I’m sure we’ve all done some cramming in our life, waiting until the very last minute (in the early hours of the morning) to study for an exam that day and realizing, a bit too late, that that was obviously a horrible idea. We promise ourselves it’ll never happen again, but often when that next exam comes around we’re back in the same routine.
Over the years, there are many tips I’ve learned to be more successful when studying. I’ve implemented some of these tips seamlessly into my studying routine after learning them, while others I’m still working on. To inspire all of us to finally begin to improve our study habits, I have provided a list of study tips we can all try the next time our professor announces an exam.
1. Begin studying at least a few days before the exam.
This is one tip I cannot seem to implement, however, it is a constant goal of mine. I always tell myself to start studying days before, however, most often I end up studying for way too many hours the day/night before trying to make sure I’ve learned everything. I’m sure we’ve all heard many times break-up your studying, study a little bit each night so that when the night before the exam comes up, you can hopefully just review a few things and feel confident you are prepared.
2. Use sticky notes to keep track of what you still don’t understand.
Shout out to Madison (my co-correspondent for HC) for this tip. I tried it for my last exam and it helped so much to have a visual of what I did and didn’t understand. Go through your notes and write the important stuff on sticky notes in your own words, then stick the notes on the walls in your room. As you learn a topic, remove the sticky notes and eventually you’ll remove all the sticky notes and feel more confident that you understand everything. If you follow tip #1 this is even more helpful as you have a constant reminder to study on your wall for days before the exam.
3. Use those study guides!
There’s a reason (some) professors post study guides, they basically tell you exactly what to study! Yes, a long list of topics can be overwhelming, but if you go through the topics one by one, by the end you will feel totally prepared. In addition, if your professor does not provide a study guide, it can be very helpful to create your own study guide by listing out important topics, vocab, equations, etc.
4. Don’t over-study.
Some people may say, there is no way anyone could ever study too much, but you can. By this I mean, dedicating all of your time to studying and neglecting to eat, sleep, or take care of yourself in general. Studying is absolutely important when preparing for an exam, however, you also want to be mentally prepared by ensuring you are sleeping and eating enough and taking study breaks to regroup and see your progress.
I hope these tips help you on your next exam! They are all definitely doable, however, I know new study routines can be very difficult to implement. So start with one and see how it works for you. Once you start on the path toward better studying, it is way easier to continue.