There is nothing better than looking for the results of an exam and finding a nice 30 cum laude next to your name, which will shine along with the other grades in the university booklet. Would you like to feel like this after each test? Now you can! Keep reading.
Steps
Step 1. Study
Don't put off learning until the last minute. If you wait until the night before, or even worse, the morning of the exam, you will be less likely to remember what you have learned due to stress. Just keep a relaxed and light mood so you don't feel tense. Start studying as soon as you know the exam date, or a week before, provided you have followed all the lessons carefully.
Step 2. Find a study partner to practice with for the exam, such as a friend, family member, or even your boyfriend or girlfriend
This will not only improve your grades, it could have a positive impact (with a 60% chance …) on your relationship! If they refuse your proposal, don't take it. They are the ones who lose us. However, remember not to choose a person with whom you will only get lazy instead of studying!
Step 3. Be careful in class
Paying attention to the teacher's words will increase your understanding of the topics and eventually, in the course of the explanation, you will be able to ask clear questions.
Step 4. Solve all practice questions
Some may be marked in class, others will be found in the textbook or on the internet. It is important to solve them all, because the teacher could use them for the exam.
Step 5. Prepare for the surprise quizzes
Read the study materials (even if you don't feel like it) for 10-30 minutes in the evening, you never know. Try to work hard in class. If you have questions after you finish your work, you can ask the teacher in class instead of coming to class first the next day to talk to him.
Step 6. Take notes on the study materials
Focus on the concepts, definitions and formulas that you believe will be put into the test.
Step 7. Take deep breaths
Try to stay calm. It is well known that your attitude during an exam affects the result; if you are tense you may not remember what you know.
Step 8. Eat proper meals before exam day
But don't try different foods than usual or overdo it with too nutritious foods.
Step 9. Prepare by studying the topics included in the exam syllabus
You're probably nervous already, so the last thing to do is panic if you can't find the pencil or pen. Keep extra supplies on hand in your backpack or pocket, add a loose-leaf notebook.
Step 10. Take a piece of paper and write up optimistic sentences, such as "I will get a great grade in the exam"
This will lead to you having a positive attitude, but not being overconfident, or you may have bad results.
Step 11. Change the order of the test if necessary
Scroll through the sheet to see if there are some difficult questions that may take longer: they should be left for last. You don't have to take the exam in the order it was written. In the beginning, solve the easy problems to promote your confidence and calm down. When you come back to the complex questions, you will know that you will at least get a decent grade and you will be aware of how much time you have. Then, if you can give the right answers to these questions, your grade will rise for sure.
Step 12. Never leave questions blank
Try your best to find an answer, and while you can't, take a guess.
Step 13. Listen to some quiet music and look at beautiful pictures (for example of great views) before the exam, as this will help you calm down
Step 14. Be especially careful
Make sure you answer questions that don't bother you. Later you can devote your time to the complicated ones.
Step 15. Read the questions carefully
Examine the questions at least twice, perhaps during the first reading you missed something. Underline the keywords of the question. Do not rush. If possible, read the entire exam from top to bottom before starting work. This will give you an idea of what to expect and help you manage your time better. It also prevents nasty surprises when there are just a few minutes left.
Step 16. Proceed with your first answer
Your first answer is probably correct, and if you go back and change your mind several times, you are more likely to make a mistake for doubting yourself.
Step 17. Thoroughly review your answers when finished
Make sure you have answered all questions, never leave one blank. If they are multiple choice questions, you will have a 25% chance of answering them adequately. Also, a final look at all of the work is a good time to find any mistakes made that catch your eye, and you might even think of something more to add to your processing of the answer.
Step 18. Use logic when getting bogged down by a multiple choice question
Usually, one or two of the possibilities are wrong, so discard them. Now you should have two answers left, so this is where you have a better chance of hitting the right one. Review them carefully and try to figure out which one makes the most sense. The key to solving multiple choice questions is not to think “Which is the right one?” But “Which ones are not correct?” And use this reasoning until you have only one left.
