In my continuing series on basic college study tips I’ve decided to talk today about how to knock ANY exam out of the park with a few simple steps. Many college freshmen do not know how to study for college exams. College exams are not like high school exams in that they usually require more foresight and planning to successfully get a good mark. With that said, there are many small things college freshman can do to drastically change their outcome in college exams for the better.
1: Scheduling:
Scheduling exam study time in college is crucially important to a good mark on your test and to achieve general academic success. You will need a daily planner and a semester white board. The white board will allow you to see your semester snapshot and prepare for coming exams; your daily planner will allow you to stay accountable for your daily study routines. Also each works as a backup for the other. Once you get into the habit of working this way it will save you dozens of hours worth of lost study time and worry. Ideally, you should start studying 4 days before your exam date; there are three main stages, coding, reviewing and confidence building.
2: Coding:
Before I continue, I’m assuming that you have taken effective study notes throughout your classes and have a relatively clear and clean set of notes. The next step is coding, the coding process should be performed 4 days before the exam starts and is in essence a rewrite of your notes. Take all your notes and condense them down to 2-3 pages of super concentrated information. No filler, just the stuff you need for your exam. This will be your exam key and should be printed out and taken around with you for the next 4 days.
3: Reviewing:
Review your exam notes forwards and backwards (literally) try to stay away from rote memorization; instead connect the main ideas and concepts together so that they make logical sense to you and are easy to remember. I can usually memorize and regurgitate a page of notes within half an hour, so the average exam should take 2-3 hours to study for. Special note, I am assuming that you have understood all the content before coding. If you don’t understand a concept in your notes, ask your TA or professor immediately after the class so you aren’t caught with exam notes you don’t understand.
4: Confidence Building:
Half of getting an A on any test or paper is confidence in the content. Being confident just makes the answers flow faster on to the page. After you have learned the content in your exam notes, keep the notes with you and explain them to yourself, your friends, your parents or anyone else that will hear it. I find teaching content is the most effective way of remembering it so try teaching your exam notes to others, at the least; your classmates will appreciate the free lesson.
5: Before the Exam:
Right before the exam, it is a good idea to put all your study materials away and simply meditate on your coming exam. Studying right before the exam will not help you and putting everything away and convincing yourself that you’ll do well will only help to build your confidence. Many Olympians and competitive athletes use visualization to help them succeed and I’ve found the same thing can be applied to exam confidence preparation. Take 5 minutes to sit down and visual yourself writing a great exam, answering each question perfectly. I actually have visualization video’s you can load in your ipod included in my college tutoring program that can help you with this.
6: Reviewing:
After writing your exam, it is really important to review the entire exam for mistakes even if you feel you’ve done very well. In my own experiences as a teaching assistant, the students who hand in their tests early never do well. You should never be in a hurry to get out of an exam. Take all the necessary time you need to properly review each answer and make sure it is answered to the best of your ability.
If you need any more help on papers or tests, you can pick up a free chapter of my book on how to study in college.
