October 28, 2024
Cracking the Code: LiU’s guide to acing exam seasons and things that surprised me as an international student
Barev!! (“Hello” in Armenian)
Welcome to reading this blog to learn more about how students at LiU manage commonly stressful periods, exam seasons and what the university does to make the experience better and easier for students.
Before we start, it is essential to know that university counselors, professionals, and teachers are always very supportive and provide individualized solutions on how to make studies more coherent and accessible for everyone. These rules are specific to my program at the medical faculty, and policies might slightly differ from faculty to department and course to course.
An academic year is divided into 2 semesters, and each semester holds 5 courses. My program holds project courses every semester where grouped students work on specific tasks to enhance team-building, management, and application of the course content. Each course usually has compulsory elements and practical and written examinations. Compulsory elements are the essential parts of the course required to pass the course, and they can include group assignments, problem-based learning (PBL) sessions, or lectures. Practical examinations range from laboratory sessions, research assignments, literature analyses, etc and, as the name suggests, they focus on guiding students to apply course content in practice. Usually, we have 4 written examinations per semester.
Tenta-P periods are known as exam seasons that happen 5 times a year, which makes the exams more manageable for both students and professors. These seasons are usually highly collaborative between different faculties and programs, and it is not uncommon to have 3-4 different exams at the same time in the room. Plagiarism is taken very seriously here at LiU, so you can keep that in mind before you start taking your first exam! Another thing that surprised me when I started studying here last year was that the examinations were fully anonymous. During the examination each student registers and receives a 4-digit AID number in a way that professors only see numbers on the exam sheet and, after grading, the numbers are corresponding students in the registration webpage. The second thing that surprised me here is that each written examination can be (re)written an unlimited amount of times, thus the system puts more effort so students can focus on their study schedules and enhance deep understanding while having no stress of failing an exam would risk their future studies.
Finally, remember that LiU and Sweden provide many resources for success in your studies and career. Learn how to use them and make the most of your experience as an international student in Sweden!
Whether you are looking for your upcoming studies at LiU, already booked your flight, or have friends studying here, always remember that your future awaits you here at LiU!
Best of luck,
Sona H. from Armenia
Studying BSc in Experimental and Industrial Biomedicine
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