What to do when you have a big test that covers LOTS of things:
So many classes I have taken just have a midterm and then a cumulative final. And these seem so daunting and scary because it can literally make you fail the class if you do bad on one. Studying for these major exams is so stressful too. You have months of material to sift through.
It's not hopeless and you don't need to stress so much! I have some tips to help after years of stress and tears.
If your teacher relies heavily on the textbook, find the chapter summaries and use those as a guide. Those will highlight the main topics in the chapter. It will help you identify what you know well and what you need to study.
If you have quizzes in the class, study the quiz questions. Chances are the test will have some of the same or very similar questions. Teachers love to recycle.
Get a separate sheet of paper. Go through your notes and write down important dates/time frames. Make a new section. Write down important people or species. New section. Major events/key words. New section. Numbers/equations/formulas. New section. Subjects and topics covered. New section. Other important things like experiments or super important things. Congrats! You now have a set of skeleton notes with the bare bones. This is going to be your holy grail. It has all the big important information without the messy, niche details. Don't write the meanings of any of these things. Just write them in a list. Below is an example of my last start to one of these.
Review any homework assignments
Look at vocab. If you understand the vocab and when to use the words, you're in a really good spot.
Have a good understanding of all the major subjects and a really good understanding of a few main niche things from each subject.
You won't know everything and that's ok. Don't try to know everything.
If you have other pieces of advice, please add on!
