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Exam seasons and university exams in Poland – how to survive and pass the hardest subjects?
University is not high school, or what is the legendary exam season?
For every fresher, the first collision with academic reality can be quite a shock. The most important rule to understand from the start is: university is not high school. Here, nobody quizzes you in every class, there are no unannounced pop quizzes, and no marks for “participation” at the blackboard. The entire semester relies on independent study, the grand finale of which is the exam season.
The exam season (sesja) is an intensive period (usually two weeks in January/February and June) during which regular classes stop, and students sit key exams and assessments covering the whole half-year. While in secondary school the material was broken down into small tests, at university a single exam can cover knowledge from thousands of textbook pages and an entire lecture series.
The biggest differences between high school and university:
- 100% of the responsibility is on you – lecturers will not remind you about upcoming deadlines. You have to monitor the syllabus and requirements yourself.
- Lectures vs. Seminars/Labs – to even sit a lecture exam, you must first pass the corresponding seminars or laboratory classes (often based on kolokwia, which are major tests during the semester).
- The September Campaign (kampania wrześniowa) – if you fail an exam on the first attempt, you have the right to one resit. If that also goes badly, the resit exam season awaits you in September.
How to tackle the hardest subjects and plan your studies?
On every degree course, there are the so-called “beasts” (kobyły) – the toughest subjects that keep successive year groups awake at night (the famous higher mathematics, physics, anatomy, microeconomics, or Roman law). Statistically, this is where most people drop out in their first year. How do you approach them sensibly so you don’t lose your student status?
- Start studying before the exam season (zerówki) – many lecturers offer so-called “zero terms” (zerówki) while the semester is still ongoing. Taking them is voluntary, and failing does not result in an unsatisfactory grade on your record, but it allows you to get a tough subject out of the way early.
- Collect notes from older year groups – the so-called giełdy (resource pools) and material databases from upper-year students are absolute goldmines. Exam questions often repeat or revolve around similar topics.
- Study in chunks, forget about pulling all-nighters – cramming for a massive exam 24 hours before the deadline rarely ends in success. Break the material down into smaller blocks and start revising at least two weeks before the exam season.
A golden tip: If you slip up during the exam season and fail a subject on both attempts, it is not the end of the world. You can apply to the dean for a so-called conditional promotion (wpis warunkowy or warunek). This means you progress to the next semester, but you must repeat and pay for the failed subject the following year.
USOS systems and grade registration
Remember that all your marks from the exam season and exams must ultimately find their way into the electronic system (most commonly USOS). Make sure that lecturers enter your results before the final deadline for closing the grade sheets by the dean’s office – this is crucial for smoothly passing your stage of study and the payout of any potential scholarships.