How it actually went
I already talked about some of the exams here, so I won't go over them again.
Music
I was expecting: 15 if they were nice, 12 if they weren't
I got: 18
Philosophy
I was expecting: 14 or 15 if the corrector was harsh, 17 if they weren't
I got: 20!
Format: you have to chose between two open-ended questions to treat, or a text to analyze
First of all, I need to go over how I studied for this one. I, at first, didn't intend to study for this exam. I had decent grades all year long (12-13) without even studying, so I focused on all the other subjects except this one. And then, exactly the day before, I started to flip shit. "But wait, I can't afford to do poorly if I have no luck... and there are some topics I really suck on... I really should go over everything!!" So that's what I did.I rushed through entire textbooks and did about 4 or 5 pages of exhaustive study sheets, which I then had the time to reread twice before the exam.
But what helped me the most, in reality, was the help of a friend who studies in the field. I asked him if he could give me some authors to look up for the topics arts and science, since I was actually weak on those two (ironically they're the ones I like the most, haha). He rushed some short study sheets for me, very clear and to the point, very humoristically written. On there, he listed some authors that aren't studied in high school, and that you rather see when you do a philosophy major of some sorts. I managed to remember most of their names and works, so it helped me a lot.
And turns out one of the proposed topics for the exam was... art! More precisely: does a work of art always make sense? I gave it my all, using a lot of what my friend had taught me the day before, and I wrote about 10 or 11 pages. I finished one hour early, too. My thesis and 3 parts were very good, and right after I got out, I looked up some suggested parts for the topic: I had the exact same!
If my teacher had graded it, he probably would have given it a 14 or a 15, but knowing he's extremely harsh, I thought that if I got lucky, I'd have a 17. And I ended up with a perfect score...!!!!!!
History/geography
I was expecting: 9 at worst; 11 if I got lucky
I got: 13
Format: A written composition where you have to choose between two themes, either in history or in geography; then, either a document-based question in history or geography, or a map in geography. They're two distinct parts and you can't have both of them be history, or both be geography.
A showcase of my very poor management of time when I'm stressed out. I studied as best as I could for this one, knowing history and geography are both subjects I'm very weak on. I was hoping for a history composition and a map in geography, or even a document-based question. But, mostly, a history composition.
We had a geography composition.
Hhhhhhhhhhhhh.
The whole room actually spent the first 15 minutes sighing, and I was part of the sighs.
The two themes we had to choose from were either globalization (the thing everyone knows about but nobody knows how to address properly), and a case-study: the Sahara desert (the topic nobody chose except like 3 Tuareg kids who happened to take the exam). I chose globalization and just ended up writing everything that passed through my head, but it didn't work out that well, because about 2 hours out of the 3 we had for the exam, I noticed I was still on part 2. So I rushed part 3 (on which I didn't really have much to say, heh), and got to the history part feeling extremely stressed out.
The history part was a document-based question in history about China from 1945 to present-day. I fucking half-assed that shit so bad it's ridiculous. I was done in about 25 minutes. I didn't even read over myself and walked out. I forgot to mention a lot of important dates because I mostly had nothing to say on the topic (the documents were already explicit enough imo)... So yeah. Not a very glorious exam.
Since it went as bad as it always did during the school year, I would have given myself a 9, which I got most of the time this year. But I told myself "you know, I actually said some okay things in the geography composition, so who knows, maybe I'd get like 11 or 12 if the corrector isn't expecting much out of me.
French (written)
I was expecting: 8 or 9, or even 7 if the corrector really noticed how critically I had nothing to say
I got: 17, what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck, how, why
Format: You're given 2-4 extracts from literary works. You then have a short question that treats a central theme or literary device used in most of those texts; then, you have to choose between 3 subjects, the first being an analysis of one of the excerpts, the second an open-ended question about a topic in common between the texts, and the third can be either like the first or the second, but in a format that recquires you to be inventive (it can be by writing a letter, or rewriting one of the texts, etc.)
