11 Study Strategies to Help You Ace Your Exams
November 2015
Exams can be stressful stressful, so here are some sure
study strategies that the Honors UNI came up with to help you ace your exams.
Get plenty of rest. Getting a good night’s sleep will help your brain
function more efficiently when you study and take your test. It may not be
easy, but do your best not to neglect your sleep!
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Rewrite your notes
and use note cards. The mechanical action of rewriting your notes will help
your brain retain information. Using
note cards can break the study material into manageable chunks that you can
also use to force your significant other to quiz you.
Use outside
resources. Going online or to your library for more information on a
subject may help you better understand a problem or concept, as long as the
source is credible. Just be sure to use outside resources as extra help instead
of substituting the course work.
Chapter reviews and
in book resources. The course
book will have a majority of the answers you need, and most textbooks have
chapter reviews within them. Just make sure the review questions you are
studying are on the exam, if you’re lucking enough to know that information.
Don’t procrastinate…
too much. Plan ahead and decide how much time you want to spend studying
for each exam. You need to figure out how much time is too much and how much is
too little.
Review assignment
sheets and study material. If you’re
lucky, your teacher will have given you a study guide for the exam. If you
aren’t so lucky, use assignment sheets, homework, essays, and handouts.
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Don’t study drunk.
Our brain recollects information best when we recall the information in the
same state we learned it, and chances are you will not be drunk for your exam.
Drinking water and chewing gum are tasks that you can do while taking your
exams, so make sure you match up your study activities with what you will be
doing in during the exam. Scents can help recall memory also, so chewing on
some peppermint or wearing the same perfume or cologne can help jog your
memory.
Limit your
distractions. Despite what you may think about yourself, in general, people
are atrocious at multitasking. Close your Facebook and Twitter tabs and leave
your phone in the other room to remove all distractions.
Get up and move
around. If you are one of the lucky few who can study for hours at a time
with no break, congratulations! For the rest of us, a five to ten minute break
can be an easy way to refresh our brain. Block your time and reward yourself
with a break; trust me, a ten-minute break can be an extremely motivating
reward.
Study in groups or with
a friend. Studying in a group creates accountability for yourself and your
peers, and sometimes all one needs is a little outside push. If you can’t find
a group or if you do not have any friends (sorry), you can use the Student
Success Center for some tutoring and steady help. The folks over there get
lonely sometimes, so make sure you schedule an appointment to see them. Also,
I’m sure they will love to be your friend.
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Use office hours.
Your teachers have office hours for a reason. If you can’t quite understand a
concept or having difficulty solving a problem go ask the source of your
troubles—the professor. Use the office hours to pick their brain. After all,
you pay for the privilege to do so.
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