How to Study For: Uni Entrance Exams
14 JUL 2020
Hey guys! I’m currently studying for the TSA and I thought it would be helpful for me to consolidate my process so I can look back on it. Then I remembered that I have a studyblr (woop woop 🎉!) and that I can possibly help others by posting it on here.
NOTE: This is a strategy for exams consisting of multiple choice or short answer questions. If you’d like me to cover essay question prep, just let me know 🥰 !
Btw, I’m a conceptual learner that likes formulas so if this sounds like a rocket launch countdown, I deeply apologise ?.
What You’ll Need:
Internet - I mean, what don’t we use it for these days?
Practise papers
Practise questions
Phase 1 - Preparation
Step 1: Don’t panic
Okay you can panic a little, especially if you’ve left it late but not all hope is lost!
Yes, I know the ‘duh, duh, duh!!!’ didn’t help but panicking will only make you feel overwhelmed and will make the exam seem impossible. Here’s what you should do instead:
Step 2: Find out what the university actually wants
Why do they have an entrance exam anyway?
Especially in the UK, most universities don’t have an entrance exam so if they do, there’s a reason and you’re going to be Sherlock Holmes and find out why that is. Whilst it may seem like they’re trying to traumatise you, I don’t think they particularly enjoy marking a zillion papers 🤧.
What do they expect?
For most university courses, there are a grade requirements and knowing what those are is really helpful for setting your own expectations. If your course (likes mine) doesn’t require maths and there are maths problems on the exam, they won’t be at A-level, IB HL or AP standard.
What score should I be aiming for?
This links to the previous question but finding admissions stats for your subject will help you determine a mark that you’re aiming for. Many of these tests are not designed for really high marks so releasing that expectation early will save you a great deal of stress.
What skills are they testing?
For some entrance exams, the university will list out the skills they’re testing in their entrance exam. Practising these skills broadly will help you to develop them. For example, if they’re testing translation in a language entrance exam, reading in the target language and understanding it will be good practise because you’ll be able to convey ideas from another language if you understand them.
Step 3: Master your strategy
The worst thing that could happen in an exam is that you don’t know what to do or what to write. The best way to tackle that? Having a strategy. Sometimes just having something to do in an exam even if you don’t actually know what you’re doing gives your brain some time to stop freaking out and start problem-solving. To master your strategy, you need to:
Find out the question types
For example, the TSA is split into 2 sections (I have to do both 😭), one multiple-choice paper and one 30 minute essay. I know there are about 9-10 different types of questions targeting 2 skills: critical thinking and problem-solving. By doing this, I can work towards perfecting each question type and in theory will be able to do the whole of the first paper.
Figure out the timings
You can do this in minutes per mark or if there’s an advised amount of time you should spend on a particular type of question, take a note of this.
Figure out your process for each question type
Usually at the beginning of a book full of practise questions, there will be a description as to how best to approach each question. If there isn’t or you don’t have access to one, try looking up strategies on the wonder that is the Internet. If you’re still not sure, attempt questions with commentary answers so that id you get them wrong, you can create a strategy of your own using the tips you’ve gathered from there.
Practise, practise practice. Oh, and did I say practise?
When practising questions:
Make sure to practise a block of questions that are all the same type. This will allow you to learn how to identify the question type quicker and also gives you a sign to stop so you don’t spend all day working on these questions because you’re stressed 😪.
1. Attempt the question
2. Mark the question
3. If you got it wrong, try and figure out why yourself - write this in a different colour.
4. Check the markscheme or talk-through (if there is one) and add in anything you may have missed or anything that could be helpful for the next question in another colour. Now you’ve differentiated between what you could figure out and what you couldn’t.
5. Attempt the next question
*This may seem tedious because why would you not mark all the questions at the end? Doing it this way ensures you approach each question with a better idea of what to do and allows you to pick up on nuances that you may not have otherwise realised. Also, you don’t want to instil the “wrong” method or idea because of muscle-memory.*
6. Once you finish your block of questions, make note of something that went well, something that could’ve been better and what to do for next time. I’d advise you to keep this in a table so that you can see your progress over time. Make sure to look at this before you attempt this style of question again.
Okay so now we now how to practise a block of questions, do we do them to time or not.
I’d recommend doing them not to time at first.
