I did so badly on it that I walked out laughing.
Today I had another Chemistry Final, and the result wasn't nearly the same. Now, I'm not going to fool myself. The questions were easier in this course, and some were drawn straight from the book. There was more time to finish the exam as well. So it's not really a perfect comparison.
But still. Having gone from an F on that exam, to what is quite likely an A- or an A on this exam, seems like a real vindication of my project, even if this one was a bit easier.
My final grade for the semester is still undetermined. I don't actually know what I got on this exam, and it's possible I did worse than I think and got a B+ or even a B. If that's the case, given how I stupidly messed up on the first exam, I'd probably be stuck with a B+ for the semester - a huge disappointment. With any luck though, my plan to put my studying time into this will have paid of nicely, and I'll end up with an A- or better in Chemistry.
The downside to my "spend all your time on Chemistry" plan is about to become obvious, however: I have two days to study for my physics exam. Even if I was more or less on the ball in that course, two days probably wouldn't be enough. Given how much I'm struggling, two days is practically a joke. I'd need more like two weeks to be able to get my stuff together.
It was a willful choice on my part, though. I've done ~10% better than everyone on everything throughout the semester, and I'm banking that that trend will carry through on this exam (or, rather, that I'll score in the average, or even 10% below it this time). If that's the case, and there's a curve like I'm banking on, I can probably fail this test and still get a B+ in the course. Maybe even better, depending what type of curve it is.
.... so my study time is going to be all about damage mitigation. A 0 and a 50% will both get me an F on the final, but there's a huge difference between the two. If I can manage to predict two or three problems that are going to be on the exam, and get that type of problem down well, I can probably manage something in the area of a 50%. Sounds awful, I know, but it could actually work out just fine with a bit of luck on my side.
After all - fortune favors the bold.
