5.5.17 // 7:05pm // guide to exam season
hello hello! i know iāve been a little absent the past few days, but i had my last exam yesterday and now iām finally home. i asked for advice/masterpost topic suggestions, so without further ado, here is my guide to exam season! (as requested by @rivkahstudies)
whether itās high school finals, college finals or ap/ib exams, iām sure we all know how it feels to have to learn (seemingly) all the knowledge ever known in a few weeks. hereās how to come out relatively unscathed:
1. pretty notes are nice, but they also take forever. iām a huge fan of making summaries and study guides so, to spice up my notes efficiently, i pick two colored pens that I alternate between for each section/topic.Ā
2. on a similar vein, donāt use a billion different colors/pens/highlighters.Ā it takes time to switch between pens or to pick up a highlighter. and to figure out what color the term/fact should be classified as. underlining and writing in all caps is just as effective to provide emphasis on something. and way faster.
3. study guides are your friend.Ā like i said earlier, this is one of my favorite way to study for big cumulative exams. go through your notes (or the textbook) and summarize, but make sure you understand what you write down.Ā write things in a way that makes sense to you (donāt just copy). going back over lecture notes is great because it forces you to put pieces together, calls things you didnāt get to your attention, and allows you to skip over concepts you are already very solid in.
4. learn from practice problems.Ā if your teacher/professor give past exams or practice problems, use them. i like to go through them and, if i donāt know how to do something and wasnāt just being dumb, i take notes on key concepts/strategies used to solve the problem. this way, itās on my radar and i can apply those strategies to other problems. if you reallyĀ donāt have time (or are lazy like me), go through the solutions and take notes on any solution that you wouldnāt have immediately thought of. not quite as effective as actually doing them first, but it still helps.
5. memorize strategically.Ā this one is really great for vocab or classes like ap spanish lit where you need to know facts about lots of different works. start by memorizing theĀ āeasyā ones that stand out. maybe you have a personal connection, or itās the only work in that style or time period. i find starting there and working towards the moreĀ ādifficultā works builds confidence and helps you be really sure of the ones you do know. if you get down to the end and there are two works you always get confused, at least youāve narrowed down the list by having everything else locked in.
6. breathe. one of the worst things you can do is let yourself get overwhelmed (either while studying or while test-taking). donāt let yourself get to that point. if you need to take a step back, do it. pushing yourself too far can lead to a complete shut down, which will put you out of commission for (possibly) days and only fuel your sense of helplessness. exams are important, but theyāre not so important that you need to sacrifice your well being.
best of luck with all your exams and please feel free to message me/send me an ask if you want more advice. i love giving it :D -m