Honestly, I was screaming when I got out of this one. The extracts were all from theater and plays. Great, exactly what I didn't want. I didn't really know how to answer the short question, so I went a bit guessing on it, and wasn't very happy with how I did. But I managed my time extremely well, spending exactly the recommended amount of time for both the short question and the second part (1h30 and 2h30).
For part 2, I chose the second option (open-ended question). The texts honestly weren't easy to work with, and it was really tough to find anything to say. I made a 3-part study of theater works, but it was extremely weak and I was fishing for things to say... I'm honestly not even capable of remembering what I wrote in there, but I was convinced it was pure bullshit. It was a disaster. I even wanted to scream afterwards. Didn't even read over my shit, it pissed me off too much and I knew I didn't write anything interesting anyway. I didn't even know which plays to mention to illustrate what I was saying, all of the ones I used were from Shakespeare and Molière, and I used Antigone for like one thing but I didn't even remember if it was a correct example because I read it too long ago. Bonus: I forgot to use my favorite book as an example although it's a play (Cyrano de Bergerac).
Basically, a disaster.
How did I get a 17. HOW
English (written)
I was expecting: (overall, including the oral) 17 or 18, but I knew I wouldn't have gotten a perfect score anyway.
I got: 19
Format: Your spoken and written parts are graded on 10 points each, and then the sum of both gives you your grade. The written part consists of a few texts that can be from newspaper or magazine issues, books, or photographs... and you then have a lot of short-answer questions; then, an open-ended question where you have a limited number of words.
It went well, but when I looked at the correction and asked my friends afterwards, I noticed there was one of the questions I hadn't understood properly :( I found it ambiguous in its wording so I didn't really know what to put and just went with what I thought was important... But whatever, still got a very good grade so I honestly didn't care about this exam.
Math
I was expecting: I didn't know... 8 at worst, 12 at best
I got: 13
Format: 4 long problems, one necessarly being about arithmetics and/or matrices
A story of me and my poor handling of the time I had at hand.
I looked over all of the problems and chose to start with the one that seemed the easiest to deal with. It was the one on arithmetics and matrices. Its first part was easy as hell, so I took my time to do it in a very clean manner. Then came part 2 which was a complete disaster. It blocked me for a good hour and a half overall, and I didn't even find an answer to write down.
When I looked at the time, I noticed I only had a bit more than 2 hours left for 3 problems. Uh-oh.
I did the one on function analysis, which wasn't hard at all but on which I ended up double-checking a lot of my answers (and rightfully so, because if I hadn't, I would've had gotten most of it wrong). I didn't get to finish it and went onto the one on probability and statistics. It's usually my weakest subject in math, but I studied it so much with a friend the past weeks prior to the exam that it was easy as hell, and I ended up getting all of the right answers and was very confident in my work. The bad part was that I really rushed it, and the work I showed wasn't very easy to understand (in conditional probabilities, you're supposed to name the variables you use; for example, if you're gonna write how you calculate the probability to draw a red card out of a deck, you need to first say you're gonna name that P(R), and then write your work. I basically didn't explain any of the variables I chose and just ran trough the problem. Thankfully, it wasn't hard to understand (it was all stuff like P(R) for red, P(B) for blue, P(X>400) to win more than 400€ at a lottery thing, etc...).
At last, there was a problem on 3D geometry graded only on 3 points, and it was honestly long for something to count only 3 points. Plus, I didn't have much time left. So I just winged it however I could, but didn't get to finish it in time (and I'm pretty sure the last part of what I did was wrong lol).
Overall, I was extremely disappointed in myself. But it was a fun exam, and right when I got out, I wanted to do more math. I just really love math ok orz
Physics/chemistry
I was expecting: lmao idk like 4 or something
I got: 11 (how????????????????)
Format: 3 long problems, equally graded between physics and chemistry
A complete disaster. I honestly wanted to cry during that exam. It was exactly on everything I was weak on, and there were many questions I had no idea how to handle. I don't have much to say other than it was a catastrophe and that I got out of the room one hour early because I had nothing more to add to the disaster I was turning in.
But apparently I didn't do that bad... and the first two problems (one on physics, the second on chemistry) probably gave me most of my points, because my work on the 3rd one was basically "???? well that is a very interesting question here and I would like to know the answer but I'm at lost honestly".
