How to score well on exams at TUM (and elsewhere!)

TUM rewards the final grade of most courses based on one exam. This can get stressful as 1.5 hours determines your entire course grade. On top of that, for BSc. Aerospace, most exams have a 40% fail rate.

I already went through all of that and graduated with a 1.5 average, passing in the top 3% of my semester. Here are my tips on how I consistently scored well in exams.

Don't leave all the studying to the exam phase.

Let's be honest, most students push their entire preparation into the exam phase. I myself have done this with some courses. The problem with doing this is the risk of it not clicking. For the courses I did well in, there was always a moment where everything just clicked, and it all made sense. This moment can only happen once you go through all provided materials and actually understand them. The courses where this clicking moment happened earliest to me were the ones in which I tried really hard throughout the semester, actually did the exercises and asked the tutors for help. Even if by the exam phase you forget most of what you learned during the semester, if you knew it once before, you're going to reunderstand it in a fraction of the time. You might notice that people who enjoy the course score better. That usually doesn't have much to do with them trying harder in the exam phase, but with them doing more in the lecture phase. That is when there are tutors and lecturers ready to help you, so don't study last-minute.

If you don't understand a question, read the solution, then redo it immediately without the solution.

This is the primary difference between the way I study compared to others, and something I will always stand by. If you don't understand how to solve a question, don't waste a bunch of time trying to figure it out, only to then see all the ways you're wrong. Just look at the solution, understand what the solution is doing, then redo it yourself immediately afterwards. If you forcefully try to solve the question, you're going to approach it wrong. On future attempts, you're just going to remember the wrong method you tried, and it will once again be difficult. If you only knew the right approach and also directly resolved it like that afterwards, it's the only approach you'll try to use next time. It's time efficient, and genuinely a better method of solving the questions.

Focus on going to the tutorial exercise sessions.

Tutorial sessions are hosted by students of previous years, primarily the ones who took the course last year. This means the tutors know best what you're struggling with, and how they learnt and understood something themselves. You will encounter many occasions where the professors and TAs don't answer a question the way you would want them to. The reason is that they know too much about the topic. Most 'exam tricks' they know might technically not be correct once reaching very in-depth research applications, so they will avoid teaching them to you. However, that is absolutely not your concern when you're taking the course. You just want the answer that helps with the exam. The tutors will be the ones actually giving you the advice that clears up exam questions.

Additionally, ensure that for each course, you go to the same tutor throughout the semester. Every tutor will explain the same concept a bit differently, and the depth they explain it in will also vary. If you form a good relationship with a tutor, the tutor will be aware of what you know and don't know. Therefore, they can formulate the explanation in a way that will benefit you personally.

At the start of the semester, go to many different tutors, figure out which one explains concepts in the best way for you, then stick with them for the rest of the course. Also remember, tutors are also in the degree programme and have a similar schedule to you. If your exam phase is approaching, so is theirs. If it's early on in the semester and you have more free time, they probably do too. Don't cram things at the end when everyone is busy. Ask questions early on when others are pushing the responsibility back, that's when you'll have the most attention from the tutors.

Don't think study groups are mandatory.

Studying with a group of friends may help with motivation. If you see a bunch of people studying, you're less likely to procrastinate. But it's not mandatory, and you absolutely can do fantastic without studying in a group. Sometimes it is just not feasible to travel 1.5 hours total during the exam phase to study with friends. In those cases, don't force it, just study at home. The best approach I found is a hybrid format, where I study the majority of exercises and tutorial notes on my own, and then take timed sample exams with a group of friends. This way you can simulate exam time pressure, and also have real accountability in doing the exam. You cannot 'cheat' when you get stuck on a question and peek at the solution when there are people around.

Simulate exam time pressure for the full exam, not just for individual questions.

Usually for high time pressure exams, like static mechanics, each individual question has a suggested time limit. Many students only try to stay under the time limit for the individual questions, but not the full exam. This is a terrible idea. As fatigue sets in, you can't expect to start every question with a fresh mind. Ensure that you can solve the entire exam in its given time. This additionally helps if you can solve some specific subtasks really quickly, and others a bit slower. For me, I could do virtual work tasks in half the suggested time, but needed more time for 2D internal force diagrams. So I just budgeted my time slightly differently than what was suggested.

Don't do fresh exams right before the real exam!

Save the last unseen exam for roughly 3 days beforehand.

It's a great idea to have a completely untouched exam that you use as a final test of your knowledge. However, you should never do this the day before the real exam. If you do poorly on this sample exam, you will panic and think you know absolutely nothing. You need a buffer to have time to fix the gaps in your knowledge. Some exams that you might be practising on could also just be harder than they actually should be. Don't let the experience of doing poorly on a practice test be the reason you give up on trying a day prior to your exam.

The final day before the exam should generally be used for recapping everything, ensuring you can solve every question type, and going through theory questions.