Step 19. Make sure you take your notes with you on exam day so you can review them before taking it
Try to arrive early so that you can review them before the test.
Step 20. Bonus points are usually useful
You can add extra information to get a better grade or praise. Provide any information you know and is appropriate. The amount of knowledge you put into the test represents everything the teacher thinks you know, so you should demonstrate as much as possible. Do not focus more on the bonus question than on the other questions (the ones that must be answered), which are much more important.
Step 21. Take the test with a positive attitude
It is proven that if you think the test will be good for you, then in most cases your grade will be higher, while if you think everything will go wrong, your grade will suffer. This of course only applies to students who have studied.
Step 22. Do not discuss the answers with others, especially if it is a multi-part exam with pauses in between
You've probably already handed over the paper, so what's the point of talking about it with your teammates and finding out you've made a mistake? Leave as soon as possible so you don't hear other people's chatter.
Advice
- You don't have to be the first to finish. Calm down and take your time.
- Study as much as possible. The harder you work, the higher your grade will be. Try to study smarter as well as harder.
- If a question does not allow you to continue, skip it, perhaps another question will unknowingly provide you with the information you can use for the one that blocked you.
- Once you have completed the exam, if you have five minutes left, use this time to review your work.
- Use as much time as you are allowed. Even if you finish first, reread your answers and then look around to see if others have finished; if not, you may have missed something, or maybe they are all reviewing their work!
- Sleep for at least 8-10 hours a night. If you are tired, you will not be able to concentrate.
- If you can't remember something, use simple logic to find the most suitable answer.
- When a teacher says something in class and repeats it, write it down. It will probably be found in the exam.
- When reading the materials, first browse, then read them carefully. After you are done, summarize what you have read in 1-5 sentences, without looking at the text. This does wonders to help you retain knowledge.
- Find out your learning style. Do this by thinking about what you are good at, how you tend to remember things, like dreams or memories, and what you find relaxing. Is it easier to just memorize or do you need to understand how topics relate to each other? Do you remember what people are saying, what they are wearing or how you feel about something? If you are someone who learns by listening, ask someone to read the study materials aloud or read them yourself. If you are learning visually, you may find it helpful to draw key concepts or emphasize them in your notes. If you learn best by reading, read carefully what you need to study. If you are a person who learns kinesthetically (i.e. through movement), then try walking around the room while reading or using flashcards. It is important to note that people often prefer a combination of these styles. So you need to find out what works for you.
- Stress prompts your body to release a chemical called cortisol, which can block the brain's ability to remember facts and memories. So the most important thing is to stay calm and relaxed. Remember that if an exam doesn't work for you, it's not the end of the world.
- For many people it is better never to study the day before an exam, because it is during that day that all the information that is known organizes itself in the brain. It could happen to you too. You shouldn't even think about the exam and related topics for the exact 24 hours leading up to it.
- Maintain a calm state of mind. Instead of saying “Oh, no! I don't remember anything”, you say“It's okay, I can remember everything”. Tell yourself that whatever you do, you should stay calm. Act like it's not who knows what.
- Every little detail counts when you learn something new. If your attempt is to have a perfect, or near-perfect average, then you need to train yourself not only to grasp the main idea, but also to pay attention to the more specific information.
- If your professor points you to a website containing practice tests or any other tools that can help you study, go find it! It will help you a lot. Otherwise, do a Google search to find sites on your own.
- Create flashcards for the really important facts, dates and formulas.
- Learn memory strategies. For example, in order to remember the colors of the rainbow in succession (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet), it may be easier for some people to use a mnemonic trick, perhaps creating a fancy name, such as Rag V. Biv. Or they might think of an acronym, namely RAGVBIV. Another option is to create a sentence with words whose initials match those of the names of the colors, such as Riccardo Had Already Wanted to Throw the Vases. Most of the time, you have to use something that is familiar to you.
