There are several ways that A-students study for exams. Here are some tips that students use with success to make the most of study time.
Exams sneak up on you when you are least prepared—if an exam can be scheduled
for the week when you have to work extra shifts, the week when your cat has
kittens, and the week your water pipes decide to burst and your landlord is out
of town, that’s exactly when they will happen. No joke, exams are the most
stressful time of the year for most students, and anyone who is in school looks
forward to those little blue exam books with dread.
There’s no reason to panic, though. Students who do well know that exams are
not a cruel trick to bring down marks—they can actually be a great last-minute
way to bring your GPA up. Start thinking of exam period as a way to bolster your
marks rather than as a time to sink, and you’re already halfway there. Then,
simply use a few tips and tricks A-students use to get great marks—with a little
less stress.
What’s Your Story?
It’s easy to get caught up in everyone else’s panic,
but you have to step back as soon as the butterflies in your stomach start
flying and do a realistic assessment. Find out all you can. Where are your
exams? When are they? What subjects are covered? What exam type are you dealing
with (multiple choice? Short answer? Essay questions?) Many colleges keep old
exams on file and these may let you know what to expect. Talk to other students
who have taken the course before—every professor has a favorite exam topic and
favorite questions. Knowing what to expect helps you streamline your study time.
Time, Time — It Waits for No Student
Time is your biggest enemy—and your
biggest ally—when it comes to studying for exams. Take out a calendar and note
exactly how much time you have between now and exams. List any other
responsibilities you have in that period of time. Now take a red pen and
ruthlessly cut out every item on your agenda that you absolutely don’t need.
From now until exams, tape all your tv shows, vow to rent movies later, and
generally eke out as much study time as you can. Every hour you can study inches
you closer to an A.
Developing a Study Plan
Once you have your schedule in order and a
general idea about your exams, come up with a study plan. You will need more
time for subjects you are behind in, but you will need to book a fair amount of
time for each class—as much as you can. At this stage, you also need to decide
what you need to do and understand to get an A. Some students may just try for a
passing grade, but you are better off aiming high—that way, even if you don’t
make it all the way to an A, the results still won’t be devastating.
For each exam, list what you need to know - concepts, ideas, formulas. Come
up with at least ten things you need to do to get that A. If a professor simply
says that everything is on the exam, check your textbook for clues—the table of
contents will give you a nice summary of every concept you need to study.
Once you know what you have to study, tailor your study plan to your exams.
If you are studying for a history exam that’s all essay questions, work on
knowing the general concepts well enough to write general answers. If you are
studying for a math exam, do all the types of questions that may be covered and
start memorizing formulas. For short answer and essay questions, try to know a
little about everything. Practice writing essays and short answers about each
topic—use your book when you get stuck. If you are studying for multiple choice
exams or those that will require you to complete formulas, study specifics. Go
over every formula and develop cue cards to take with you everywhere so that you
can memorize specific definitions, equations, and other key concepts. Focus on
what you don’t know—don’t keep going over the stuff you already know.
The mistake most students make is just going over and over their notes and
texts. This is usually the very worst thing to do, and this is something that
most A-students wouldn’t be caught doing. Use your text and notes to decide what
to study and to refresh your memory about certain ideas, but don’t just read
these things. You’ll simply tune out and three hours into a study session you
will realize that you don’t remember a thing you have read.
Instead—and listen up, this is the secret to making the most of your exam
study time—really work with the material. That means instead of reading, take
pen and paper in hand and write out mock exam answers, do some formulas, or
create charts that link the material or summarize it. Even if you have to
memorize something, take your paper and start trying to define the terms you
will be expected to know or try to write down as many formulas as you can
without peeking. This sort of "active study" is always more productive and
always makes more sense than just reading. Your professors don’t want to know
whether you have read the material—they want to know whether you understand the
material.
It’s All About Motivation
One of the hardest things about exam studying
is staying motivated. Lack of motivation is what will make you watch old reruns
instead of bucking down to Geology. If you can’t stay motivated, you won’t do
the work or pass your exams. It’s that simple.
