for you to handle either... I guess... 😉

...it’s honestly the absolute worst when you're right in the thick of college, or even worse, staring down the finish line like I am right now... you start working and suddenly everything shifts. I have no clue when I'll actually clear those last seven credits, so I really need to buckle down and study. Last night I finally pulled my textbooks out, set them right next to my bed, laid down, and just drifted off... but hey, even that counts as a starting point, right? tell me I'm doing okay...🙏

Yes, yes!!! And it’s easily the absolute best!!!! At least it always is for me! 😉

Bravoooo!👋

Brenda Reed3 said:....last night I pulled my books out, set them right by the bed, lay down, and fell asleep....but even that counts as a start, doesn't it? tell me I'm one of yours....🙏

Well, great. At least you actually started somewhere.😉 (Some people haven't even managed that.)

Try putting them under your pillow tonight.😁 😳

I was digging through some old threads today and stumbled upon this... Since it feels like the right time, and February is already just around the corner, I figured I’d bump this back up to the top...

Maybe we can all find a little extra motivation here😁

I've actually already started getting things moving on my end. I've got two pieces lined up for next week😢

dora said:What if you have, say, nine books, and a few of them are massive 2,000-pagers while the rest run between 400 and 800?

Don't even get me started... I could probably knock that out in a couple of weeks just by grinding through a few chapters a day 😠.

Nevermind.

Personally, I always split my college courses into two camps—the "memorization slogs" where you just have to cram everything into your brain—and then there were the others.

I went to a university where I had to plow through mountains of thick textbooks, but honestly, I only had to do pure rote memorization for maybe two exams in all four years—one of which was Law.

Everything else was pretty much just logic and connecting the dots.