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Study Tips for Exams

Girija Shinde
It happens at times that you study for a whole night before a paper but still fail to remember a single word in the morning. This happens because of improper planning and too much stress. Following are a few tips which will help you to answer your papers with confidence.
Searching for notes when the exams are just a week away seems to be a worldwide phenomenon! The reason for it is the general phobia of exams. Everyone has at least a little bit of tension of exams, and it is just that some show it while others do not.
The most important tip is to relax and stress less. But a little bit of tension is always necessary, as it makes one study more effectively and with complete concentration.
It is better to have all the study material available with you before you start reading. This not only includes your texts and notes but also the previous years' notes and things like a dictionary, geometrical sets and reference books with you.
This has two advantages, you do not need to break your concentration by searching for books, and it saves time and also retains the mood of studying. Secondly, it gives you a feel of being 'prepared' for the exams, as you have all the necessary things and the only thing left, is to start studying!

Study Beforehand

The most common mistake that students make is that they start studying a day or two before exams! No portion can be covered, not even halfway, if you study only two days before exams.
So what most of the students do is study only the 'so-called' important points. As a result, even if the paper is easy, you get a low score only because you didn't know the entire syllabus!
So start studying at least a month before the exams. If time does not permit you to learn your lessons, at least go through them regularly. This way you will be familiar with the syllabus and won't find it difficult to understand it at the last minute.

Understand the Lessons

If you have descriptive subjects, do not just mug up the answers. Try to understand and rationalize what you are reading, because this is the best method for good recall at the time of exams.
The major disadvantage of mugging up is that even if you forget one word of the answer during your examination, you tend to go completely blank. Instead of this, if you understand the chapter well, you can write the answer on your own, any time! For exams like math, practice at least five sums everyday. Math cannot be studied in a day!

Follow Effective Techniques

There are some easy techniques to study well, like read the lesson casually, at least twice. And while reading, mark the important points with a pencil and move on. When you start reading for the second time, read those underlined points first and then the rest of the text. Before going to exams, read only the underlined points.
Another handy tip that is useful specially for the lengthy lessons of geography is to make short rhyming words with each initial letter of an important paragraph.
For example, for remembering the causes of depletion of ozone layer, if there points like Deforestation, Pollution, Excessive use of Resources, Things like, chlorofluorocarbon etc; so now you only have to remember DEPT (or easier, Johnny Depp!). When you remember DEPT, you will be able to remember the whole answer!

Timetable or Schedule

Make a timetable of which subject is to be done and when, and follow it religiously! This way the work will remain systematic. If you are too lazy to follow any timetables, just study according to priority.
You can also start studying for the last paper first, so that when the exams are actually near, you will be doing the study for the first paper.
One of the last tips, is to study when you are at your best mentally active state. Some people are comfortable studying in the early mornings and dawn, while some like to study late nights.
Find out the time at you are the most fresh and relaxed and choose that time for your studies, as that is the time when you are capable of double the studies, than what you do at other timings. All the best!