I feel like I'm screwed for an upcoming midterm - Any advice?

Hey all, I wish I can say I am doing better but I am literally super nervous right now. Right now I am in the second week of midterms, I had two last week that went alright but I have one more this week.

I am going to get right to it; it is a Calculus Midterm on Thursday, and I literally feel like I am screwed and know next to nothing about it. All the information about it, such as finding limits and derivatives, just feels so over the place and I can’t seem to narrow it down and nail each section. There was a practice exam posted earlier this weekend on the class website, and let me say if I were to take something like it right now I would probably get around a 25% on it.

Really, the best way I can put it is that I know bits of information here and there, but it just feels so overwhelming overall and it feels like I have to review everything section by section.

So I ask; what is the best course of action to take right now to get caught up? There is a review session of that practice exam Tuesday, which at this point is a must-go-to for me, but that can’t be the only thing I do for review. Should I meet with the TA (who I understand much better than the lecture teacher, who is fast and has a heavy accent) during all office hours possible, and possibly schedule a 1-on-1 meeting with him or someone else? Should I be honest with him in the office hours/meeting? Should I help organize a meeting with some of my friends from the class?

Please, any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

If the test is Thursday, it seems like you could start from the beginning and spend a couple of hours each day reviewing a weeks worth of notes. Since you think the topics are just a set of unrelated questions, maybe this would help you see how it all fits together. But ultimately to help you learn the different types of problems you could make yourself a review sheet for the various types of questions you might get asked.

see if the school has any tutoring services for the class. then hit it hard. good luck.

@bjkmom any advice?

Thanks for the advice! I went to the math help center for an hour today, it definitely helped me with one thing I was having particular difficulty with (derivatives of trig) but there are still other parts I have to look over. My TA has office hours tomorrow and Wednesday, and I’ll try to ask for help for reviewing/studying there. I like the idea of making a kind of review sheet which will help break down everything that may be on the test. I’ll see how much of it I can do over the next two days before going to the practice exam review session Tomorrow Night (I feel that will truly be my best hope).

Anymore study advice will be appreciated, thank you!

See if you can find more practice tests for this class, or old exams (some math departments post them) and do as many practice questions as possible.

Do more problems. See if you get them right.If not, see what you are getting wrong.

Look at Khan Academy on line.
Get a tutor.
Get a book with extra practice problems

Also:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-life/1920853-college-is-a-step-up-from-hs-16-tips-on-doing-well-in-college.html

I’ve gotten a 7% on an exam before. I’ve failed classes before. It sucks, but you live and you learn.

If you’re going to fail, go down fighting…I blanked. Never have I ever blanked before, but that’s what happened. There was no saving myself.

What this tells me though is you’ve obviously gotta change up how you study if you’re not learning anything.

UPDATE: After that practice exam review meeting yesterday, and some intense studying today, I can gladly say that I am feeling much more confident about the exam now! I am seriously giving it all on this test, I’ll give another update as to how it went after I take it tomorrow.

Good luck!

Took the test earlier today, and it wasn’t too bad! Didn’t completely crush it, but I definitely didn’t bomb it either. I think I did decent overall. Thank you for the study advice, everyone! Next time I’ll definitely pay more attention and get started on studying earlier so I don’t need to pull off a super intense 2 days of studying nearly everything from scratch lol, this was a learning experience.

You rallied. To me, that’s an admirable trait. We all get ourselves into a jam at times. It’s how you handle it. Good job.