I went into an exam that went from 6 - 8pm (I was having a buffet afterwards to celebrate so I hadn't eaten either), and my concentration span was terrible. It asked a question about China's rise and I spent most of it rambling about Japan without any kind of structure. I was sure I failed that one.
Two weeks ago, I took the Monday (December 5th) off to read for my exam on Tuesday (the 6th). Around 10 on Monday, the school called me and wondered why I hadn't showed up. I had somehow managed to read 6th instead of 5th, and this had stuck in my brain despite knowing very well that it was the 5th. I felt so stupid. Have to wait until next June to do the exam again, and then I have to travel a long way to do it.
My very last class that I needed to graduate - Complex Analysis - was the most frustrating class I've ever taken. Most of my math classes I understood just fine, but for some reason I was having issues grasping the concepts in this class.
Anyway, there were two midterms and a final. I got a 94% on the first exam, and studied my ass off for the second...I entered the class room for the test, and just blanked out. Couldn't remember a goddamn thing when I looked at the test. Managed to eke out a 40%.
For the final, about a week beforehand, the professor states that he changed the grading scale, presumably to make everyone's grades a little better. Apparently everyone else in the class was doing fine, and I was the only one having issues, so the grading scale change actually made my grade worse. I went and had a talk with the professor and he changed my grades back to what it was at (not great, but still passing).
I show up at the final, and I have like a 73% in the class (I need a 70% to pass and thus graduate), and the professor announces another change to the grading scale. I'm thinking WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING I NEED TO GRADUATE GODDAMMIT in my head, but he then says:
"Your final grade in this class will be calculated as such: your grade now, and your grade after the exam...whichever is higher will be your final grade."
So pretty much everyone got up and left, except me. I felt I kinda had to stay and take the damn thing just because I'm pretty sure that change was made solely for me. So, I ended up passing. Still a frustrating two weeks at the end of the semester though.
Which was great, since I didn't do so great on the final...
tl;dr - The only one out of like 13 students having issues in my class, professor makes a grading scale change which essentially ensures I can't fail the course so I can graduate.
Damn, reading these messages always makes me more nervous, yet at the same time, realize so many people are just like me, and shit the bed/fuck up exams. So obvious, but sometimes, you get the feeling that everyone else in the class just gets it, and your just an idiot who is struggling with stuff he should know.
Got some Second Year Comp Sci Programming tests that I've pretty damn nervous about. Like everyone said, I can do these problems/algorithms at home, where I'm at ease and know theirs no pressure, but when test time, gah, start sweating bullets and like someone said earlier, you just fucking feel like you forget everything you studied, and begin panicking. Hard.
Fuck you assholes who say Assembly is easy, godamn, I hate that shit.
Heh, the people who were nervous about Discrete math and linear algebra remind me of myself a few years ago, good times with shit, so proud of myself for managing to hunker down and get through those courses.
I'm probably gonna tank my Humanities exam later today. 10 passage identifications from all the books we read this semester plus essays. Passage ID's are going to kill me. Memorization was never a strength for me, much less now with all the other crap going on in my life day to day.
During my uni course i only failed 2 courses. In both there was an assignment worth 70% of the grade and i didn't hand either of them in for various stupid reasons.
The next year i did them and got distinctions in both and it kinda sucked taking an extra year because of sheer stupidity and laziness on my part.
I always tank my physics tests. I swear my teachers always pick question that's I've never seen before. I usually spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what to do, and by the time I get it, the test is almost over. Multiple choice usually saves me from completely failing.
That's sort of the way that science-based exams go. It's always been about the concepts - can you apply the equations and theory you've learned to a situation you've not seen before? If so, you understand said material.
I double-majored in college, but for some reason the two majors I chose also have the shittiest exams:
Computer Science: Hey! We're going to teach you all about programming and its application throughout the semester! You're going to code a lot of shit! Now, please take this exam that asks you multiple choice questions about NAND gates, and also please answer this question about multithreading in short answer.
I'm not really against having to know this type of information, it's just that in no way, shape, or form during the semester are we ever asked to apply this information before taking the test.
Math: Look, it's math! You get a problem, show your work, and get an answer. I know during your homework and whatnot you'd get partial credit if you had the right process but just messed up a minus sign in step 4, but here's your multiple choice exam where your answer is either right or wrong!
