Whether you’re halfway through your exams, or haven’t even started yet, Trial survival is about more than just putting the hours in. Trial survival is about studying smart, taking time for yourself, and dealing with the stress of the exams.
1. Trial Survival: Study Smart
I’ve written enough articles about the best ways to study smart, so I won’t spend too long on that here. For some more detail, check out some of our other guides!
Study smart, not hard
18 ways to study
Getting your study notes in order
Studying aimlessly will not get you the results you want. Having a targeted plan, and ensuring that you’re not wasting your time, is key not only to Trial survival but to Trial success. So, do yourself a favor; give the below dotpoints a go. I promise that it will increase the efficiency of your study regime!
Have a detailed list of how you are planning to study. Tick things off as you do them. The sense of satisfaction you’ll receive is almost as good as finishing your English Paper 2
Compress information. Studying from a full set of notes will barely help and this stage of your Trials; you just don’t have time to go through your notes every time you want to do revision. Create super succinct sets of notes, with only information that you’re planning to memorise. For more on this point, check out my article here!
Do a billion past papers. Just do it.
2. Vary your Study Methodology
My number one study tip is always to do past papers. Do every paper from 1980-2015, and then do them again. Then again. And again. I just think that this is the best way to get a sense of what you can actually be assessed on, as opposed to aimlessly studying everything you can get your hands on.
However, there are more ways to study than just doing past papers or writing notes. Think outside the box, and try to come up with unique ways to interact with your subjects that work for you. For instance, I was a big fan of writing worksheets for myself, which I would photocopy and fill in a few times a day in order to memorise huge amounts of statistics. Coming up with subject-dependant techniques that are individually catered for will help you study effectively.
Options could include worksheets (for a detailed explanation, check out this link), flashcards, discussion groups, pneumonic devices, songs, summary worksheets, angry notes (I did this a few times; where I wrote down concepts I didn’t understand whilst swearing at myself for not understanding them), collages, literally anything that you can think of! Brainstorm these ideas when you’re going through Tip #1. Honestly, this will make study so, so much easier and less repetitive!
3. Vary your Study Environment
Don’t just spend all of your study time in your room. Trial survival is not just about study, it’s also about mental well-being. What I’m trying to say is GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSE! I know that the weather has been dodgy recently, but if there’s a clear few hours, set up a table outside and study there. Bring your notes to the beach, study in the park, even set up at a window in the Library. Just ensure that you vary your environment regularly, so that you are less likely to feel defeated. You don’t want to be looking at your desk with pain, or walking to the library as though you’re being led to the gallows.
I used to set up a table outside as often as I could and study there, or walk down to the beach and talk out loud about various dot points. I would highly recommend a similar approach!
4. Work in Groups, when Productive
I couldn’t recommend working in groups more. The only reason I understood most of the Physics and Chemistry concepts was due to group conversations. I’m not going to go more in-depth regarding the ridiculousness of the notion that “working in groups will make my ATAR worse”; all I’ll say is that this idea is just untrue. Working in groups, if anything, is going to boost your ATAR. If you can understand a concept well enough to be able to explain it, or if you’re struggling and need an explanation other than your teacher’s, your peers are your best resource.
If you can, put together a group of people that you can study with and meet up regularly. Go over difficult content, look through some past papers, but mainly just talk to each other about the curriculum. Bouncing ideas back and forward is such a good way to retain information, develop thesis’, understand complex ideas, pinpoint which areas you aren’t so strong with, and solidify concepts you do understand.
Offer to help the students’ around you, because explaining concepts is the best way to know that you understand them. Helping your cohort can be purely selfish: by helping them, you’re really just helping yourself. Also, it sort of feels good to help out your friends.
5. Music
Music got me through my Trials. I know it seems ridiculous, but listening to classical music actually makes studying easier. I didn’t believe it either, but when I tried it, it worked! I didn’t use this often, because to be honest classical music is boring af, but sometimes your Trial survival is dependent on remaining calm and collected. If you’re feeling frantic, if you’re feeling like you won’t survive, if you’re feeling like you won’t study productively; throw on some classical music, and study to the soothing tones of Bach. Music that I would recommend:
Then again, classical music might not always do it for you. Back before Spotify (I only graduated in 2014, but I still feel super old), I had Pandora on literally 12 hours a day. If you don’t use Pandora, I would really recommend it; it takes some songs that you like, and plays you songs it thinks you’ll like. If you don’t study well with music on, obviously don’t, but you don’t want to have to worry about constantly skipping songs!
I’m going to admit something pretty embarrassing; for complicated reasons, I had one specific song that got me through my Trials. Every time I played it, I would feel energized and ready for studying. That song? Not Giving In – Rudimental. Not the most sophisticated of songs, right? Still, whatever gets you through the day (and for me, listening to the song 35 times a day was what it took).
6. Use Online Resources
The best of which is Atar Notes! For absolutely free, online tutoring, click here. You can ask literally any question, about any subject, and get an answer ASAP.
There are other resources out there, too. If you’re having trouble conceptualizing something, try to find a YouTube video about it. I feel like animations/explanations are the best ways to understand a difficult concept. Use your textbooks, email your teachers, find other online resources that help you out. Don’t just use the internet to procrastinate; use it to your advantage!
And those are my main tips to getting through the next few weeks of exams. If you ever have any questions, please head over to the forums and ask. There are moderators on there all the time, including me, helping with whatever it is you might need! Best of luck 🙂