German (written)
I was expecting: (including the oral) 5 or 6
I got: 9
Format: same as English
Let's start simple: I don't speak German.
I tried my best to understand what each text was talking about, but it wasn't easy. I answered the questions as best as I could, and then wrote a short thing using info from the texts. I did my best, basically, but my best couldn't be worth much. I got out of there one hour early because I knew it wouldn't have been glorious anyway. I'm pretty sure that if I got a 9, it's thanks to the fact that a lot of people suck in German.
Biology/geology
I was expecting: Honestly, I couldn't estimate my grade. 12. Or maybe 14. Or maybe 16. There was no way to know
I got: 18!
Format: Part 1: You have to explain the mecanisms behind one of the themes studied over the year, with or without the help of a document, and you're invited to summarize your thoughts using diagrams. Then you have 3-5 multiple choice questions. Part 2a: You're given 3-4 documents (photographs, graphs, etc) to study, and have to explain the data you observe and the link between the documents. Part 2b: You're given 5-6 documents (photographs, graphs, data, documentation on the subject, etc), and based on what you know about the theme at hand and the documents, you have to answer a question. At least one of these things has to be on geology, the rest is bio.
When I got out of my physics exam, I was desperate and knew I'd have to completely destroy bio the next day if I wanted to have a shot at passing. So I spent the whole evening and night studying (I got about 5 hours of sleep) and went over things I never took the time to memorize over the school year in geology, because I can't stress how much I suck in geology. I made flash cards, looked over everything... I never crammed so much studying in one evening, honestly.
And then the exam was. Part 1: geothermal energy. Part 2b: geology and subduction. And then a multiple choice on plants, and part 2a on genetics. Points-wise, that means MORE THAN HALF OF THIS BULLSHIT EXAM WAS ON GEOLOGY. I honestly shudder at the thought of what would've happened if I hadn't crammed so much studying the evening before.
I just gave my all to this exam, knowing I was probably fighting for my life here, but not expecting miracles since I suck at geology. I tried my best and I never wrote as much for bio before. Looks like it served me well!
French (oral)
I wasn't expecting anything because I knew what I would get when I walked out of there (12). But if I had to grade myself, I would've given myself a 9 or a 10 maybe...
Format: During the school year, you study works of literature, and your teacher picks chapters or extracts from them that you're accounted to have analyzed etc. One of them is drawn at random and you're given a question. You have 30 minutes to prepare. Then, you speak for 10 minutes to answer the question (during those 10 minutes, you're usually supposed to read the text). Afterwards, the teacher asks you questions for 10 minutes.
Let me stress that I never took a French class.
I prepared for this exam in a rush the evening before (right after bio), and I wasn't expecting a good thing out of it.
I got asked about Candide (Voltaire)'s last chapter, which is probably one of the lamest texts I had to study. There really isn't much to say about it. And, best part! I had forgotten to bring a watch! So I had no clue how to divide up the time I'd be speaking for and had to wing it.
The teacher was pretty weird about how she handled the exam. When I started reading the extract, she stopped me at about 3 sentences in and said "alright, nice reading"... So it threw me off a bit, because I had mentally planned some time to read, and knew I'd have to fill it up by speaking more. Speaking more about a text there's isn't anything to say about. Erm. She also asked me a few questions while I was speaking, which isn't usual, so I wasn't sure how to handle that either. And afterwards, for the interview part, she asked me questions like "what was your favorite text this year? and your least favorite?"... which, I mean, was easy to answer, but that I found so dumb?? I was expecting something on the text I had just talked about or something...
When it was over, she said: "well, I can't tell you your grade, but you did average on the exposition, and much better on the interview". She had her grading sheet right in front of her, so I gave it a quick look and noticed she had given me a 5/10 for the exposition and 7/10 for the interview. So I knew my grade was going to be a 12.
And after that I was done.
With the (average) grades I was expecting for myself, I'd have gotten 10.61
With the worst grades I was expecting for myself: 9.47 (and this is why I was so scared)
And I got: 14.47
Yeah. Looks like I underevaluated myself quite a bit HAHAHA *sweats*
But it served me well so I'm glad I did.
