#making summary

Even though usually I am a very disciplined student, I fucked up big this semester with my learning. And while I usually preach to stop studying the day before, I didn’t have the luxury this time to do so because I HADN’T EVEN OPEN MY BOOK. But somehow I managed to get more than 76% on all of the exams. So here is how I did it. 

1. Ask someone for help. In one of my previous posts, I said you have to be generous with your classmates and be willing to help. And this is why. One day, you’ll also need help and if you’re in good terms with everyone, you’ll increase your chances of getting that help. Ask them for tips the teacher might have given if you didn’t go to class, or if they can share their notes with you. Anything that can help you really. This is the fastest way to inform yourself about what might come in an exam. However, DO NOT MAKE THIS A HABIT. Everyone dislikes that one person who leeches off other’s hard work. But once every rare time is okay.  

2. Make a summary. Making a summary gives you the highlights of the material in a nutshell, which is exactly what you need in such a moment. You don’t need to read the entire book, cuz you’ll never finish that way. Most books nowadays already have a summary after each chapter. So you can use that as a guideline. However, I would recommend adding examples to these book summaries because they often lack one and having an example can totally make a difference in whether you understand and will remember. Also, if you have exam tips at hand and your teacher is to trust (because there’s always that one teacher who gives you false tips and fucks the entire class over) make a summary out of those tips, not only is this faster, it is likely to also be more precise. 

3. Learn what’s likely going to give you the most points first. Most of my exams are a combination of multiple choice questions and cases. Most of the times, the case is about 50-70% of the total points. So if your professor gives you tips for cases, learn those first! Understand every aspect of it and nail it! After all, multiple choice questions are more about understanding what you read and are easier to answer than the open-ended questions in which you have to give an argumentation. So starting off by the subjects who will give you the most points increases the chances of saving your ass. 

4. Test it out. THIS will truly give you an accurate view of whether or not you’re actually understanding and remembering what you’re learning. When I finish learning a chapter, I rest for some minutes, then look for a test online and take it. This gives me an overview of the aspects I do remember and which ones not and see if I can give a clear explanation. Always take this test written. Don’t say it out loud, because often when I do it, I have the tendency to half-ass my answers. And when I write it, I also have a documentation of my answer and can always go back and see if I can make some tweaks to it. 

5. For the love of god, take a nap. I don’t care if you’re planning to pull an all-nighter and survive on caffeine and Red Bull. Take a proper nap. Of course, you’re likely not to have the luxury of sleeping 8 hours, but a nap is the closest you can get and can totally help your brain strengthen those connections and feel more relaxed and at ease to take the test.

So that is what I did to survive this last fucking stressful but that’s my own fault semester. I really hope it helps you too and I want to know what you guys do when you have to learn for an exam the same day. Let’s all help each other!