Pulling an All Nighter for Exam- How to Get an A

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The discussion revolves around the stress and challenges of last-minute studying for exams, particularly the experience of pulling an all-nighter. Participants express frustration with the need to memorize material, sharing their strategies for retention, such as creating patterns and associating stories with facts. There's a humorous acknowledgment of the toll that caffeine and sleeplessness can take on health, with some participants reflecting on their own experiences with all-nighters and the impact on their performance. The conversation also touches on the balance between studying and the need for sleep, with some claiming they function better at night. Ultimately, there's a mix of camaraderie and light-hearted banter about the struggles of academic life, with a few sharing their successes in exams despite the lack of sleep.
Cyrus
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I have an exam tomorrow and I am pulling an all nighter, this is fun. All I need is a 61% to get an A, but I had to study for other stuff and so now I am cramming in all these dumb facts about materials. Weeee I hate school.

BTW, it is currently 2:34 am, and I am talking to myself.
 
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Think of what the people taking 17 credits are feeling :smile:
 
Too bad for them, don't take so many credits then.
 
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shut-up, log off, and study.

Good luck. :biggrin:
 
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Likes gracy
let's debate this, Ivan. :smile:

I'm trying to memorize this stuff, but memorization is just STUPID!

BTW: 2:52 AM.

I honestly thought I was done with meorization when I finished all my elective courses. This is pathetic.
 
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Actually, what's pitiful is that you're in university and still can't spell 'memorisation'. As the old guy said, shut up and go to sleep (or study; same difference at this point).
 
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Sleep is for the weak.
 
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Might I remind you that cats are the most perfect killing machines on the planet (and don't bring up sharks, because their scope is limited), and they spend about 80% of their lives sleeping. :-p
 
cyrusabdollahi said:
let's debate this, Ivan. :smile:

I'm trying to memorize this stuff, but memorization is just STUPID!

I see that you're still online. Do I need to put you on a 24 hour ban?
 
  • #10
Ivan Seeking said:
Do I need to put you on a 24 hour ban?

I thought that Mitchum was the 24 hour brand.
 
  • #11
5:00 am, and the party is just getting started.

Ban, you can try. I am in the school library, aka 50+ computers all that I can make new bogus login names :devil:
 
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  • #12
I have really bad memories about all nighters and tests... I once pulled an all nighter before a 6 hour test... Let's just say that the 5 extra hours of studying didn't help. lol. Good luck on your exam though!
 
  • #13
What time is your test?
 
  • #14
8:00 am

It is now 5:34 am. Right now my heart is pumping Red bull and Sobe. I do not feel tired.

Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

I have the will to get above a 60% right now. I could get a C if I just wrote my name on the exam and turned it in, lol. That would be funny. Id get a B if I answered like two or three problems. I am just planning on getting partial credit everywhere and winding up with hopefully a 68-70%.
 
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  • #15
That's not too bad then.I hate cramming, especially when it is pure memorization. Such as social studies (still in HS).
 
  • #16
The trick to memorizing things is making up patterns. For instance:

L= \alpha + \beta

\gamma = \alpha + \beta

L+ \gamma = \alpha

\gamma+ \beta = \alpha

Now, I could try to memorize all these RxNs, but I'm not going to. I am going to notice that the first two result in the same thing on the RHS, and the last two also have the same thing. Now I notice that the first one is just an L, and all the rest have a gamma in them. If I go down two I put in another L, and for the last one the only piece missing is the beta, so it has to be gamma and beta goes to alpha. I make up tons of these little 'tricks' so that I don't just memorize things.

Try it, it works.
 
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  • #17
In the past 40 hours, I've had (at most) 3 hours of sleep. What's scaring me is that I don't feel tired at all, even though I had 2 finals about 10 hours ago.
 
  • #18
Yea, I usually try to do that too when trying to memorize stuff. I also find that if you can attach a story or at least an image to something you are trying to memorize it makes it much easier. I have only a couple of weeks til I got to start studying hard for diploma exams. :frown: Although I doubt I even need to study for physics/math/calculus... it's just the social I am scared of. Seeing as your test is in 1.5 hrs, I will wish you one last good luck before you have to go. Tell me how it went afterwards.
 
  • #19
Morphism. Go to bed! :)
 
  • #20
I still have lots of time, and I'm not even tired. I think after this semester I consumed enough caffeine to keep me awake for the next two months.

I think I know a good 70-80% of the material by now. Enough to get me that 62% I need.

6:34 am, yummy.
 
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  • #21
Silly Engineers. I don't do all-nighters :smile:
 
  • #22
Well, it went O.K. I think I def got above a 61 to get my A.

Now I gota go home and sleep for a few hours and study for heat transfer :devil: :devil: Dammit that test is going to kill my ass. ~700 pages, open book, open notes comprehensive exam.
 
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  • #23
Man, I can never do that. No sleep just kills me. I'd fall asleep during the exams.

I need 6 hours of sleep atleast.
 
  • #24
Well, I hope that everything works out well for you, Cyrus. I also hope you realize that if you're running on Red Bull, caffiene suppliments of any kind, bennies, or other such things... you are going to crash hard when they finally wear off. Be prepared to spend at least a couple of full days and nights in bed after it's over. Voice of experience here, kiddo.
 