Music
I was expecting: 15 if they were nice, 12 if they weren't
I got: 18
Philosophy
I was expecting: 14 or 15 if the corrector was harsh, 17 if they weren't
I got: 20!
Format: you have to chose between two open-ended questions to treat, or a text to analyze
First of all, I need to go over how I studied for this one. I, at first, didn't intend to study for this exam. I had decent grades all year long (12-13) without even studying, so I focused on all the other subjects except this one. And then, exactly the day before, I started to flip shit. "But wait, I can't afford to do poorly if I have no luck... and there are some topics I really suck on... I really should go over everything!!" So that's what I did.I rushed through entire textbooks and did about 4 or 5 pages of exhaustive study sheets, which I then had the time to reread twice before the exam.
But what helped me the most, in reality, was the help of a friend who studies in the field. I asked him if he could give me some authors to look up for the topics arts and science, since I was actually weak on those two (ironically they're the ones I like the most, haha). He rushed some short study sheets for me, very clear and to the point, very humoristically written. On there, he listed some authors that aren't studied in high school, and that you rather see when you do a philosophy major of some sorts. I managed to remember most of their names and works, so it helped me a lot.
And turns out one of the proposed topics for the exam was... art! More precisely: does a work of art always make sense? I gave it my all, using a lot of what my friend had taught me the day before, and I wrote about 10 or 11 pages. I finished one hour early, too. My thesis and 3 parts were very good, and right after I got out, I looked up some suggested parts for the topic: I had the exact same!
If my teacher had graded it, he probably would have given it a 14 or a 15, but knowing he's extremely harsh, I thought that if I got lucky, I'd have a 17. And I ended up with a perfect score...!!!!!!
History/geography
I was expecting: 9 at worst; 11 if I got lucky
I got: 13
Format: A written composition where you have to choose between two themes, either in history or in geography; then, either a document-based question in history or geography, or a map in geography. They're two distinct parts and you can't have both of them be history, or both be geography.
A showcase of my very poor management of time when I'm stressed out. I studied as best as I could for this one, knowing history and geography are both subjects I'm very weak on. I was hoping for a history composition and a map in geography, or even a document-based question. But, mostly, a history composition.
We had a geography composition.
Hhhhhhhhhhhhh.
The whole room actually spent the first 15 minutes sighing, and I was part of the sighs.
The two themes we had to choose from were either globalization (the thing everyone knows about but nobody knows how to address properly), and a case-study: the Sahara desert (the topic nobody chose except like 3 Tuareg kids who happened to take the exam). I chose globalization and just ended up writing everything that passed through my head, but it didn't work out that well, because about 2 hours out of the 3 we had for the exam, I noticed I was still on part 2. So I rushed part 3 (on which I didn't really have much to say, heh), and got to the history part feeling extremely stressed out.
The history part was a document-based question in history about China from 1945 to present-day. I fucking half-assed that shit so bad it's ridiculous. I was done in about 25 minutes. I didn't even read over myself and walked out. I forgot to mention a lot of important dates because I mostly had nothing to say on the topic (the documents were already explicit enough imo)... So yeah. Not a very glorious exam.
Since it went as bad as it always did during the school year, I would have given myself a 9, which I got most of the time this year. But I told myself "you know, I actually said some okay things in the geography composition, so who knows, maybe I'd get like 11 or 12 if the corrector isn't expecting much out of me.
French (written)
I was expecting: 8 or 9, or even 7 if the corrector really noticed how critically I had nothing to say
I got: 17, what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck, how, why
Format: You're given 2-4 extracts from literary works. You then have a short question that treats a central theme or literary device used in most of those texts; then, you have to choose between 3 subjects, the first being an analysis of one of the excerpts, the second an open-ended question about a topic in common between the texts, and the third can be either like the first or the second, but in a format that recquires you to be inventive (it can be by writing a letter, or rewriting one of the texts, etc.)
Honestly, I was screaming when I got out of this one. The extracts were all from theater and plays. Great, exactly what I didn't want. I didn't really know how to answer the short question, so I went a bit guessing on it, and wasn't very happy with how I did. But I managed my time extremely well, spending exactly the recommended amount of time for both the short question and the second part (1h30 and 2h30).
