For those of you in the Cambridge Program, April, May, and June can be incredibly stressful months. It is those months at the end of the school year where you must take your AICE final exams- showing the examiners your comprehension and application of everything you’ve learned in your AICE course over the year. The pressure of having to recall so much information- especially for those who have multiple AICE exams to take, can leave students lost in knowing how to manage preparation.
As a senior receiving the AICE diploma at the end of this school year, I’m going to share some of my biggest tips for AICE-ing those exams (That was so corny, sorry). The most important thing is that you spend sufficient time studying for your AICE exams. It is difficult to group all AICE exams for general tips when subjects and format vary so much, but there are a lot of similarities I have perceived amongst AICE tests. The tips that I am going to share with you apply to every AICE exam and were crafted from a holistic perspective. Let’s get into it!
WHAT RESOURCES TO STUDY
Read the syllabus. The syllabus provides a breakdown of the components and topics covered in the course as well as a breakdown of the exam. Use this to study. AICE outlines exactly what you will see on your test. Looking for information on each topic and subtopic in the Cambridge book and writing a few general notes for each can greatly improve your score.
READ THE BOOK: If your AICE course has a book that you have access to, read it. Almost everything on the test, if not everything will be covered in the book. Reading the book is not only a good review of what you learned in class, but also covers details your teachers may not have covered in class that can be useful in the exam.
Watch Review Videos. There are several review videos you can utilize on YouTube; ranging from covering certain topics you know will be on your exam to videos dedicated to reviewing that specific AICE exam.
STUDYING:
Study: Use what works for you. I liked taking review notes (I’ll paste some examples) that had some details and descriptions of topics but kept a general outlook. They would be about 2-10 pages long per course. If notetaking doesn’t work for you, there are several other methods to try out and it might be useful to investigate different studying methods and find what keeps you most engaged.
Check out this website on study methods for further information:
Example of my notes for AICE US HISTORY:
Use memorization tricks like acronyms or associations to bolster your ability to remember important details and key concepts.
Attending the review sessions. Most AICE classes hold review sessions around the end of the year before the test date. These sessions can be beneficial for a general overview of the concepts you learned in class that year and can strengthen your confidence for test day.
Everyone is different, but make sure you are starting your studying early enough in advance (preferably a couple of weeks or so) and getting a good number of hours of studying in so you can ace your exam!
OTHER IMPORTANT TIPS
· Manage your time. If you take an AICE course your teacher will likely do some practice AICE exams with you in class. Pay attention to your timing and whether you could improve your pace with some better time management skills.
Know what is worth the most points. This information can be found in the syllabus of your course where it shows each component of your exam and how much that component weighs on your overall grade. At the bottom right of each question on the AICE exam, there should be a number indicating how many points that question is worth. Focus more time and effort on the big pointers.
Know how to write: Most AICE exams have long-response or essay components. Know how to write efficiently. Writing efficiently is an essential skill for improving your AICE exam grades.
In my experience (and I can’t say for certain this is true) being a good writer dampens the negative effects of missing components of your answer or forgetting material. If there is a question you are having issues answering, try to incorporate related information that you do know into your answer.
Know what the examiners are looking for. You can do this by looking at the grading criteria and comments made on past exams. This also can help your time management as you won’t waste time writing more than you need to.
Understand the keywords in your test and what they mean. Cambridge has a command words page that describes what each keyword that may appear on test questions means. Consider which commands may require shorter or longer responses.
Check out the page below:
Sleep: Get your 8+ hours of sleep the night before the exam to wake up clear-minded and ready to concentrate on your exam. Your memory will be sharper, and chances are you will work faster and more efficiently during your test session.
I hope these tips help you succeed in the AICE program! If you have any questions or topics you want to see covered on the BRACE blog, please leave a comment.
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