Study Methods

[ParadiceCity9]

I have my AP world history final tomorrow, then the AP exam on Thursday. Haven't really started studying. Any suggestions?

[firth4eva]

Hey, I need this advice too. Except for RE.

[lozzini]

i need advice on how to revisise too - GCSE's start 2moz

[Anarkistsdream]

I have my AP world history final tomorrow, then the AP exam on Thursday. Haven't really started studying. Any suggestions?

Pray...

[ParadiceCity9]

I have my AP world history final tomorrow, then the AP exam on Thursday. Haven't really started studying. Any suggestions?

Pray...

I'm not a believer.

[Anarkistsdream]

I have my AP world history final tomorrow, then the AP exam on Thursday. Haven't really started studying. Any suggestions?

Pray...

I'm not a believer.

I didn't say pray to God... hahaha... Just pray... Fate, Karma, Krishna, whothefuckever...

[suggs]

Umm..you may have left it a TAD late chaps. LOL have to admire your insouciance
you have 2 choices : cram like hell, or just relax and forget about it until the exa comes.
If you cram, you have to completely focus. Somehow get past exam papers or talk to the geek in the class who has the notes, and get them off him, or get him to tell you the wuestions, and preferably the answers.
DO NOT just try and randomly read through your notes. Try and pick a couple of questins, and hope to god they come up.
Obv, the more questions you know the better. But time is short, so just pick the bare minimum and know them. Better to score a few points than waffle about nothing, and get zero.
If its too late for any question spotting, mini essays et, then randomly reading your notes it is. Even then, i would try and write down some of the KEY points. You might be able to flesh these out in the exam with a bit of waffle.
(eg: barbarian attack was the main cause of the Fall of the Roman Empire in the west).
ANSWER THE FUCKING QUESTION.
even if you know pretty much zero, keep att least LOOKING like you are answering it, by referring to the question regularly. Yeah, its a bit obvious, but you'll more for some attempt at the question, than a list of your knowledge.

Just realised i am assuming its a history exam. I guess its transferable.
Last resort - just write down everything you know.
Last last resort, just write a poem

[suggs]

ps unless you really think you are taking it in, take at LEAST one hour off before the exam to try and relax.
Smoking a dooby prob not the best way to do this.
But ultra last minute revision generally just panics you into realising how little you know. An hour or two before the exam, just say "f*ck it" and chill with some mates., have a wank etc

[jonesthecurl]

Find an interesting question youdon't think anyone else will know about and hope it comes up.

I went into a history exam seiously unprepared once,and answered all questions from a secton we hadn't even studied, because it was on subjects I happened to know a little about from outside the course(history of spaceexploration, desirability or otherwise of nuclear power, etc). I don't suppose the aswers were brilliant but it impressed the hell out of the examiner as I was th only one answering in that section - I got a good mark.

Other advice - if you're exam's tomorrow, do a bit of studying and stop trawling through Chatterbox.

[ParadiceCity9]

Thanks suggs ill keep all that in mind. But it turns out I'm the geek in class who has all the good notes, I just don't remember practically anything specific and I hate studying. I just know very very general things. And fyi, it's a 70 question multiple choice test, 55 minutes to do it. And I have 2 class periods (chemistry and guitar) before that but I should be able to study some in guitar since for some reason (you'd have to go to my school to understand why) all the juniors and seniors (that's everyone but me in my class) in the school are going to some assembly-ish thing. SO, should I use that time to just chill and play guitar?

[sgom]

like someone else has already said give any notes you have a quick read, if you dont have any read the intro and conclusion of any chapters you think might help.
gl

[suggs]

Definitely. I hr before the exa you're not going to learn anythin/remember it anyway.
tho some people reckon the night before can be fruitful. I know some people chill the night before, but i always reckon you might as well try and do a bit, (the night before) just to calm yourself down.
Depends on how many notes you've got, But i would try and question spot/ guess. THink of the ones you think they are very likely to ask, and get them sorted. Hpefully that would be enough to pass.

