Last Updated on May 22, 2023
When exam dates start knocking on the door, your first-semester fun fades really quick. You start getting worried about how to study and try to memorize all of the philosophical theories, literary terms, and historical facts within a short time. Needless to say, it’s not the way to make your way through the exams.
Cramming is a short-term solution and most students forget almost everything within days. However, some easy things are there that you can follow to avoid a late-night cram session the night before your test.
Check out our tips on how to study in college and avoid exam cram:
Make a Plan Based on Your Study Habits
Do you wanna get your study done on time? Plan! Writing down the chapters or lessons you need to study each day in a planner can help keep you on track. Review one chapter a day, for instance, and you’ll have the whole syllabus done in one or two weeks. Plus, review questions and practice problems. Start as early as possible to cut down on the load and to have enough time to cover everything before the test.
Join a Review or Study Group
Create a study or review group with like-minded peers and friends. A group environment can help you with the review of your study materials and keep you on track. Joining a group will also clarify those points that you might have missed in the class. Group discussions also significantly help in revising lessons, elucidating problems, and focusing on important points.
Tutoring Can Help
Try to teach one or two of your classmates the materials you are trying to learn. It will help you understand your lessons better and improve your illustrative and reasoning powers. Plus, it’s a great way to know whether you have clear concepts about your lessons. If you face problem in explaining a certain point or answer the basic questions about a chapter, you’ll know what your weak points are and can work on them.
Avoid Last-Minute Cram
Don’t try to cram everything the last night before the exam. It won’t help and will rather make you nervous and frustrated. So, start studying at least one or two weeks before the exam. Even if you've been taking notes in class, you still need to read the books but you shouldn't do that just before the exam.
Keep studying lightly throughout the semester and only start cramming just a few weeks before the test. It will help you efficiently memorizing some terms.
How to Improve Memory
There’s no surefire way of boosting your memory but following some study and lifestyle habits can surely help. Getting proper and better sleep will help improving memory and brain power while using memorization techniques such as note-cards and quizzes and mnemonic devices will help learning quickly and remember things.
Breaking things up also helps in improving you memory. If you have four hours to study, beak it into four to five sessions and take 10 minutes break after each session.
Our tips on how to study before the exams will help you draw out a lesson plan, follow effective strategies for taking better preparation and improving memory, and avoiding the rush the night before the test.