If you want to pass exams for a specific reason—to get into grad school or to
get a scholarship—motivation is easier. Just imagine what will happen if you get
a great grade! For most students, though, there is not always this push. That
means that you have to come up with your own motivation—be it a great mark on a
paper that made you feel great or the fear of getting a D—and paste evidence of
it where you will see it. Pin a good or bad paper to your bathroom mirror or
find a friend who will nag you about studying. Every time you catch yourself
lagging on studying, remember what you are studying for.
If you can’t get motivated, hire a tutor or make a hefty bet with someone
about your exam grade. The thought of losing money or the investment in a tutor
will motivate you as nothing else will.
Diving In and Finding More Time
Good students know that for exams you
have to spend time planning and plenty of time actually diving into the books.
You need to a find a good place to study and start studying for long blocks of
time. Time spent worrying or fussing doesn't help, so just dive in.
One way to make your time studying productive is to set goals. That means
when you sit down to study European history, let’s say, set a reasonable goal
that can be accomplished in one hour - "I will summarize each of the reigns of
the Louises in France and write a very rough four page fake-exam essay comparing
the kings" —then don’t get up until you are done. This will streamline your
study by making you concentrate on your work. Instead of flittering through the
entire textbook and getting nothing done in an hour or so, at the end of the
hour (or two, if it takes you longer) you will at least have learned something.
As you dive in, you may realize that your time is getting shorter—the exam that
was three weeks away last week is now less than two weeks away. At this point,
some students begin to panic. Better students find sneaky ways to fit in more
studying time:
1. If you haven’t read all your textbooks or required reading and it is too
late to catch up, read about the books, or better yet, get audio tapes.
A-students love audio tapes because they can listen to them in the car, while
brushing their teeth, or even during work. Audio tapes are a great way to
reinforce what you know and learn what you don’t. They also give your eyes a
much-needed rest.
2. If you are a freshman or sophomore taking general survey classes—history
in Europe 1500-1950, for example—get general kids’ books about these topics out
of the public library. No kidding. Children’s books have tons of illustrations
and have a handy way of just communicating the basics. In the few minutes it
will take you to read these, you will have snapped up some general knowledge
that you can put into an essay question.
3. Carry a pen and paper with you and make little notes to yourself about
your exams while you wait in line, shop, or brush your teeth.
4. Carry cue cards with some basic concepts written down on them. While you
are stuck in traffic or waiting for the dentist, review these cards.
5. Some professors have their lectures taped. Some students tape lectures
instead of taking notes. If you can get your hands on these tapes, you can often
listen during little snatches of time and refresh your memory of what was
covered in class.
6. Smart students know that sometimes just getting the same concepts
explained differently helps. If you can get taped lectures about the subjects
covered on your exams—some college libraries have audio sections that include
lectures from visiting professors—or if you can read articles or book about the
subject other than just the required reading, you are well ahead of the game.
Look for books on the subjects or arrange to exchange lecture tapes with someone
taking a similar class at a nearby college. Reading more may seem like a
stressful idea at this time of year, but reading an interesting article instead
of a dry chapter in a textbook often gets you closer to that A.
7. Study groups are the downfall of many students—who hasn’t had a study
session that turned into a gossip-fest or an impromptu game of basketball? Stay
away from study groups. Instead, study alone unless you are studying with a paid
tutor or unless you want to squeeze in some more study time. For example, making
plans to go out to study with a group on Saturday afternoon is not a great idea,
but if you have to work on Saturday anyway and one of your workmates is in one
of your classes, you can bounce ideas as your work and sneak in some study time
that way.
No matter how much time you have to study, by getting realistic, by planning,
and then by buckling down so that you use all the time you do have to study, you
can improve your marks—or at least keep the ones you have. Exam time will likely
never be fun, but at least it doesn’t have to involve failure. A few simple
steps are all it takes to take you from no studying to smart studying—the type
of studying that will get you that A!