For part 2, I chose the second option (open-ended question). The texts honestly weren't easy to work with, and it was really tough to find anything to say. I made a 3-part study of theater works, but it was extremely weak and I was fishing for things to say... I'm honestly not even capable of remembering what I wrote in there, but I was convinced it was pure bullshit. It was a disaster. I even wanted to scream afterwards. Didn't even read over my shit, it pissed me off too much and I knew I didn't write anything interesting anyway. I didn't even know which plays to mention to illustrate what I was saying, all of the ones I used were from Shakespeare and Molière, and I used Antigone for like one thing but I didn't even remember if it was a correct example because I read it too long ago. Bonus: I forgot to use my favorite book as an example although it's a play (Cyrano de Bergerac).
Basically, a disaster.
How did I get a 17. HOW
English (written)
I was expecting: (overall, including the oral) 17 or 18, but I knew I wouldn't have gotten a perfect score anyway.
I got: 19
Format: Your spoken and written parts are graded on 10 points each, and then the sum of both gives you your grade. The written part consists of a few texts that can be from newspaper or magazine issues, books, or photographs... and you then have a lot of short-answer questions; then, an open-ended question where you have a limited number of words.
It went well, but when I looked at the correction and asked my friends afterwards, I noticed there was one of the questions I hadn't understood properly :( I found it ambiguous in its wording so I didn't really know what to put and just went with what I thought was important... But whatever, still got a very good grade so I honestly didn't care about this exam.
Math
I was expecting: I didn't know... 8 at worst, 12 at best
I got: 13
Format: 4 long problems, one necessarly being about arithmetics and/or matrices
A story of me and my poor handling of the time I had at hand.
I looked over all of the problems and chose to start with the one that seemed the easiest to deal with. It was the one on arithmetics and matrices. Its first part was easy as hell, so I took my time to do it in a very clean manner. Then came part 2 which was a complete disaster. It blocked me for a good hour and a half overall, and I didn't even find an answer to write down.
When I looked at the time, I noticed I only had a bit more than 2 hours left for 3 problems. Uh-oh.
I did the one on function analysis, which wasn't hard at all but on which I ended up double-checking a lot of my answers (and rightfully so, because if I hadn't, I would've had gotten most of it wrong). I didn't get to finish it and went onto the one on probability and statistics. It's usually my weakest subject in math, but I studied it so much with a friend the past weeks prior to the exam that it was easy as hell, and I ended up getting all of the right answers and was very confident in my work. The bad part was that I really rushed it, and the work I showed wasn't very easy to understand (in conditional probabilities, you're supposed to name the variables you use; for example, if you're gonna write how you calculate the probability to draw a red card out of a deck, you need to first say you're gonna name that P(R), and then write your work. I basically didn't explain any of the variables I chose and just ran trough the problem. Thankfully, it wasn't hard to understand (it was all stuff like P(R) for red, P(B) for blue, P(X>400) to win more than 400€ at a lottery thing, etc...).
At last, there was a problem on 3D geometry graded only on 3 points, and it was honestly long for something to count only 3 points. Plus, I didn't have much time left. So I just winged it however I could, but didn't get to finish it in time (and I'm pretty sure the last part of what I did was wrong lol).
Overall, I was extremely disappointed in myself. But it was a fun exam, and right when I got out, I wanted to do more math. I just really love math ok orz
Physics/chemistry
I was expecting: lmao idk like 4 or something
I got: 11 (how????????????????)
Format: 3 long problems, equally graded between physics and chemistry
A complete disaster. I honestly wanted to cry during that exam. It was exactly on everything I was weak on, and there were many questions I had no idea how to handle. I don't have much to say other than it was a catastrophe and that I got out of the room one hour early because I had nothing more to add to the disaster I was turning in.
But apparently I didn't do that bad... and the first two problems (one on physics, the second on chemistry) probably gave me most of my points, because my work on the 3rd one was basically "???? well that is a very interesting question here and I would like to know the answer but I'm at lost honestly".
