how do you...

[tanman]

study for exams only on the night before?
I have 3 exams tomorrow, and I haven't studied for either one of them. 

[morningstar]

You could cram, which is staying up late and studying heaps in a short time. Set a time limit for study for each exam then study as much as you can in that set time.
Or you could just not study-worked for me

[G.W.K]

You could cram, which is staying up late and studying heaps in a short time. Set a time limit for study for each exam then study as much as you can in that set time.

That NEVER works. Your mind cannot retain information for long if you suddenly force it to remember loads of information.

You're stuffed. Your mind cannot possibly remember information for three exams in such a short time. You'll probably fail - sorry to be so blunt.

G.W.K

[dnephi]

That NEVER works. Your mind cannot retain information for long if you suddenly force it to remember loads of information.

You're stuffed. Your mind cannot possibly remember information for three exams in such a short time. You'll probably fail - sorry to be so blunt.

G.W.K

I disagree!  You have no idea how much information you can cram in.
1. Turn off computer.
2. Get out notes.
3. Copy notes through once
4. Look at syllabus/past assignments.  Repeat at least one of each kind of problem, and make sure you've studied the subjects on the syllabus. 
5. Quiz yourself.

I recommend studying until 2 AM, turning on an EXTREMELY loud alarm for 6 AM, and then studying until your test.  I personally hit the wall at 3:30AM. 

Daniel

[G.W.K]

1. Turn off computer.
2. Get out notes.
3. Copy notes through once
4. Look at syllabus/past assignments.  Repeat at least one of each kind of problem, and make sure you've studied the subjects on the syllabus. 
5. Quiz yourself.

You could do that until you're blue in the face! Your mind will not retain the majority of it! From the moment you stop, your mind begins to gradually forget the information because it cannot process it all. Basic psychology teachs us that! And common sense...

G.W.K

[morningstar]

That NEVER works. Your mind cannot retain information for long if you suddenly force it to remember loads of information.
G.W.K

Sorry if it's wrong, I never practiced it. I just didn't study, still passed with flying colours-WOOP!

[Bob]

I would get a good night's sleep so you can push yourself on the test.

Just review over all of it.  General work. 

Then pick a few specifics and have those down pat.  That's the long bet that one of those will end up on the test and you can really nail it.

And if you went to class... A lot of tests seem to be more of an A-B-C scheme.  Even if you guess, you can still pull off a C.  Guess intelligently and that's up'd to a B.

And with some classes, you really don't have to study.  Or can't.  I remember one that was just a big essay.  You just went in and produced something and that was it.  That's when those memorized nuggets can be helpful -- "Although, according to So+So (specific research name), blah, blah, blah."

You could tell the teacher you have three tests in one day.  It's not fair to push you that much is it?  No, no , of course not.

I think a lot of it is test taking skills.  Sometimes the answers are on the test.  Sometimes you can appear to answer without really knowing what you're talking about.

And sometimes the test creator doesn't know what they're doing.  Tests have flaws.  You can't study for some things that might appear on the test.

Or your perception of what the test will be is off.  Then even if you studied and did just what you wanted, you'd still be off for the actual test.

The real solution is start studying earlier.  The best thing I've found is to block out time and get what you can done in that time.  If it's not enough time, try to add more or work more intensely.  If it's still not enough, then maybe the class asks too much of you.  Classes, teachers, tests... Those things can be screwed up too.  Sometimes it's not worth spending a huge amount of energy if the real result is a few percentage points.

For speed, when trying to develop an idea for a presentation or something, I gave up on notes.  It takes to long to write things out and then you can get caught up in making it written correctly.  So just get the information loaded up into your mind. 

They don't emphasize it a lot, at least not around me, but being able to flat out memorize things is a good skill.  You can memorize correct examples.  Memorize the outline of chapters.  Then you've got it loaded into you mind so you can review without the notes or book.  And I think the subconscious still works on that stuff when you're not thinking about it. 

[concerto_love]

Tie yourself to the chair, DON'T GO ANYWHERE!!!!!! If u go to somewhere in your house, u will be forget to study!!! Just sit in your chair, look to your book and wait until u want to study. I don't usually drink coffee but I love this kind of study so I drink them and I can awake until morning... Just sleep after the test end, and sleep again at home... I usually wake up in the midnight to study and sleep in the afternoon after the school's end... 

[richard black]

Depends what the exam is, of course. Cramming can be quite effective (of course it's true that you'll soon forget but you'll still remember quite a lot the next day), but often it's more effective to spend an hour or so marshalling a few key bits of information that you really are very likely to need, then making sure you can remember at least them. Use some kind of mnemonic, and/or recite them out loud.

[chopinmozart7]

well don´t sit here and write alot of posts,gooo and train at once.

[tanman]

well don´t sit here and write alot of posts,gooo and train at once.

umm... it's kinda sorta a week after exams.   

btw I actually did really well on it! 

[morningstar]

Nice!