- Take notes written in class and those taken from your learning source (for example the textbook) and rewrite them in your own words, trying to do so in a condensed form. After you're done, take a break and reread them just before bed. Sleeping after reading something has been proven to promote memory.
- Don't get distracted and use all the time you have available, whether it's 20 minutes or an hour.
- Do not go to a tutor who looks after multiple students at the same time. A personal tutor is far more reliable, helpful, and deserving of your money. If the tutor works for the university, you should pay a lower hourly rate, unless you are approaching them from outside the university setting.
- You can't shut out your private life while you study, but while taking an exam, try to put it aside. While it is impossible to do in some situations, such as a romantic drama, thinking about these issues during the test will make it more difficult for you to succeed.
- Do a few exercises before the test to warm up so you will be better off.
- Take a short nap after studying. It will help you remember better.
- Don't waste time with the information you already know, dedicate what you don't know to prepare yourself well.
- If it is not a problem for the teacher, write your acronyms and anything else that helps you to remember better on the top of the paper before starting the exam (of course you will not have to copy them anywhere), so as not to have a blank. of memory, and then erase them before you turn it in, so you won't be stressed trying to remember them.
- Using flashcards to study is a good idea and helps you memorize in a much faster and easier way. You can even take quizzes on your own! But be careful, if you study the flashcards following only the same pattern, you will not focus so much on the information as on their order, so modify it at least a little.
- The day before the test, create a study guide with a summary of everything and review it on your way to university and before the exam. Insert everything you have studied into it.
- This trick may not work for everyone, but chewing gum does wonders for focus and stress relief. But beware, some professors don't like to see people chewing in class!
- When taking notes, try to write simply. Instead of writing “The plant takes water and nutrients from the soil and carbon dioxide and sunlight from the atmosphere so it can perform photosynthesis”, write “Plant takes H2O + nutr. from the earth & CO2 + sun from the atmosphere. → photosynthesis ". Not only will this help you take notes more efficiently, they will also be easier to remember. However, there are people who manage to write "The plant takes water and nutrients from the soil and carbon dioxide and sunlight from the atmosphere so that it can perform photosynthesis" in class as the professor says it and rewrite it to home or during the break and remember everything. Maybe not the exact words, but they could write a sentence like "plant takes water and nutrients from the soil and carbon dioxide and sunlight from the atmosphere".
- Do you remember the games you invented when you were little? Take them back and set your imagination in motion! If you treat learning as a game, this will help reduce stress and improve your imagination. It might even make everything a little more fun.
- There will usually be questions that have not been translated directly from the book or source of information. Try to predict the questions that will be asked in the test by relating them to the concepts you are learning, and make the effort to take notes by entering as much extra information as possible.
- Sometimes it may be better to identify the difficult questions and solve them before the others. Then you can focus on the rest of the test raised, knowing that you won't have any surprises and that you have already answered the hardest questions.
Warnings
- Do not rush. It almost always leads to a lower grade.
- Don't be too hard on yourself. Stressing yourself too much can be harmful.
- Don't waste time on a problem if you're unsure of the answer. Answer the easy questions first and then, in the end, you can focus on the difficult ones. Sometimes in the test you can find clues that can give you the right answer to that question that has blocked you.
- Don't waste too much time rewriting everything the textbook says without digesting it or slowing down. By reading carefully, you can save time and get better results than just copying everything in the book.
- Some people can get excellent grades on exams without studying or cheating. It is risky to try to do so, so always study, you never know. You have nothing to lose by preparing.
- Don't stay up all night for the purpose of studying. You will feel so stressed and tired that you will not be able to focus on the test. Also don't study everything at once. It doesn't work and will make you feel exhausted.
- Do not cheat. They will likely catch you red-handed and you may get a bad grade or be disqualified. You may also face disciplinary action, which can haunt you for the rest of your life. Also, it may be that you answer incorrectly anyway, you always have to trust what you know. If you're going to study to shine on an exam, why copy from a person who hasn't necessarily studied as hard as you have?