German (written)
I was expecting: (including the oral) 5 or 6
I got: 9
Format: same as English
Let's start simple: I don't speak German.
I tried my best to understand what each text was talking about, but it wasn't easy. I answered the questions as best as I could, and then wrote a short thing using info from the texts. I did my best, basically, but my best couldn't be worth much. I got out of there one hour early because I knew it wouldn't have been glorious anyway. I'm pretty sure that if I got a 9, it's thanks to the fact that a lot of people suck in German.
Biology/geology
I was expecting: Honestly, I couldn't estimate my grade. 12. Or maybe 14. Or maybe 16. There was no way to know
I got: 18!
Format: Part 1: You have to explain the mecanisms behind one of the themes studied over the year, with or without the help of a document, and you're invited to summarize your thoughts using diagrams. Then you have 3-5 multiple choice questions. Part 2a: You're given 3-4 documents (photographs, graphs, etc) to study, and have to explain the data you observe and the link between the documents. Part 2b: You're given 5-6 documents (photographs, graphs, data, documentation on the subject, etc), and based on what you know about the theme at hand and the documents, you have to answer a question. At least one of these things has to be on geology, the rest is bio.
When I got out of my physics exam, I was desperate and knew I'd have to completely destroy bio the next day if I wanted to have a shot at passing. So I spent the whole evening and night studying (I got about 5 hours of sleep) and went over things I never took the time to memorize over the school year in geology, because I can't stress how much I suck in geology. I made flash cards, looked over everything... I never crammed so much studying in one evening, honestly.
And then the exam was. Part 1: geothermal energy. Part 2b: geology and subduction. And then a multiple choice on plants, and part 2a on genetics. Points-wise, that means MORE THAN HALF OF THIS BULLSHIT EXAM WAS ON GEOLOGY. I honestly shudder at the thought of what would've happened if I hadn't crammed so much studying the evening before.
I just gave my all to this exam, knowing I was probably fighting for my life here, but not expecting miracles since I suck at geology. I tried my best and I never wrote as much for bio before. Looks like it served me well!
French (oral)
I wasn't expecting anything because I knew what I would get when I walked out of there (12). But if I had to grade myself, I would've given myself a 9 or a 10 maybe...
Format: During the school year, you study works of literature, and your teacher picks chapters or extracts from them that you're accounted to have analyzed etc. One of them is drawn at random and you're given a question. You have 30 minutes to prepare. Then, you speak for 10 minutes to answer the question (during those 10 minutes, you're usually supposed to read the text). Afterwards, the teacher asks you questions for 10 minutes.
Let me stress that I never took a French class.
I prepared for this exam in a rush the evening before (right after bio), and I wasn't expecting a good thing out of it.
I got asked about Candide (Voltaire)'s last chapter, which is probably one of the lamest texts I had to study. There really isn't much to say about it. And, best part! I had forgotten to bring a watch! So I had no clue how to divide up the time I'd be speaking for and had to wing it.
The teacher was pretty weird about how she handled the exam. When I started reading the extract, she stopped me at about 3 sentences in and said "alright, nice reading"... So it threw me off a bit, because I had mentally planned some time to read, and knew I'd have to fill it up by speaking more. Speaking more about a text there's isn't anything to say about. Erm. She also asked me a few questions while I was speaking, which isn't usual, so I wasn't sure how to handle that either. And afterwards, for the interview part, she asked me questions like "what was your favorite text this year? and your least favorite?"... which, I mean, was easy to answer, but that I found so dumb?? I was expecting something on the text I had just talked about or something...
When it was over, she said: "well, I can't tell you your grade, but you did average on the exposition, and much better on the interview". She had her grading sheet right in front of her, so I gave it a quick look and noticed she had given me a 5/10 for the exposition and 7/10 for the interview. So I knew my grade was going to be a 12.
And after that I was done.
With the (average) grades I was expecting for myself, I'd have gotten 10.61
With the worst grades I was expecting for myself: 9.47 (and this is why I was so scared)
And I got: 14.47
Yeah. Looks like I underevaluated myself quite a bit HAHAHA *sweats*
But it served me well so I'm glad I did.