Alright, just bombed a linear algebra exam, but not quite as badly as I was expecting. Plus, I think a lot of people did worse than me, and the class is curved, so hopefully I'm ok. Might make it out with a B in that class after all. All that's left now is a CGT final tomorrow morning, which should be easy.
This semester is going to deal some serious damage to my GPA though. I'm expecting I'll get more than one C. My GPA is 3.3 right now, so if I can keep it at 3.0 or above, I should be okay and can try to raise it next semester...hopefully.
Did my Intellectual Heritage final in 40 minutes. 4 page essay. Got a B. Hell yes. I almost bombed my Japanese final but I took the time to go over my answers one by one and went from what would have assuredly been an F- to a B. Hells yeah.
Slept through a final. Was so mad at myself. Called and begged the teacher for another chance but he said no go and had to retake the class. Wasted a semester of class on that :/ Early morning classes suck.
Slept through a final. Was so mad at myself. Called and begged the teacher for another chance but he said no go and had to retake the class. Wasted a semester of class on that :/ Early morning classes suck.
Slept through a final. Was so mad at myself. Called and begged the teacher for another chance but he said no go and had to retake the class. Wasted a semester of class on that :/ Early morning classes suck.
While that specifically has never happened to me, I've missed my fair share of important early morning events, meeting, etc.. and it has gotten me into trouble.
Whenever I have to be up early, I set both alarms on my clock-radio 5 minutes apart (in case one is set improperly or I sleep through one) as well as my phone.
I will never ever sleep through anything important again.
Slept through a final. Was so mad at myself. Called and begged the teacher for another chance but he said no go and had to retake the class. Wasted a semester of class on that :/ Early morning classes suck.
It was really difficult getting used to programming in mips assembly language. Eventually got it down, though from what I'm hearing it seems to be a pretty useless skill. What architecture were you coding for?
Finished my OS final on Monday, found out today I got an A-. Disappointing to say the least. I worked really hard in that class to learn all the concepts as the instructor was terrible. It's just unfortunate his exams didn't actually test your knowledge of those concepts.
While I got A's in my other two classes, I've never felt so unaccomplished after a semester. I feel like I hardly learned anything taking these classes. Sure, I can say I passed all of my CS classes with excellent grades, but I really think I'm getting a subpar education.
If you fail a test for the 3rd time in germany (Diplom), you get expelled from university and you can´t study that major again, for the rest of your life in the whole of germany.
You have to choose a similar major and hope that some of your classes etc. carry over.
Happend to two of my friends - its fucked up.
I bombed lots of tests - but when i took them again most of the time i rocked them.
And I´ll never forget the nightmare i had to go trough after i failed a test two times in a row and then had to take the final 3rd one. If i had failed that test, 3 years of work would have been vanished.
If you fail a test for the 3rd time in germany (Diplom), you get expelled from university and you can´t study that major again, for the rest of your life in the whole of germany.
If you fail a test for the 3rd time in germany (Diplom), you get expelled from university and you can´t study that major again, for the rest of your life in the whole of germany.
You have to choose a similar major and hope that some of your classes etc. carry over.
Happend to two of my friends - its fucked up.
I bombed lots of tests - but when i took them again most of the time i rocked them.
And I´ll never forget the nightmare i had to go trough after i failed a test two times in a row and then had to take the final 3rd one. If i had failed that test, 3 years of work would have been vanished.
That's pretty damn harsh but honestly if you can't pass a class after the 3rd attempt, you probably should switch majors. Failing once can happen to anyone, failing a second time is possible if unforeseen circumstances occur. But a third time? No excuses.
Crazy right?! But that's just one of the ways to get canned. If you fail five tests two times in a row (no matter witch semester) you're out because you only have four 3´rd tries.
Well I don't know how to compare a BA to a Diploma all that well. But for example: If you study automotive engineering and fail a class three times (or the above) you can kiss this idea goodbye, but you can still become, let's say, a construction engineer or things like that. There is just no way to become a automotive eng.. It's not that all of the eng. paths get blocked. Just the one you failed in.