This will allow you to focus on mastering your process and approach to each type of question. You should continue to do this (if you have enough time) until:
You’ve perfected your process/approach
You’ve ensured your strategy actually helps YOU get the right answer
Once you know the strategy works, you’ll feel more confident in the exam, especially because you know if you blank, you have something to fall back on.
I say ‘YOU’ because whilst a strategy straight out of a textbook may work fine for someone else, it may not be the best way for you. Don’t be afraid to tweak it to fit you or create a whole new strategy altogether!
Now, if your strategy works, move onto the next stage. If not, let’s troubleshoot your strategy.
Troubleshooting your process:
1. Find patterns: are there a particular nuances you’re always missing or mistakes you’re making?
For example, in the TSA being able to differentiate between premises and conclusions is really important. If I find that this is something I can’t do, I’ve discovered a pattern.
2. Practise on easier questions.
With the example above, I may look up arguments for GCSE RS or psychology students and try and identify premises and clauses.
3. Adjust your strategy as is necessary
You may realise that you should another step to your strategy, such as highlighting key words, after practising on easier questions
Right, so you have your strategy down - now what?
Practise to time.
It’s the timing that’s the stickler for many uni entrance exams and the best way to get that down is to practise doing the questions to time. I’d still recommend doing the questions in their question blocks at this stage or mixing up blocks that are similar in question type.
Step 4: Practice tests
Now you know what to do when you see all the types of questions, it’s time to apply what you’ve learnt to a real paper. This is where you see what has stuck and what hasn’t so it’s important to see this is a learning process - don’t expect to get 100% on your first try.
When completing a practice test:
1. Answer the entire test
Since you’ve got your processes down, it’s not necessary to mark each question individually since it’s so time-consuming.
2. Go through and mark the test
3. Try and work out where you went wrong, do this in a different colour.
4. Go through the mark scheme and add further corrections in a different colour.
5. Make a note of your mark, what went well, what could’ve been better (even better if ...) and what to do for next time in a tracker. Look at this before you next do a practice exam.
6. If you find you’re getting a particular type of question wrong every time, go back to those question blocks and master your strategy again.
As I said earlier, these tests are not designed for really high marks and so even after lots of practise, there’ll probably still be things that aren’t quite right. But if:
You’re getting the scores you want/need
You have your strategy for each question type down
Then congratulations - you are officially ready for the exam 🎉.
Whilst I wouldn’t advise all practise to stop, I do think that at this stage, running through loads more exam papers is a bit redundant. Maybe doing one every week or fortnight will suffice. Plus, if you started preparing early, you don’t want to go through alllll your practice papers before the exam actually comes around.
Phase 2 - Lead Up to the Exam
Congrats - you made it!
Honestly, I think if you’ve prepared properly then doing hardcore practise isn’t necessary and might burn you out in the lead up to the exam. If you take away anything from this really long post make it this:
Consistent practise always wins. Always.
If you’ve been consistently practising, there’s no need to cram too much last minute revision. I will say though that looking over your practice test tracker the night before the exam may be helpful as a last-minute reminder but, of course, if this is just going to stress you out further, don’t do it.
Last-Minute Tips
Don’t make this your whole life - It’s summer! There are so many more actually fun things you could be doing. Even practising a couple of times a week at first is absolutely fine.
Ask from advice from the experts - If there’s anything in particular that you’re worried about, ask someone who’s done or is practising for the test or email the university - they might be able to give you one of their students details so you can ask them directly.
Well, that’s all I’ve got for you ...
I hope this was helpful! Feel free to add your own tips and if you have any questions or feedback, just ask me or message me - my DMs are always open. Of course, you could just leave a note on here but if you want to be a little fancy, hit me up!
Alsoooo, let me know if you want me to a) do this for essay-based entrance exams and/or b) turn this into a mini-series and apply these steps to different tests like the TSA, LNAT, BMAT, UKCAT, STEP etc. Then all the resources will be in one place. Obviously, I’m not preparing for all of them (doctor who? definitely not me 🤧) but I have some friends doing some of these exams so I can get some extra exclusive tips from them.
Now, carrying on with QOTD:
QOTD: How do you get over exam nerves?
For me, acknowledging that I’m nervous before the exam and that it’s okay before I distract myself makes me feel much calmer. In an actual exam, I usually cover my ears and try and focus on what I’m reading to get out of my head 😅.
PS: This is my first informative post - please don’t judge 🙈! And if you’ve found it helpful, please reblog so that others can see these tips too ☺️.