Play the guitar before the exam, definitely. You want to go in to that room as relaxed as is possible - you dont want to panic.

[MeDeFe]

I have my AP world history final tomorrow, then the AP exam on Thursday. Haven't really started studying. Any suggestions?

Pray...

That might be appropriate advice for firth. Unless I'm mistaken about the meaning of the R in 'RE'.

[Napoleon Ier]

Hey, I need this advice too. Except for RE.

What board?

I got that tomorrow...my advice if you're doing AQA:

AQA always mark on a level rather than penny-point system, i.e, your answer falls into a certain "band" based on whether it's a reasoned consideration or just an effusion of irrelevant knowledge.

Also, to anyone who sat the OCR 1942/21 Lat lang 1 paper 1, WHAT THE f*ck?

[Dancing Mustard]

If you're cramming, then Sugg's advice about picking topics and intensively revising them one by one is good. No point generally knowing everything, bank on questions coming up and be able to nail them; then just waffle for the remaining stuff you can't answer.

If you've got a few days, then get intensive. Re-make all of your notes on A5 cards, trying to condense the topics into the most concise form you can. Then scribe out questions on the information on the backs of the cards. The process of re-writing is great revision in itself, and then it allows you to cover/answer/check test yourself; which is magical stuff for the memory.

Failing that, you can always sneak flashcards into your exams. I knew a (female) friend who sneaked crib-sheets into an exam in her voluminous bra. After ten minutes were up she took a loo break, locked herself in a cubicle and feigned sobbing while she checked the crib sheets. Then came back into the exam and did the best she could (taking occasional refresher loo-breaks where required). I know you don't wear bras, but you can always improvise.

[gimil]

Best advice. . .

Dont leave it to the fucking day before.

[wrestler1ump]

If it's an essay exam, do not finish writing the essay. In fact, finish your essay with maybe half a sentence, then write "OUT OF TIME" in capital letters so that the evaluator will think you faced time constraints and feel sorry for you.

If it's an essay exam, contact your evaluator a couple weeks later and ask to meet up with them to go over your essay. Approach them with the attitude that you want to see what you did wrong so that you can do better next semester. I've done once before and the TA actually re-evaluated the essay a second time without me even asking, and my mark ended up increasing by something like 4 percent. You would be amazed how communication with the course instructors and/or evaluators can help you bring up your mark if you're not satisfied by the first go-around.

I have found that it is better to pull an all nighter studying than to get sleep before an exam. If you know the material you know the material, and lack of sleep isn't going to effect how well you know the material.

Other than that, the only way to really succeed is to keep up with course readings and lectures. Praying, karma, the "TIME" excuse, answering "c" to any multiple choice question you are unsure of and any other little tricks are actually barriers to your success because they give you a sense of false confidence and keep you from preparing properly.

[jonesthecurl]

If you've got a few days, then get intensive. Re-make all of your notes on A5 cards, trying to condense the topics into the most concise form you can. Then scribe out questions on the information on the backs of the cards. The process of re-writing is great revision in itself, and then it allows you to cover/answer/check test yourself; which is magical stuff for the memory.

.

I used to find that it worked to dictate the notes onto tape, or some computer medium. You don't need to listen to the notes, the process of making them is the important thing. BUT it doesn't work just dictating to a dead mike.

[gimil]

I have found that it is better to pull an all nighter studying than to get sleep before an exam. If you know the material you know the material, and lack of sleep isn't going to effect how well you know the material.

Bullshit.

Knowing the stuff doesnt help you perform or think to your full potential. The night before your exam get a good nights sleep. Wake up early and read over some notes while eating a decent and fairly light breakfast. Abut 15mins beforeyour exam start drinking water, but only in sips continually sip and the water as you go through your exam, this keeps you hydrated and water helps you mind concentrate. Dont drink to fast or youll be in a position to piss yourself

[Dancing Mustard]

I have a friend who swears by the tactic of taking a four hour afternoon nap the day before an exam, then just staying awake all night and cramming, and going straight to the exam after that. It seems to works for him... but I've never personally tried it (I find late-night cramming, then sleep to be the more effective combination).

