Taking Exams at the University of Western Australia

I have recently completed my final exams at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and I wanted to share my experience in writing my virtual exchange exams!

In preparing for my exams, I made very detailed notes of the exam information provided by my professors and made sure I knew exactly what was expected of me in the finals. I noted down all the content that would be covered in the exam and then made a study schedule for myself ahead of time, evenly distributing the material over the time that I had.

Studying was not difficult for me at all since I was always caught up with the material. This was due to the tutorials that ran every week, as it required me to participate in class discussions. Therefore, what I focused on was reviewing all my notes and lecture slides and making summary notes on those. I tried linking back all the concepts to the overall course objectives as this helped me to get a better grasp of the entire course.

The online exams at UWA are held on Examplify. I was told that for one of my courses, the exam would require us to upload handwritten answers, so for that course, I wrote out my notes and answers to homework questions by pen for practice. For the rest of my courses, which would require me to type my answers into Examplify, I practiced typing out my notes and answers on my laptop.

What motivated me a lot during this exam period was that I was genuinely interested in all of the courses I took, which made me want to actually learn the content. This is one of the perks of doing an exchange – the fact that you could take any course which interests you, which you may not have gotten the chance to experience at U of T!

I really appreciated the UWA examinations office accommodating me and placing me into the international online exam group for all my exams. This allowed me to write my exams in my local Toronto time so that I wouldn’t have to attend them at odd hours of the night. This helped me out a lot and I was so grateful for this!

Lastly, as some of you may know, the grades from our exchange terms are not reflected in our CGPAs. However, I did not let that impact my efforts in my courses and I tried my very best to get a taste of how it would be to study as a UWA undergrad student. I think that this allowed me to make the most of my term, especially since it’s virtual. We do receive transcripts from our exchange universities so I wanted to do very well in my courses for my own records and to feel a sense of accomplishment once the term ends.