Days before an exam are the most hectic and nerve-wracking for most college students. You will feel time is passing so fast, yet you have a lot to cover. However, you need to maximize the available time, and one way to do that is to revise effectively. The way you revise will play a crucial role in your performance. So use these tips and strategies to revise properly and increase the chances of getting the best grades.
Mix the Order of Subjects
Are you looking for last-minute revision tips for finals? This is one of the strategies that can boost your confidence and success. It’s often not recommended to revise one subject, finish it and move on to the next one. In the days leading up to the exam, you want to study effectively and stay focused.
Part of that is to revise multiple subjects in a day to reduce the workload equally. Besides, your brain is more likely to burn out if you spend the whole day studying one thing. It also becomes easier to confuse similar concepts. You will manage the workflow when you spread out the subjects and prioritize tasks.
Practice Retrieving Information
Just because you read the concepts and they feel familiar doesn’t mean you can recall all of them. The final exams are set to determine recall, comprehension, and using the information to answer the questions. To prove you can recall the information, test yourself. Look at sample questions for that subjects and see how many of them you can answer correctly.
Additionally, use active recall to stimulate your memory to release a specific formation, fact, or answer. If you can recall that information from memory, you have understood it.
Avoid Multitasking
With only a few hours to finals, you might be tempted to use every minute to try and cover everything. In the process, you might end up multitasking. This can hinder the learning process because to concentrate fully; you have to give full attention to the task at hand. In fact, multitasking has been shown to have several negative effects such as:
- The work taking longer than expected
- Decreases concentration causing low academic performance
- Low recall of the task performed
Dividing attention hinders comprehension, which increases the odds of your school performance dropping leading to stress. Dividing your attention amongst too many tasks drains the brain and your energy levels. To break the habit of multitasking, get rid of digital distractions, and stay focused on a single task for a specific period.
Focus on What You Don’t Know
The get the most out of your last-minute revision, avoid studying all the class material/notes. Instead, focus on the topics you don’t know much about and fill knowledge gaps. Taking a practice test to see how well you perform is a great start.
Besides, brushing up on what you already know will only waste precious time. To maximize the time you have, revise any sections that you consider your weakest point. You can further turn to custom essay writing services and get a subject expert to provide correct answers to some problematic questions.
Revise During Your Most Productive Times
Are you a morning person or a night owl? Most students are productive in the morning and at night. However, research shows that early afternoon and evenings are the optimal time to focus and achieve better results for young and working adults.
So if you struggle to study in the morning, switch it up to early afternoon because forcing yourself might be counterproductive. The best strategy is to use your peak time to study complex information, and when your energy starts dropping, brush up on similar or simpler concepts.
Review Summaries
It’s important to start writing summaries early on in the semester to avoid reading the whole textbook a few days before finals. When summarizing, use bullet points to note key points and visual designs such as mind maps to connect information.
Use the last days leading up to the exam to review summaries and consolidate the information in long-term memory. After reading the summary, if you are uncertain about a specific textbook chapter, go back to the textbook or source material and review it further.
Practice What You’ll Be Tested On
Since there are different types of exams, to revise efficiently, start by understanding the kind of questions asked in exams. Is it multiple-choice questions, essay writing, problem-based? Then practice how you will best retrieve information. For example, for essays, practice writing, while for multiple-choice questions, make it a habit to look for clues in the stem and search for double negatives.