It’s Saturday morning and you have 2 days to study for your next exam.
2 days is your last chance to save your session.
As a student, you may have been overwhelmed by the end of the session, have suffered a lack of motivation or have procrastinated until the last minute.
For most subjects, studying an exam in 2 days and getting away with a pass mark is possible, even at university, if you have attended the majority of the lessons.
2 days is still 48 hours. If we subtract 8 hours of sleep per night, there are 32 hours left to revise.
Now that we’ve established that there is hope, here’s what to do to study for an exam at the last minute
1. Create your workspace
Make yourself comfortable to work several hours in the same place.
Gather all the materials you will need for your study.
You can chain longer periods without being interrupted.
If your materials are scattered online, download all course content once and for all.
Revision is now or never. The rest can wait 48 hours.
Mute ambient noise or play an uplifting playlist .
Personally I use noise canceling headphones bought at the hardware store.
2. Make an overhaul plan
It’s time to be a smart strategist.
Target the right priorities and stick to essential content.
Keep in mind that you have less than 32 hours to cover the material.
Each point studied must be profitable , that is to say a potential exam question or be necessary for your understanding.
If you don’t have time to cover everything, go straight to the point.
However, try to skim over all of the material at least once , even if it means going through certain chapters quickly.
Note precisely the chapters, exercises, presentations of courses that you will have to read.
The material for the exam can be found in the lesson plans, in your personal notes, in your diary if you have noted your homework there or on the online course platform.
The review plan should be specific including time slot , rest activities, breaks and sleep.
It’s even more important to have a detailed plan when it comes to studying an exam in 2 days!
3. Target the essentials
The ability to focus on important material is underestimated and often misunderstood by students.
There is a tendency to think that all information has the same value and not to distinguish between the relevant and the irrelevant.
The exam aims to assess your understanding of key concepts and not all of what was said in class.
With the 32 hours you have, only spend time on the essentials.
It is useless in the context of a last-minute review to dwell on all the notions.
The idea is to cover the minimum required to answer the exam questions.
Ditch the readings that are of no use and that take time.
Concretely, how to identify what will be on the examination?
First, what the teacher says during class.
If he spends 2 hours explaining a concept, it is because it is important.
Pay attention to the lesson plan to see which block of subject is devoted to the most lesson hours.
What the teacher says in the last lesson before the exam .
Often, the items that are the subject of an exam question will be highlighted during review sessions.
Star these pages and make sure you prioritize this material.
Question banks , exercises and past exams
These resources are extremely valuable, especially for last-minute study.
This is an effective way to review material and become familiar with the type of exam questions.
Indeed, if you can answer these questions, your understanding is sufficient and you have reached the minimum required!
Some teachers provide mock exams right away. Otherwise, banks of questions sometimes circulate ( ask students years before you) .
If a concept is too specific and not important enough to be included in a summary, there is a good chance that it will not be on the exam.
4.Alternate between different types of learning
Memorization, comprehension, problem solving do not require the same mental processes.
Alternating between different types of learning helps to avoid becoming passive and overusing the same system.
5. Be active and motivated
The active assimilation of matter keeps you stimulated and motivated .
Combine different learning methods as time permits : teach the material aloud, make up acronyms, create mindmaps , cards, use a board or a large piece of cardboard to illustrate the links between concepts .
Ask yourself questions aloud to check your understanding.
As soon as you understand a concept, move on to something else.
6. Take regular breaks
Walking, going outside, being physically active allows:
to relieve stress
to increase the concentration you will need for the next block of study
Plan 20-minute breaks to engage systems other than your mind.
Include micro – breaks of 1 or 2 minutes to stretch your muscles.
Stand up and jump 10 times in place.
The Pomodoro method , which consists of a series of intensive work periods followed by breaks, increases productivity.
7. Take a nap
Commonly called the power nap , this 20-30 minute nap consolidates learning and improves concentration.
Even more interestingly, the nap does go some way to restoring learning ability .
Indeed, sleep saves information by transferring it to long-term memory, as long as your nap contains enough NREM sleep.
On the other hand, the nap will not allow you to catch up on your hours of sleep if you choose to shorten your night.
Conclusion
Last-minute study is not a viable learning strategy because you will have forgotten most of what you learned. Long term memory does not work over a 48 hour period.
To study an exam in 2 days, you must have a structured plan, an ability to target the essentials and a good night’s sleep.
The key is to quickly store the essential information and make sure you understand the important concepts to spit them out on the exam.
At least your session will be saved and you can get ahead for next time.