Ace Those Finals: Dos and Don'ts for Exam Preparation Success

Preparing for an examination can be stressful at times. When the exam dates are so close, you are likely to become anxious; you look at the calendar and imagine the little time left to complete all the revision materials on your table. You may find yourself trying to apply any recommended study skills and habits to help you achieve your desire. However, this may make you panic and waste the precious time you should have used better in your revision. This article has outlined some Dos and Don'ts that will help you enhance a good studying experience and succeed in your exams.

The DO’S

Look for a conducive study environment. Choose an open and well-lit area with a comfortable chair. You may visit the University study rooms or the study pods, among other friendly study locations. The environment should be silent with minimum distractions. Where possible, select the area with maximum reading materials just in case you need to refer to some information.

• Control your study time

Break the studying monotony by creating at least 5 minutes break after every 30 minutes of your reading. These breaks will help to refresh your mind and allow the brain to interpret and transfer the learnt materials in memory.

• Do a 15 minutes review of your reading materials every day.

Choose your best time to review the key points from your notes every day. This practice will help you to capture and master the information you are studying to write in your coming examinations.

• Develop an effective study plan

Sometimes you may not digest the whole topic without breaking it down into small palatable sections. Such an act will help you optimize your understanding and topic coverage.

• Master the Basics

To succeed in every exam, you must always get the basics right. Read all the questions attentively and note the main points to help you reflect on the topic.

• Manage your time

Time is very precious as far as preparing for the exams is concerned. Make sure you have noted the exact dates and times of your exams. Develop a study plan to hit all the deadlines and revision materials within the set schedule. This will give you an excellent realistic timeframe for you to cover all the content without a rush.

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• Remain calm and composed

Exams come and go. As much as they affect your life, you have sat for several others, which means you will still triumph in this if you have prepared for it. Control your anxiety. A composed mind is more productive than a restless mind. Do not disrupt your memory with pressure if you want to remember the information you have acquired during your study. Remember that the exam period is a good time to appreciate the far you have gone.

• Create an intelligent study technique.

You may use apps, mnemonic slogans and infographics to remember various concepts in your upcoming exams. Another efficient study hack during your revision is trying to relate the information you read and the happening in your life. Such tricks will make your reading more interesting and retain the content longer in your mind. Also, you can put on a study playlist from YouTube or Spotify to create a meditative mood for your study if it works in your case.

• Connect with a study group

You may join for group discussions. Groups are great platforms to seek help in the concepts you don't comprehend and test your understanding of the topic to see if you have enough content for the examination.

• Finally, prepare your body for the examination.

Feeling drained at least three hours before the exam is normal, both physically and mentally. However, you need to make your body active by taking in more sweets, sugary drinks, or fruits to boost your energy during the exam.

Don’ts

1. Do your Studies in Bed

It is very attempting to study in bed, especially if you are doing your revision at the hostel. Do not get into the trap. The bed is one of the most discouraging spots to undertake your revisions. Naturally, your brain is linked to sleep anytime you are in bed. You are more likely to fall asleep in the bedroom than understand the topic of your study. On the other hand, studying in bed may discourage sleeping; You are likely to find yourself restless with your mind in school and, in the long run, affect your attention and learning ability the next day.

2. Studying from Late Night

The human brain is limited. It cannot work all day and still deliver the same results. By midnight your brains are already tired of absorbing new information. You will only be wasting time trying to read or do your assignments. You may find yourself achieving what could have been completed within three hours during the day with almost double the time. You only give quality work when your brains are fresh.

3. Wait for the last-minute rush.

To understand the concept, you need long-term memory, and the short study sessions may boost you significantly but will not give your brain enough time to transfer all the learned information to your mind in an organized manner. You cannot cram the whole syllabus in a single night, but you can master the points you had already prepared during the course work.

4. Neglect yourself

As stated earlier, the examination period is short-lived. Do not deny yourself unnecessarily to sacrifice for the exams. Eat, move put to enjoy the fresh air and engage in physical activities. Nothing should make you guilty of rewarding yourself.

5. Get overconfident about the exam.

You may have covered all the content but failed to check on the examiners questioning language. If you are too confident, you may answer all the questions wrongly because you did not get what the examiner wanted. Instead, explore the different question formats before the exam, and control your confidence to tackle the exams. Have it in you that the exam is not easy and you must be very careful.