How to Prepare for an Exam in a Short Time?

You rarely have to take exams, but it’s always a time-consuming and nerve-racking process. So how to properly organize your study time?

Let’s say there are two days before the exam (today and tomorrow). At that time, the applicant (student) should ask himself the following three questions:

  • What to study? (What subject, material, questions, answers, books, textbooks, smart acquaintances, TV, Internet, other media).
  • How to learn? (Cramming, tutoring, mnemonics, reading).
  • Do I have to learn? (Do I get lucky? Do I know everything? Do I cheat?).

What to Study?

Before you learn anything, you need to decide what sources you are using. Usually, there is either too much information or too little. There is rarely a middle ground.

In the first case, you need to choose one or two textbooks out of many (if it is, for example, history. It is worth taking school textbooks and a short course of history written by teachers of the university where you enter). If there is an opportunity to use video-audio materials, do this, because they are better remembered.

If it’s physics or math, it’s better to pay attention to the formulas. If the formula is too long or hard to remember, pay attention to the components that make it up and their deciphering.

A tutor is certainly a good thing, but it is different in that it costs money. But if there is no money, it is not a problem. Yes, you have to sit and try to figure it all out yourself. It is better to come to the tutor, to an acquaintance teacher with a specific question or with a specific topic that is not clear. This will save both your and his time. It is better to use the Internet when you know what you are looking for, otherwise, the process of searching for information will take longer than learning it.

Friends or acquaintances who know or have passed your subject will be useful only if they know the material well, and you know what you need to learn from them. Also, not everyone can explain anything properly. If you and your acquaintances do not meet these criteria, you are wasting your time. Take note.

How to Learn?

This is also a serious question. Whether you are going to go with your head into the study, sit in the library or take a synopsis “to read in public transport” – the efficiency will be different. In addition, many students often think who can write my essay and buy compare and contrast essay. In this case, you also need to reread your work so that the knowledge that was put into writing the paper will be with you when you pass the exam.

  • What can you do when you have limited time?

The important thing is to make yourself do something. Before the exam, you want to do anything, as long as you don’t prepare for it. At this time you can recall the long-forgotten and postponed items – in general, do everything to delay the moment when you have to sit with a book or notebook and prepare.

You have to make an effort. This is important and necessary. But you should not go to extremes. If you besiege yourself with textbooks, turn off the phone and barricade yourself in your room, it is unlikely that the effectiveness of such preparation will be high. It is better to divide the material into parts, or to set time for yourself, say, one hour. For example, you’ve dealt with the topic of one ticket or studied for an hour – take a break.

Do not prepare for the exam with a friend or girlfriend (unless he or she knows the material better than you). Such preparation most often turns out to be long conversations and a waste of time.

  • Another important question: how to remember?

At this point, there are different opinions. Some prefer rote learning. But the most successful way of memorizing is considered mnemotechnics (mnemonics). What is it? This thing is quite complex, including, in particular, memorizing associations.

Must remember the date – try to remember what the date means to you personally. Maybe it’s your aunt’s birthday? Or maybe it was the first day you did something or went somewhere? Or suddenly this date reminds you of someone’s phone? Just don’t look for family holidays on purpose. Otherwise, on the exam, you will have to remember them, too.

Need to memorize a formula? Look at it from a different angle. Try to read it as a word. Pair each letter in the formula with a word and make a funny sentence that will “stick” in your head.

It is very convenient to memorize any definitions, phenomena, events by reducing them to something you already know. You memorize some long definitions – try to simplify them. It is important to understand the essence of the definition, not to memorize it.

Different people have different types of memory: visual, auditory, motor. People with a developed visual memory will be more useful to read the material. Then he remembers the page on which the desired topic is written. For the one who has a developed motor memory, it is better to read the material again (for example, to write cheat sheets). And so on.

Do I Have to Learn?

To some, this may seem like a silly question. But it all depends on what you mean by the word ” learn”. For many people, the word ” learn” is similar to the word ” cram,” even if they don’t think about it. In preparation, you don’t learn the material, you remember it. Don’t sit with a notebook or textbook, memorizing some information – all this has already been given in class, at a seminar… You only need to “turn” in your head a certain switch – and the whole “mechanism” will work.

It is worth saying that the assessment depends not only on knowledge. It is largely determined by the mood of the teacher, the appearance and behavior of the applicant, the teacher’s impression of you, your answers to questions, etc. The main thing is not to panic and focus.