By Taylor Boggs ’16, Perspectives Section Editor and Elizabeth Pease ’17, Contributor
Studying for exams can be overwhelming. Time management is key. Get organized, make a schedule, and take short breaks.
To get organized, you need to compile your notes, worksheets, quizzes, and tests into chronological order or by topic for each class. If you are not a very good note taker, ask a brainiac classmate for their notes. I like to put each subject into three ring binders separating the notes and worksheets from the quizzes and tests. One of the benefits of getting organized is that it helps you become aware of how much you need to know, how much you need to review, and where to focus your studying.
Once you are organized, you are ready to make a study schedule. In your schedule, you should assign at least six to ten hours per subject. It is most efficient to assign more hours to the subjects you find more daunting. For each subject, you should allow time to review your materials, make study outlines, and sometimes even verbalize key facts and concepts. You will maximize your understanding and recall if you read, write, and speak the information. If you have exams on a Monday and Tuesday, then you could study the prior weekend allocating Saturday for reviewing your later exams.
Studying such vast amounts can be crushing, so remember to take short breaks. Remember to stay hydrated and eat balanced nutritious meals high in protein and chocolate! You learn better when you are relaxed so do little things that help you relax, particularly when it is time to go to sleep at the end of the night. Watching an episode of your favorite show can be a perfect way to unwind. Laughter lowers blood pressure so try to watch a comedy. Make sure you get at least eight hours of sleep each night for maximum brain power.
Now for the exams themselves. Although you may not want to think about it, each subject requires a unique study system. Broadly speaking, the best system of studying is to review old tests and quizzes primarily, notes secondarily, and homework as your last resort. However, english, history, science, mathematics, and foreign languages should all be approached in different ways. At the same rate, different classes within these subjects require variable study techniques as well. In an example, you would not study for science the way you would for history, but you would also not study for A.P. U.S. History the same way you would study for Honors Modern Cities.
Based on four years of exam experience, my preference of study is as follows:
1) History: History, as we all know, is an exam primarily composed of memorizing facts and recalling moments in time. Thus, the most efficient way to study for a history exam is not to re-read hundreds of pages of information, but to review notes and tests in order to recall everything that you have absorbed over the semester. Study guides are very useful for several reasons: to chronologize, for I.D.s (people, places, things), to describe events and actions, and many other reasons. Do not put of studying this exam until last as it usually demands knowing a lot of material. Remember these exams are predominantly organized by essay, multiple choice, and IDs.
2) Science: Similar to history, science classes require a lot of memorization. However, some sciences are more mathematics based. If in biology or earth science, the best form of study is to review essays and essay outlines, notes, and past tests and quizzes. Physics and chemistry on the other hand require practicing problem sets as well as reviewing notes and old tests. Remember to review all types of problems: multiple choice, essays and free response. A good way to remember facts is by using notecards (I recommend Quizlets), and practice problems are a perfect way to study the mathematical side of the exams.
3) English: This exam is a world of its own. Unlike the other exams, english is not simply memorization: it is reading and reading analysis. That being said, the most efficient way to study is to review the books you have read, class discussions about those books, and to fill out quote sheets for possible quote IDs. At the same time, utilize worksheets such as Ms. Thornberry’s reading packets to review the plot of each novel and the important themes. The english exam also consists of vocabulary and grammar. The best way to prepare for these is to grab some notecards (or again, Quizlet) to learn vocab and do worksheets to practice grammar usage and identify grammar errors. As for each other class, you should also review your notes and past tests and quizzes.
4) Foreign Language: So for this exam not only do you have to do reading comprehension and grammar, but you also have to do it in a different language. Language exams can seem daunting, but they are very easy to break down and study for. The best way to study for language exams is to divide the information up into grammar, vocabulary and culture. Vocabulary is an easy study, but grammar requires reviewing tenses, structures, and usage—the hard stuff. Culture can be difficult, but the most efficient use of your time is going to be to use an outline to describe each culture you have studied. Overall, it is not hard to study for this exam, but you have to put in the time to get good results.
5) Mathematics: This is another subject that is a field all on its own. Although slightly similar to science, math is different because it is entirely mechanical work and it is also more conceptual. Very few math problems consist of real world applications, so it tends to be tricky to study for. The absolute superlative way to study for this exam is by reviewing the questions on old tests and then finding practice problems similar to the test problems. Also, redoing homework problems is useful. For math, you need to first learn the concept and then practice many problems until the content clicks with the mechanical work. Math seems like an easy exam to wing because you can use equations and it is not based on memorization, but it is also easy to miss little steps in math. So, practice problems and utilizing your resources (perhaps use Crash Course or Khan Academy as refreshers) are the best way to study.
Exams may seem like the worst possible thing that could ever happen to you, but I promise you will all get through them. Just think, you know this stuff, it is just a matter of reminding yourself. For each test try to study more than just the night before so that you are not stressed out, get a good night’s rest, eat a nutritious breakfast, and go and see your teachers if you have any questions! Another idea is to form study groups with your classmates to work on difficult problems or to review material from different classes.
If you have kept up in class and stick to your study schedule, you will do well. Remember, these tests are beatable!
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