To get good grades, students need to work smarter, not harder! All they need to do is prepare a study plan before starting to study. This might seem like a waste of time to many students, especially when examinations are around the corner and the syllabus is vast. But believe it or not, this will actually make your life much easier.
We know that you have a mountain load of books and notes waiting for you at your desk. But remember, studying for exams is all about understanding concepts, memorizing some ideas, finding links between them and then reproducing them on D-day. There is an entire process involved to prepare oneself well for examinations. This is why cramming the day before an exam will never help you to get awesome grades! This actually involves good planning, discipline and a little bit of hard work.
Here are some tips to help you study for exams:
Plan your Studies
Most students start cramming notes with no apparent strategy in their minds. But this inefficient method will not help you get good grades! In fact, a 2017 study by researchers from Stanford indicates that just getting down to study won’t lead to straight As. The key to good scores is not just simply studying, it is how you plan to study and use the resources available to you!
You need to sit down and actually make some decisions beforehand. Which topics will take up more time? Do you need to brush up mathematical concepts through daily practice? Get a pen and paper and chart out a practical study plan to cover important topics. You’ll win half the battle by doing this!
Be clear with the topics
You make notes, you read them thoroughly. But come exam time, you forget them all. Can you guess what’s going wrong over here?
Conceptual clarity is important when it comes to complicated topics. You might feel that you have understood a concept, but to really absorb it well, teach it to someone else. If you find it difficult to explain it to someone, this means that you are still fuzzy about the topic yourself.
Prepare Maps and Chart to remember the Topic
This is where your creativity can come to your rescue! Read your study material and visualize the information with the help of graphs, charts, mind maps and even funny mental images. You can use these to connect different ideas and information, especially when studying subjects such as history.
We remember images better than words as our visual memory is strong so make use of it as much as possible. So if you’re studying biology, don’t forget to practice the diagrams of organs as this will help you to visualize the same during the examination.
Prepare your own notes from different Sources
C’mon, we live in the age of the internet! Who said that you need to focus on prescribed textbooks alone to understand the concepts included in the syllabus?
The internet is a treasure chest of knowledge so make sure to use it to look up difficult concepts. You can run a Google search or even watch interestingly explained YouTube videos to understand a theory. You can also find help with complex math sums by just googling them. All the information is at your fingertips. You just need to be a little inquisitive! Research and gather information from different sources.
Along with all these study hacks, remember to take care of yourself. Drink water, eat healthy food and get sufficient sleep. In fact, exams are a part of our lives, so why should we let it disrupt our normal schedules? Just stay positive, prepare like a pro and you’ll end up doing great!
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Feel free to share your queries and inputs in the comment section below. All the best for the best studies!