[Ashitaria]

This is a rant. A very long, long rant on how much I hate my classes. My last rant was about IQ, this is my current rant.

How the fuck do you guys do so well on tests?

I've read a lot of stories on how you guys do so well on tests. You guys don't even study, don't even do shit, and yet still manage to get full marks on tests.
Take my INTP friend for example. We get along great. We debate, play games, make jokes about society and stupid people (like the ones you hear about in the Darwin's Awards), sit at the back of the class, and generally goof around. The difference is that he has an A and I have an F. And after a few weeks of this, I got really pissed off.
I asked him his secret, and he said that all he did was guess. Guess. Makes me wonder why the hell I even study in the first place, in fact, I did fairly well in the first exam by simply guessing. Next week, there's a history exam. I'm not even going to study for it.
If I get an F on it, I will officially view myself as a dumbass.
And seriously, he's not the only one getting A's for just guessing. All of my friends are doing it, and their doing really well. In fact, all my friends are setting the curves in the AP classes. I'm the guy with a measly "C". And yes, it really helps that all my friends are NTs.
Idk, am I a stupid SJ who just gets along really well with NTs? :crying:

 

[Fiddler]

You're not alone. Trust me.

 

[st0831]

Tests do not project much into the future anyway. Does that sound comforting?

Now for some blunt truth. Your enemy is not the tests, but yourself. P stands for procrastination and you have one in your type. Does that provide some motivation to change some things for yourself? If not, keep thinking.

 

[honestfi]

I have nothing to add, except, I feel your pain.:crying:

 

[pie]

I did well on tests because I paid attention in class, read the assigned readings, and did the assigned homework.

=\

 

[Dooraven]

Wait what sort of questions are they? Multi Choice? If so I can see how it's easy for him to get As without studying.

 

[Monsteroids]

I did well on tests because I paid attention in class, read the assigned readings, and did the assigned homework.

=\

Yep, that's the only worthwhile method to get through school.
My school has a motto that goes along the lines of "No rewards without effort".

After all, the feeling of reward comes from the grind of effort. Otherwise it's not rewarding. School has much to offer in terms of experience and knowledge. Part of the experience is boredom and shitty teachers that require you to do more work, even dropping behind a year. Want your 'A'? Earn it.

Be more responsible. Just because your peers can jerk off and still get As doesn't mean you should feel inadequate for not being able to the same. Trust me, I've been there.


Tests are fairly trivial in their own right until you see that they're worth 70% of your mark, the other 20% and 10% percent being Homework and Attendance. Then you start to see the effects of not studying. The world is actually quite examination geared as it gives quick and easy ways to judge a large numbers of people like slabs of meat. Tests do have their own BS, it's true, as I managed to botch my first math test by way of putting b's and d's in the choice thing when it should have been the other way around, lost 25% of what would have been a perfect A mark. Not much I could do about it, so I moved on.

Still, if you know there's something you didn't understand that you could have studied than there's no reason to feel good and no support can be given except for "do better next time". Heck I still screw up like this, but I certainly don't envy peers or their grades and methods.

 

[honestfi]

It isn't envy, it's irritation.

About 15 years ago, I had to do a major assignment on this course I was on, an exam, if you like, broken down into 6 modules. These modules were related to each other and had to be referred back to in each of the other modules. The estimate man hours was 100+. We had about 2 months to do this, and do our day job.

It took me all of that 2 months, and I passed.

One girl, through indolence mostly, had not worked on it at all. Two days before it was due in, she took two days off work and completed it.

And passed.

No, not envy. But there is something in my nature which goes...WTF.

 

[CrazyGlitch]

INTP not getting good grades? WHAT IS THIS.

 

[Aßbiscuits]

You're dumb if you think NTs are better than SJs :dry:

You know teens will lie about studying? They're probably at home studying their asses off.

 

[Hardkormysteria]

I never new about INTPs until I recently discovered the test a few years ago. I was one who never studied in high school and made excellent grades. I never did homework at home either... I would do it a few minutes before class started every morning. I got too bored studying and could never focus on it because other things would distract me. Some classes were harder for me that I would think an INTP would be good at like math related classes. I think I made the worst grade of my life in Biology actually.

 

[Ti Dominant]

Meh, Academics were always easy for me, from k - 12. It's second-nature.
People are often envious of my ability to do very well on tests without trying, for sure.
In high school, I rarely studied and got 100s on tests while people who actually studied would get 80s.
A friend of mine was once jealous and discussed with the instructor how it's unfair that I could manage to get such good grades without much effort. I was like, "I don't know how I do it; I just know it."

Currently, I'm in college and my memory is very handy. As Keirsey said, "When an INTP knows something, they remember it." I often have a very keen memory that allows me to recall anything I've learned without much effort. Someone I know is less fortunate and has to actually attempt to remember what they learn, making them suffer on tests.

