- We all know that you can’t pass an exam by doing nothing but exactly how much do you need to do to pass it? This, of course, varies in accordance to your own level of commitment, how difficult the subject is as well as the teacher etc. However, there’s a simple way to systematize the process by dividing it into three categories:

1. Where Are You Now?

Start out by asking yourself how much you’ve studied. Do you feel that your satisfied with how much you’ve learned so far (I’m assuming there’s still time before the exam, otherwise better hurry!). Try to give a quantitative measure of how much progress you’ve made so far, for instance by assigning a number from 0-10 on how ready you are to face the exam.

If you’re unsure on how much you know, I’d recommend you to look for an old exam and then sit down and try to finish it without looking at the answers. When you’re done, count the number of points you scored and the percentage (points achieved divided by all points). The higher the percentage the better prepared you are.

2. Where Do You Want to Go?

The second step is quite obvious. Once you’ve decided where you stand you need to know where to go. Do you wish to achieve a higher grade or simply pass the exam? If all you want is to pass this particular test without caring for a higher grade, then studying for that outcome would make sense, right?

WRONG! You see, even if your intention is to simply pass the exam, you should never (and I mean never) study for that goal. If you aim that low, chances are that you may land even lower but if you were to aim a little bit higher than if you fall, you’ll still pass the exam!

There’s an old Swedish Proverb that says:

“Aim for the stars and you’ll hit the forrest”

3. How To Get There?

In order to pass the exam you need to master the essentials. Every subject has some fundamental concepts that have to be understood. Be sure to go through a) textbook & lecture notes b) past exams (a must!) and try to find the most important concepts. Start out by learning these, there’s no point in trying to understand the advanced topics if you haven’t mastered the basics.

Once you’ve done this you’re ready to move on to more advanced materials. If you only wish to pass the exam, I’d recommend you to try to memorize the easier ones and leaving the complicated ones. If your intention (as it perhaps should be…) is to receive a higher grade then be sure to go through the complicated ones as well, posing any questions you may to the teacher. I’d recommend collecting all the questions on a piece of paper so you won’t need to look for the teacher every time something new comes up.

As long as the exam isn’t due right now, you have time to study. Of course, it’s always better to study a little everyday during a long time span than it is to study a lot during a shorter time span. Try your best to study a little everyday, it’s so much easier to do that than is to carry the burden of knowing that the test is tomorrow and that you’re unprepared. Recall the o’l proverb that says;

“If you don’t have time to do it right you must have time to do it over.”

I’m pretty sure that neither I nor you want to redo the exam. We have to what we have to do, period. Don’t go looking for excuses, enough with the laziness. Organize your studies with a personal study planner and then follow it as strictly as possible. It’s way to easy to get distracted by TV, movies or the like.

This doesn’t mean you should study from morning to evening without doing anything else, it simply means you should learn to PRIORITIZE. This is what medicine nomenclature refer to as triage. List things in order of their importance and finally, what ever you do, don’t procrastinate!

Start now.

Source: Study Method