  • #25
Danger said:
Well, I hope that everything works out well for you, Cyrus. I also hope you realize that if you're running on Red Bull, caffiene suppliments of any kind, bennies, or other such things... you are going to crash hard when they finally wear off. Be prepared to spend at least a couple of full days and nights in bed after it's over. Voice of experience here, kiddo.

:smile: :smile: You obviously don't know how many times I have had to do this in the past.
 
  • #26
Good luck, Cyrus!. You know i just finished the quarter, and i slept finally!. Hope you'll have the same opportunity soon :smile:
 
  • #27
Well, maybe you have the same sort of stamina as me. It's rare. My hard crashes were after 3-4 days awake, and then it was just a full day of doing nothing. I know an awful lot of people who tried to replicate it, though, and none of them lasted more than 2 days. (And for the record, I didn't take any drugs or supplements other than a lot of coffee.)
Do keep in mind that however well you feel now, it will take its toll after a few decades if you do it on a regular basis. I guess that if it's just for the sake of school, it should be okay. My mistake was in doing it every weekend for several years. Once I hit about 40...
 
  • #28
Hmmm, I when I went to bed it was sunny outside, and when I woke up it was dark...:confused:

That was a nice 7 hour nap :rolleyes:. I should be good to study until 2-3 am tonight.

You, hit 40? You don't like a day over 65.
 
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  • #29
cyrusabdollahi said:
You, hit 40? You don't like a day over 65.

I thought I banned you.

Danger counts his years in hexadecimal...that way he has just the right number of fingers to count with.
 
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  • #30
you are completely insane, Cyrus.
 
  • #31
Why? It's only 1:34 am right now.

<limiting the unlimited>
 
  • #32
What time is it? Its time for a 95% on my vibrations final, which I finished in one hour, i.e. half the time. I CRUSHHHHHHED that exam.

Now, back to Heat transfer......shudder :cry:
 
  • #33
Its 1:30 pm, time for cookies here.
 
  • #34
I have 2 exams on monday and 2 exams on tuesday...none of which I feel even remotely prepared for. I wish I could stay awake all night and study, but if i did I would crash hard the next day...probably during the exam. So I guess I am just sunk no matter what I do.

Congrats on the 95% that is awesome!
 
  • #35
Every since I was a little kid, I could NEVER go to bed at night. I am by nature a night person.


HAHAHAHAHa I got an 88% on the one I stayed up all night for. Awesomeness.
 
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  • #36
I need to learn to do that!

Congratulations cyrus
 
  • #37
hypatia said:
Its 1:30 pm, time for cookies here.

I just had a Christmas cookie party. There's plenty of leftovers if you want some! *shoves Christmas cookies in everyone's hard drives* :biggrin:

Cyrus, you're scaring me...because you sound too much like me! That's what I used to do, stay up all night studying, then sleep all day. I still function best on that sort of schedule. When I'm writing grants, I become completely nocturnal, going to sleep as the sun rises, and waking up just a little before sunset (most of my grants are due during the late fall and winter). I'm not sure how that will work with the June/July deadlines.
 
  • #38
Very nice cyrus :D. I am a natural night person as well, kinda sucks really.
 
  • #39
Congrats Cyrus!

I'm an all-nighter type as well. In college, my drug was Iranian coffee.
 
  • #40
Good for you, Cyrus. But you're still insane.
 
  • #41
I always find I do better at night, I just don't have the option of sleeping much during the day so it doesn't really work out for me. For some reason right around 11:00 pm I always get inspired to really work, but then I remember that 8am class I have and have to decide between getting the work done earlier in the night or doing my work later when i actually want to and falling asleep in that class haha.
 
  • #42
Ivan Seeking said:
Congrats Cyrus!

I'm an all-nighter type as well. In college, my drug was Iranian coffee.

The best, and cheapest, thing to keep you up is a nice big, cold can of:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Mountain_Dew_(Can)_(12FL-OZ_355mL).jpg/160px-Mountain_Dew_(Can)_(12FL-OZ_355mL).jpg
 
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  • #43
It's also a great way to kill your liver :P
 
  • #44
cyrusabdollahi said:
The best, and cheapest, thing to keep you up is a nice big, cold can of:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Mountain_Dew_(Can)_(12FL-OZ_355mL).jpg/160px-Mountain_Dew_(Can)_(12FL-OZ_355mL).jpg
[/URL]

Do they still make Mountain Dew? I remember it was available here when I was a kid, but then it just, disappeared!
 
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  • #45
Ugh! Mountain Dew is just nasty!
 
  • #46
What, your nuts. Get out of my thread! :wink:
 
  • #47
AMP (made by Mt. Dew), on the other hand, is the greatest substance known to man.
 
  • #48
cyrusabdollahi said:
What, your nuts. Get out of my thread! :wink:

Okay, but I'm taking my cookies with me! :-p
 
  • #49
cyrusabdollahi said:
What, your nuts. Get out of my thread! :wink:
someone's cranky and needs a nap. :wink:
 
  • #50
SticksandStones said:
AMP (made by Mt. Dew), on the other hand, is the greatest substance known to man.

You can stay.
 

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