Losing steam/motivation/over confident?

[sammiesings]

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Last year my school stacked exams right next to each other (ie histo exam, next day anatomy exam). I consistently performed significantly poorly on the second exam. Like 1-2 SD difference.

As the year progressed, and into the beginning of this year, they eased up on that practice. However, they recently started it again and predictably based on my pattern, I did the same thing.

Performed nearly perfectly on the first exam, and on the second exam I just crapped out- around 2 SD equivalents less well than the first one.

Assuming I've ruled out that the first exam was just easier, is there anything I can do to avoid this second exam- burn out? Has anyone dealt with this similar pattern of doing really well on the exam the first day and performing poorly on the second day consistently? How did you remedy this?

I feel like this is a pattern that I can't quite break. I prepared more for the second exam throughout the unit yet I performed very poorly especially compared to the first exam. I found myself having difficulty completing my studies after taking the first exam so right now, I think its just that I get too tired after the first exam and it depletes my performance. Based on that, the only thing I can think of is that I should probably just try to be prepared for both exams and not study the day before the second exam at all?

I am worried that this is more than that though and I'm just being tunnel visioned and unable to see it? I know that I get some seasonal affective disorder symptoms around this time here and get really influenced by when a prof hypes up their exams as really difficult. For example, prof for exam 2 stated overemphatically how hard her class was and I wouldn't put it past myself to have just let that sink into my subconscious. I thought about it frequently over the unit if I'm being honest.

I'm definitely freaking out a little bit because I need to keep my average high to maintain a scholarship that allows me to be in school and we only have one more test for the class I did poorly in so I can't really afford to let this slide. Any help would be appreciated

 

[MD-2022]

Have you considered a career outside of medicine?

 

[sammiesings]

Have you considered a career outside of medicine?

da eff

 

[MerYangBey]

Unless you’re not sleeping at all or have some type of second day test anxiety syndrome then I feel like your second day exam problem has to do with not being as prepared for that exam as you were for the first. (Example- maybe you’re good at histo but not too good at anatomy and anatomy is always your second exam)

 

[libertyyne]

I mean it is possible that there is some sort of weird performance thing going on. More than likely tho my money would be on you studying more for the first exam the last few days compared to studying for the second exam. If your strategy relies on cramming this would make sense.

 

[sammiesings]

I mean it is possible that there is some sort of weird performance thing going on. More than likely tho my money would be on you studying more for the first exam the last few days compared to studying for the second exam. If your strategy relies on cramming this would make sense.

Hmm. Good thought. Not a crammer tho so doesn't apply here. ETA: also the, def would have believed it for the first exam as that was the one I didn't study as hard for. Maybe a stress response thing?

Unless you’re not sleeping at all or have some type of second day test anxiety syndrome then I feel like your second day exam problem has to do with not being as prepared for that exam as you were for the first. (Example- maybe you’re good at histo but not too good at anatomy and anatomy is always your second exam)

Its pretty straightforward and simple esp seeing someone else state it as simply as you did. I don't get enough sleep after the first exam and that usually sets me up for anxiety which never bodes too well. I talked to the learning specialist last week and she actually helped me break this down too. Now on to solving the "doing too much, not getting enough sleep problem" lol. So far I've been above the pass line by a good 1.5 SD and at or close to the mean so I'm trying to stay there and not let it become a head game that would cause real problems

 

[21Rush12]

Keep working on your stamina and your mental preparation, not just of the material but good sleep hygiene and clear head going into day 2. This is good practice for testing endurance and first year is the time to learn what works for you and makes you an effective test taker. Keep following up with the academic support people too and listen to what they recommend.