Decoding the Numbers: How I Conquered My Statistics Midterm with 98%

Before we get started it’s important to know that my statistics class is online and it is introduction to statistics otherwise known as Math 146.

My professor uses WAMAP which allows homework assignments to be engaging which it made this all the more easier for my learning style.

For example if I get a question wrong, I can ask for a similar question, resetting the missed points from the previous question.

There is also an answer key option that will allow you to jump to answer to see the answer, of course you then have to ask for a similar question to reset.

With that said, some people still struggle with statistics and the amount of homework it involves even with the same set up, so I want to share my tips and and strategies here for anyone that finds introductions to statistics intimidating.

Study Tips That Helped Me Ace My Statistics Midterm in 2024

I was prepared and left nothing to chance. The only thing not shown was the plate of food I made myself for the exam.

Half cinnamon raisin bagel with cream cheese, dried mango slices, apple sauce, and chocolate peanut butter granola and water.

I spent the three days prior going over the thirty six problems on the review assignment that amounted to one hundred forty four uncountable points.

(Here is the chunking method I used for studying for the midterm)

Each question that I struggled with was written down and broken into details on how I got the answer and then I did practice problems until I could get three to four correct before moving on.

Knowing that I am prone to bouts of anxiety I made sure to write out the simplest problems that I knew how to do in my sleep because during bouts of anxiety I will overthink and second guess and suddenly draw blanks.

On the day of the exam I found that I had over prepared – this is a good thing because I can use these notes for the final exam which is worth 20% of our grade.

This exam was worth 15% and the exam itself had 23 questions worth 100 points and each question (minus one) had been on the review assignment and written into detail on my favorite type of notebook.

I use legal pads as shown in the picture above.

The exam was from 3:00 to 5:30 and I finished around 4:30 because I wanted to go over every question twice before hitting submit.

Once the exam time was up I was shown 98% as my passing grade, however, the professor said she was going to go through every exam question including the computer generated ones with a fine tooth comb to make sure our grades were accurate – so we were to ignore the grade until otherwise.

The exam was on Thursday and I got the final grade on Sunday, nothing changed, turns out 98% was accurate!

I have never received high marks on a midterm before especially close to 100%.

I will be taking the same strategy as I did with the midterm and applying it to the final exam in a month.

It is important to note it was open note and open book but I only referred to the book once when one of the questions wasn’t on the review assignment.

However I have taken open note exams before and never been efficient with them until now. I can’t stress this enough but show your work and write out the details.

I struggle with a form of dyslexia I get confused with left to right and miss minor details so I have to write down reminders.

Nothing is too silly when you want to pass a tough class – write it down because even we forget sometimes how we got to the answer in the first place.

I hope sharing my preparation routine for midterms helped and wish whoever is reading this while preparing for their exam best of luck.