Dear Reader 13

Anonymous said...

Hello K,
do you remember what you got on your first midterm in chem 1A?
Also, do you have any advice for us on future midterms?? thanks!

Dear Anonymous,

I believe I got an F on my first chem midterm hahaha 

I was depressed for three days straight. I thought I knew all the material going in and I finished the exam about twenty minutes early and thought "That wasn't so bad..." It was my first college test ever and I wasn't sure on how to approach the test. The failing grade was a huge wake-up call for me. If you didn't do too well on the first midterm, just remember that you have about 4 more tests to go (total of 4 midterms and 1 final i believe?) and so your first midterm will be buffered by many others. As for advice on future midterms- I started doing the practice exams weeks in advance so that way, I would have plenty of time to go to GSI office hours and get help on material I didn't fully understand or that I needed extra help with. I also started going to the professors' office hours and SLC study groups. All these things just help reinforce the material. Reading the book didn't help me too much. While doing the practice tests, try to get into the frame of mind "How do I apply the concepts learned in lecture to this problem?" since all of the chem 1A midterms are extremely conceptual. After a few midterms, I figured out how to 'think' about the problems and so my scores started going up. I ultimately did well on my final and lab so I did alright in the class (although your labs are separate this year so that's a bit confusing..). 

I hope this helps somewhat (people usually find what study methods work for them half way through the semester so don't worry too much! :) Good luck on your future exams and in chem 1A! 

-K