Exam prep: your last minute guide to Math

There are two types of people in the world: Maths kids, and everyone else.

Okay, so maybe we shouldn’t be so black and white, but Maths is definitely one of the most polarising subjects out there. If you’re seeing stars at the thought of sitting in an exam room looking at numbers for 3 hours, here are some tips our bonafide Maths kids of Atomi recommend:

1. Revisit old friends

Reading over your formulas may seem like a panic-stricken pre-exam activity, but having a good look through them the night before an exam can work as a refresher, solidifying what you know.
And, looking over some of the more obscure ones they haven’t asked about for a few years could come in handy.

General friends, you don’t get to pass on this one. Look through the formula sheet you’ll be given and make sure you recognise everything on there. If you don’t – that’s where to spend the precious last hour of study before dinner.

2. Give yourself a boost

Past papers should be very familiar terrain by now, but the night before is a great time to run through a few of the easier questions. The logic here is simple, nailing the right answer gives you a confidence boost.

Once you know you’ve got those ones in the bag, then you can address some of the stickier situations, those questions that you may not have got right when you first attempted that paper a couple of weeks ago.

Hopefully, the last few weeks of prep have got you on the right track, but if you’re still struggling, then give yourself a refresher. A quick Atomi crash course video is the perfect little boost you might need to make that final cog in your brain click into place.

3. Relax!

Look, with all that said, your hard yards should be done by now. Whatever you try to cram in tonight probably isn’t going to stick too well at this point, so you may as well get yourself in prime form for tomorrow. Eat a delicious dinner, treat-yo-self to dessert, take a nice shower. Do all the things that make you feel calm and collected. Most of all, go to sleep.

Trials is probably the longest maths exam you’ve faced thus far, but everyone’s in the same boat. Turn up well-rested and you’ll already have an edge.

So, there you have it. Everyone has a slightly different approach to a looming exam, but when it comes to tackling maths, there’s no need to go into meltdown mode. By staying chill and being realistic about what you can achieve in those last moments, you can maximise your ability to perform well on the day.

That’s it in a nutshell.

P.S. Pack your calculator the night before. Don’t be that guy.