I usually go through tests like a breeze. Regardless of whether or not I studied, I just have really great reasoning skills, so I usually have certain heuristics (rule of thumb techniques) which allow me to weed out the bad choices from the logical ones. The process of elimination, essentially, is the greatest way to take a test. You just have to weigh all of the choices in your mind, thoroughly, and conceptually distinguish them. According to the question, what would be the most logical answer? After enough thought, you should be able to boil it down, giving you a higher chance of getting a higher grade. That's all it is. Perhaps Ti comes in super handy for test-taking. The ability to mentally categorize everything, and to set them off in your mind in various sections in a highly organized fashion, probably allows for a mental clarity that makes recall much easier. Additionally, Ti is a really great function for philosophy, in my opinion, and philosophy majors often score well on Graduate school entry tests, such as Business, Law, and Medicine. They tend to have great analytical and verbal skills.

So yeah, INTP's are just gifted with the ability to test well. I just have the 'brains' (brainpower) that allows me seek out the correct answer better than most other people (it seems).
The sad thing is that I used to never study; college is starting to pick up, so I am now having to study, but the work is still very easy. It really must suck to 'have' to study for hours just to get a good grades. =|

 

[Ti Dominant]

I never did homework at home either... I would do it a few minutes before class started every morning. I got too bored studying and could never focus on it because other things would distract me. Some classes were harder for me that I would think an INTP would be good at like math related classes. I think I made the worst grade of my life in Biology actually.

Ha, I relate entirely. I remember in high school forgetting to study the night before (since, yeah, I usually studied the night before, while I just had fun playing video games most of the week after school, LOL). So, during lunch 30 minutes before the test I quickly went over the entire chapter we were going to study and placed most of my attention on the material and information that actually looked important, that I could guess would be testable. The rest of the information I quickly skimmed and ignored. All non-essentially facts and statements were quickly moved beyond. I focused and concentrated on key parts of the chapter.

My INTJ friend studied a section of the chapter every day of the week after work for 30 minutes. She was so pissed that I never studied at all. Anyway, lunch ended and the test came around and I got a 100, and my friend got an 80. LOL A whole week of tedious studying just to get an 80, while I could study 30 minutes before class at lunch and get a 100!!!!!! I was impressed with myself.

Additionally, I have problems studying too. I usually find other things to do that distract me. And mathematics wasn't always easy for me, either. Almost every class is a breeze except math. It's just not something I excel at, at all. And I also didn't like Biology, haha.

 

[SomeWeirdGuy]

I asked him his secret, and he said that all he did was guess. Guess.

Guessing is how I do it too. Well, educated guessing. I started studying more recently, but only a few days before a major test, and even then only 30 minutes to an hour.

 

[Ti Dominant]

It isn't envy, it's irritation.

About 15 years ago, I had to do a major assignment on this course I was on, an exam, if you like, broken down into 6 modules. These modules were related to each other and had to be referred back to in each of the other modules. The estimate man hours was 100+. We had about 2 months to do this, and do our day job.

It took me all of that 2 months, and I passed.

One girl, through indolence mostly, had not worked on it at all. Two days before it was due in, she took two days off work and completed it.

And passed.

No, not envy. But there is something in my nature which goes...WTF.

Ha, I must've made a lot of people feel that way.
I had an INFP friend in high school (bordering on INTP) who was very much like that, as well.
She NEVER worked; she NEVER tried. She hardly even made a pretense to write her essays on time (and usually, the instructors knew she was so brilliant that they allowed her to turn them in late). She would get high grades on everything, and she was the laziest, most unassertive, most unconcerned person I ever met. She didn't put any effort into anything and go by. Ha!

I wasn't as bad as her, but I can't say that I tried much either.
I also know an ISTP who got through high school without much effort, just like me.
=|

 

[Ti Dominant]

Guessing is how I do it too. Well, educated guessing. I started studying more recently, but only a few days before a major test, and even then only 30 minutes to an hour.

Yeah, I resort to educated guessing too, when all else fails.
Sometimes, I actually get them right.

 

[LostInMyOwnMind]

If you have 4 multiple choice answers that means 3 are the wrong answer and are usually easy to spot. Nothing magic about that.

 

[Radiant Flux]

intp not getting good grades? What is this.

lol



====================================================

 

[SomeWeirdGuy]

INTP not getting good grades? WHAT IS THIS.

This, my friend, is going on my signature.

 

[Ti Dominant]

If you have 4 multiple choice answers that means 3 are the wrong answer and are usually easy to spot. Nothing magic about that.

Indeed. That's why I often wonder why people have such a hard time with tests.