Jesus christ this was supposed to be a relatively easy course, not the fucking ridiculous shit it turned out to be. Average of 64/90 on an exam and you're not curving it? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?
God dammit. I was supposed to start improving my sub-3.0 gpa this year, but because I suck at one class, that sure as hell isn't happening. FUCK.
Crammed like crazy this year. Pretty much my experience:
However, the exams went well this semester. Spent my fair time with them all and finished them all with around 30 minutes to spare. Always remembered this comic while submitting it:
Have my last one tomorrow and I'm spending it playing Tekken, I'm ready for it
I few years ago I bombed the midterm for a electricity & magnetism physics course. Got about 8/35. The professor lets you drop the midterm mark to add the percentage to the final. Banked on a 85% final. Passed with a D.
It was a 2 hour final that I finished in 20 minutes. I hated that class and figured that I only needed a 15/100 to pass. I don't remember what I scored but I did well enough to get a C- and even remember writing a note to the professor on the last page about how "I apologize for how poor the answers are." Finished it and never looked back.
Awesome, turns out I did better than I thought on the geology final and didn't tank it after all. That or my teacher had mercy since it was the second time I took her same class. Either way, I was expecting a C so I'm pretty damn happy to have B instead.
I double-majored in college, but for some reason the two majors I chose also have the shittiest exams:
Computer Science: Hey! We're going to teach you all about programming and its application throughout the semester! You're going to code a lot of shit! Now, please take this exam that asks you multiple choice questions about NAND gates, and also please answer this question about multithreading in short answer.
I'm not really against having to know this type of information, it's just that in no way, shape, or form during the semester are we ever asked to apply this information before taking the test.
I tanked the fuck out of my Spanish final (<60%, mixed it up with my English final) but I still ended up with a B in the class. No complaints I guess...
Fucked myself BIG TIME in Pharmacology. I had a high B in that class. I needed a 90% or so on the final to get an A, or a 55% to get a B. I figured I didn't even need to study, as there was no way I could get less than a 55% on my final exam. I got a 50%
Jesus christ this was supposed to be a relatively easy course, not the fucking ridiculous shit it turned out to be. Average of 64/90 on an exam and you're not curving it? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?
God dammit. I was supposed to start improving my sub-3.0 gpa this year, but because I suck at one class, that sure as hell isn't happening. FUCK.
For a thread that should be about crying I see alot more happiness going around.
As for me, I failed my Statistics for business class. Going to have to retake it next semester...
Fucked myself BIG TIME in Pharmacology. I had a high B in that class. I needed a 90% or so on the final to get an A, or a 55% to get a B. I figured I didn't even need to study, as there was no way I could get less than a 55% on my final exam. I got a 50%
My grades for my last 2 classes have yet to be posted, but I think I may have gotten my first C in college thanks to Research Methods. That class is all about getting your research proposal ready for Senior Research which was pretty easy, but the final was mostly on stuff we never talked about in class. A lot of it wasn't even on the study guide either.
I had a low B at first. So yeah, probably a C after that stupid final. Whatever, did well on the exams that really matter for my major. Just happy this semester is over. Definitely the biggest pain in the ass so far.
I did my last one just a few hours ago, and cross-checked the answers afterwards. Mathematical analysis. My answers are right, so I'm hoping whoeve's doing the correcting just goes by those. Otherwise I'm sure I did all the calculations unorthodoxally.
High School algebra rocked my world, I was a first track / honors track student getting 25% on tests...I had such a block on algebra, I somehow passed Algebra 1, improved some in Algebra 2 (still was probably in bottom 10% of class).
It was the first time I ever felt honest to god stupid, it was like another language for me.
Over time, I've gotten far more comfortable with math despite not having had classes in a decade, its like that part of my brain took 10 years too much to develope.
I did get a 7 on a philosophy quiz once in college, but it was one of those out there in the clouds type classes, where nothing made sense to anyone.
My buddy once wrote a 5 page blue book essay response for an exam, and the teach wrote on it, on the cover, "Do you live in a vacuum?", no lie...it was funny and insulting, all wrapped into one comment.
Hell no, man. I was much better at putting the concepts into practice than really knowing the concepts myself. I know that's probably not the best way to do it, but I would rather write 300 lines of code than to answer a multiple choice question.
