The most stressful parts of college life are the final exams. As you approach exams, there is a lot of material to study and keep tabs on. What you should do is keep focused on improving your grades.
If you follow this the following exam study tips for college students and plan ahead you will prepare thoroughly for your exam without wrecking your head and compromising your mental health.
Exam prep concepts covered in this post include:
- Decluttering
- Using Past Exam Papers for Revision
- Taking Good Notes
- Follow The Exam Structure
- Benefits of Quiet Music
- Visual Aids
- Quizzing Yourself
- Taking Practice Exams
- Pacing Yourself
Contents
Declutter
Your environment is a mirror of your mental state. A clutter free environment does wonders for your mental health and clarity. Select a study area that is both comfortable and free of distractions and clutter. Do not study in bed, and most importantly, put away your cell phone. Log out of all social networking sites and avoid checking your email.
Use Past Exam Papers for Revision
Exam papers from previous years are a great aid for exam preparation. Some of these are available offline while some can be accessed online. You can do this on your own or you can do this with your study peers or group of friends.
Take Good Notes
If you’re taking a class at a college or university, good exam study notes can be essential to your success. These notes can help you absorb the material in a short period of time.
Instead of reading the entire text, they can provide you with the main points you need to know and the most relevant explanations. And, you can review the notes later, since they’ll be more efficient than rereading.
Ideally, you should use a basic word processing application to make your notes. A good word processing program will let you choose an outline style, and it will take care of numbering and formatting for you.
After you’re finished, you can review your notes and try to summarize the class’s content in your own words. This will help you remember what you learn better.
The Format Of Your Notes Must Follow The Exam Structure
When making study notes, it’s important to follow a structure that mimics the actual format of an exam. The notes should contain ideas, groups of ideas, headings, and a conclusion. It may also be helpful to use a highlighter to mark important information. This will help you get ready for MCQs.
Besides providing important information, your notes should also serve as your knowledge base. You might even have questions regarding the material you’ve covered, so make sure you record your questions and discuss them with your classmates and instructors. You should also visit your professor’s office hours to discuss your concerns.
Benefits of Quiet Music
Quiet music is a great study aid, especially if you’re taking an exam. It can help you focus, reduce stress, and increase your productivity. Ambient electronica or slow-tempo classical pieces are both good options.
Alternatively, you can try listening to jazz or cover songs played on an acoustic guitar. These genres are also known for their ability to improve mood and concentration.
While some studies have found that listening to music while studying isn’t beneficial, others have found that listening to music can boost their mood, which may lead to increased concentration and focus.
Get the Right Kind of Music
Also, the right kind of music can increase your focus and help you organize your information more easily. So, if you’re looking for some exam study tips for college students, consider experimenting with different genres.
While listening to music with lyrics can distract you, instrumental pieces can actually help you focus. For example, you can play music by artists like Polyphia and Explosions in the Sky, who create soundscapes around nontraditional songs. You can also check out YouTube and Spotify for some great instrumental tracks.
Listening to music while studying is an excellent study aid, but you must choose the right kind to get the best results. A poorly chosen playlist can distract you and interfere with your ability to focus and remember information.
Try to find music that has a soft beat and fades into the background. If it is too loud or distracting, quickly switch to something else.
Visual Aids
Visual aids are a great way to learn more efficiently. Videos, infographics, and even pre-recorded podcasts can help students better understand concepts and facts. Many visual aids can be found through Google. Some of these sites include Khan Academy, YouTube, and TeacherTube.
Students with visual aids often do better on tests than those without them. One study found that college students who were given visual information at the start of a lesson were better able to understand the material.
They also performed better than students who received only outlines. This may be because the participants were engaging in deeper levels of processing.
Visual learners can also organize their notes during lectures. While it is impossible to develop a complete concept map during lecture, a visual learner can structure their notes in a logical order.
This can also help them re-arrange their notes as their professor changes topics or restructures the material. If they need to, they can also use indents and bullet points in their notebooks or laptops.
Visual aids are an excellent way to teach concepts to students with different learning styles. It is important to choose a visual aid that is large enough for everyone to easily see and understand.
Also, choose a color scheme that is both meaningful and eye-catching. Using warm colors helps students to focus on important parts of the visuals.
Quizz Yourself
Quizzing yourself as an exam study tip is a powerful technique for helping you know whether you have really learned the material. After reviewing the material, you should wait about 10 minutes and then take the quiz.
If you want to maximize the effect of this technique, you should wait longer. This way, you can see if you need to review more or not.
When you’re studying a big topic, break it down into manageable chunks. Take one battle, for example, or a chapter section, and study that. Quiz yourself and write down the answers you got wrong.
This will help you retain the information. Also, make sure you review the material a few times before the test. You don’t want to make any careless mistakes that could cost you a significant number of points.
Another exam study tip for college students is to take practice tests. This is an excellent way to study before an exam, not only because it can prepare you for the test, but also because you can practice the material and see where you’re weak. You can use flash cards, Quizlet, or even just a daily note quiz to test yourself.
Taking Practice Exams
Taking practice exams is an excellent way to prepare for a major exam. It will allow you to become familiar with the exam material and how to study efficiently for it.
You will also be able to determine what areas you still need work on. Practice exams also allow you to assess your pace and how well you handle exam concepts.
Practice exams are like a miniature version of the real exam. They cover the same material and have the same format. The questions are sized at the same difficulty level as the actual exams, so that you’ll have a realistic feel for what to expect on the test. As such, they’re the best way to prepare for a real test.
Taking practice exams can also reduce the differences in student performance due to different background experiences. Many students don’t have the same experience with academic tests as their peers.
Private college prep schools can help students develop the skills they need to succeed in college by simulating the testing environment. In large public schools, however, students often arrive behind their peers and don’t have the necessary experience.
Taking practice tests helps students overcome test anxiety. Students can practice taking tests in different sections, and retake them to improve on their knowledge. The more practice tests a student takes, the more relaxed they’ll feel on test day.
Pacing Yourself
Pacing yourself is critical for standardized tests, especially the SAT or ACT. Both exams have a time limit, and students can struggle to answer all questions in the allotted time, which can cost them points. However, students can follow some simple pacing strategies that will improve their test performance.
The first step is to find the time to study for the test. If you have back-to-back exams, you may need to prioritize your study time to study for one subject. After studying for the test, make sure to take a break. This will help you avoid stress while waiting for the exam.
Another step towards pacing yourself when studying for exams is to make a schedule. Try to set a timetable for yourself, so that you will know how long it will take for you to finish each topic.
Remember that pacing yourself is better than studying cramming, as it will lead to superficial learning and make it difficult for you to perform well on the exam.
Also, try to sit in a comfortable position. Sitting down is much more comfortable than standing up, and it is less tiring. Pacing is key for getting the most work done, but it is also vital to have rest in between tasks.
Final Thoughts
If you are struggling to get through all of the required tasks, reach out to your tutor, professors or seniors for help. Also remember to take regular breaks as this will give you more energy and will allow you to cover more topics and study areas for your exam scope.
Wishing you all the best in your upcoming exams.