Mumbo Jumbo Syndrome

1. (n) A temporary, debilitating condition whereby a student overthinks an exam question and mentally jumbles up similar concepts, leading to extreme confusion, frustration, and panic during the test. Mumbo Jumbo Syndrome is the unproven leading cause of exam failure and is usually a result of last-minute cramming. Typically affects STEM students.

1. "Man, I totally just confused the steps of the citric acid cycle with those of the urea cycle on that biochemistry exam. I definitely suffered from Mumbo Jumbo Syndrome."

2. "Was number 8 A or B? I totally had Mumbo Jumbo Syndrome and confused the definitions."

3. "I wish I hadn't crammed for this test. I have a feeling that I'm going to get Mumbo Jumbo Syndrome when we're asked about mitosis and meiosis. I always confuse them!"

4. "I failed. I had really bad Mumbo Jumbo Syndrome during that exam! I kept going back and forth between A and D; I couldn't remember the study material well enough and kept justifying both answers to myself. I started panicking and ended up just questioning everything I knew in the middle of the test."