[spurgistan]

I'm actually with Mustard's friend (not the one with the spacious brassiere) I tend to nap until I say have 10 hours until the exam and drink all the caffeine my body can theoretically contain and go over anything. Granted, I have a 2.1 gpa, so take that with a handful of salt, but hey, you asked for suggestions, not the solution, which would of course be to know the freaking course material going in.

[btownmeggy]

It's probably too late for you for this school year, but follow my advice in the future and you will get into a great medical school, become a world-renown oncologist, and have a huge house, 4 cars, and a succession of wives that are always beautiful, young, blonde, and great cooks.

My advice for perfect grades:

Take super intense notes in EVERY SINGLE CLASS EVERY SINGLE DAY. The only time you should not be scribbling furiously is when you're making a very insightful comment that blatantly disagrees with what some 'tard in the class has just said, yet is clearly right and clearly in-step with your teacher's/professor's ideology.

Before tests, just read your notes two or three times. Maybe once the night before and twice right before the exam. Look over the required readings to have a few quotations fresh in your mind that you can allude to in open-ended questions.

Writing papers: If you have a more or less open-ended big paper at the end of the semester, start thinking of ideas on the very first day of class and continue for the next couple of months. At least one month before the paper is due, you should talk to the instructor about the idea you've decided on and then start an OUTLINE. Even if it's just a essay exam, dependent on a specific question or topic that the instructor has chosen, you should always, for every single paper, make an incredibly detailed outline. No single sentence should be up-in-the-air before you start writing, though you should accept that you will make some changes during the writing process. When the paper's done, check organization to make sure it's the best flow possible. If not, take a moment to realize you're writing on a computer. CUT AND PASTE! until it fits. Finally, read the paper aloud to yourself to make sure that sentences are simple and conversational (don't use my Chatter Box posts as reference points for simplicity and conversationalism!).

[gimil]

It's probably too late for you for this school year, but follow my advice in the future and you will get into a great medical school, become a world-renown oncologist, and have a huge house, 4 cars, and a succession of wives that are always beautiful, young, blonde, and great cooks.

My advice for perfect grades:

Take super intense notes in EVERY SINGLE CLASS EVERY SINGLE DAY. The only time you should not be scribbling furiously is when you're making a very insightful comment that blatantly disagrees with what some 'tard in the class has just said, yet is clearly right and clearly in-step with your teacher's/professor's ideology.

Before tests, just read your notes two or three times. Maybe once the night before and twice right before the exam. Look over the required readings to have a few quotations fresh in your mind that you can allude to in open-ended questions.

Writing papers: If you have a more or less open-ended big paper at the end of the semester, start thinking of ideas on the very first day of class and continue for the next couple of months. At least one month before the paper is due, you should talk to the instructor about the idea you've decided on and then start an OUTLINE. Even if it's just a essay exam, dependent on a specific question or topic that the instructor has chosen, you should always, for every single paper, make an incredibly detailed outline. No single sentence should be up-in-the-air before you start writing, though you should accept that you will make some changes during the writing process. When the paper's done, check organization to make sure it's the best flow possible. If not, take a moment to realize you're writing on a computer. CUT AND PASTE! until it fits. Finally, read the paper aloud to yourself to make sure that sentences are simple and conversational (don't use my Chatter Box posts are reference points for simplicity and conversationalism!).

A point to add when writing papers is to use jargon WISELY. Any paper is to communicate something which relates to your knowledge of the subject your writing about. If you use technical jardon to sound fancy you are more likely to make less sense UNLESS the jargon you use is common language in the subject.

Im waffling on so if anyone doesnt know what I mean ill better explain tomorrow some time

[ParadiceCity9]

You guys know I'm only 15...right? It seems like you're talking about college stuff.

[btownmeggy]

You guys know I'm only 15...right? It seems like you're talking about college stuff.

wrong.

fail.

no beautiful, young, blonde, good cook wife for you.