Hello readers!
Last week, I had my first exam of the semester in my Comparative Religions class. This week and next week, I will also have other tests in the rest of my classes. I’ll take this opportunity to give a few study tips to ensure you do well and don’t stress during the days leading to the test.
- Do not look at the course material for the first time the day before the exam. Most professors mention the dates of assignments, quizzes, and exams during the first week of classes.
- Take notes in class and review them on the same day you took them.
- Start looking slowly at the material a week or a few days before the test. You will learn and memorize a lot more if you study a little bit every day.
- If you created a study guide, try to break it up and study one part at a time. It will be easier if you study it in small chunks instead of reading the whole study guide again and again.
- Create a short song or a series of letter when you have to memorize things which involve steps or chronology. Last week, I had to memorize the 6 types of religious conversion. So I just remembered the first letter of each word and it sounded like this IMEARC.
- Repeating things loudly or writing them down many times on a sheet of paper will help you to remember the information for the exam.
- Quiz yourself or get a friend to ask you some questions. I often use Quizlet to test myself. There is a test option where the website generates a set of questions from the data you have to learn.
- Get all the information possible you can from your professor. Sometimes, they will tell you the format of the exam (multiple choices, true or false, short answers, short essays and/or long essays) and the number of questions.
- Take a break. Don’t study for hours in one sitting, but take some short breaks and move around.
- The night before the test, don’t stay up late at night to study. You should have studied a few days before and be ready. You will do better on the on the exam if you have a good night of sleep.
Good luck!
Nicolas
