Failproof Exam Preparation Tips for College Students that Work Quickly 100% Of the Time

Are you looking for ways to prepare for your next test so that you don’t fail?

If that’s you, you’ve come to the right place.

I’ll be going in detail to some secret and coveted exam preparation tips for college students like you so that you never have to worry about failing a test or a class and you can rock your academics.

This is a REALLY long blog post that’s going to go very in-depth into the strategies that will help you organize your study plan, study tips for exams and tricks to create study guides that will ensure that the material sticks in your head, and how you can guarantee your success with one little trick to the mind that you can use starting TODAY with final exam success tips!

Heck, you’ll know everything about exams like how to study for final exams in a week and still rock it out and get an A!

So without further ado, let’s get right into it!

Organize

 

This step is extremely critical for you to succeed on your tests.

When you are done covering material that you need to cover for the test, you need to create a plan of attack to knock out your test.

If you are not in STEM, I highly recommend that you create your own study guide with everything that you need to know.

This is the most effective way to study for those subjects since they depend heavily on memorization rather than concepts.

So for example, if you are studying for a multiple choice history test, then you might want to create a study guide instead of just relying on your notes since the information will drill faster into your head.

More information about getting your notes together for non-STEM tests can be found here.

If you are a STEM major, you do not need to create your own study guide.

You should write your plan of attack on a sticky note or a sheet of paper and write everything that you have to do from knocking out sections that you have trouble with to learning new material if that applies to you to, doing problems again to learn more about the concepts, etc.

So for example, say that you have a week to study for the test.

Your weekly planner can go like this:

Monday: Learn section 14.3, review sections 12.2, 12.3, 12.4; do some problems from those sections.

Tuesday: Learn new material/do homework for it, review sections 12.5, 12.6, 12.7 and do problems there to keep the concept in my mind.

Wednesday: Do the homework for the new material, review sections 12.8, 12.9, 13.1 and do problems from those sections.

Thursday: Finish the homework for the new material, quickly review sections 12.2-13.1 and do problems from sections 13.2 and 13.3.

Friday: Review sections 13.4, 13.5, 13.6 and do some problems from those sections and review all of the  material before that. Do some problems again to see any holes in the concepts.

Saturday: Review sections 14.1, 14.2, and 14.3 and do problems from those sections those sections and review all previous material.

Sunday: Review sections 14.4, 14.5, and 14.6. Do some problems from those sections to see any flaws in the concepts. Review sections 13.4 and 13.5.

Monday (Test day): Quick run through before the test. Let’s try one problem from the weakest section to see any last minute holes that I can find.

Now notice that when I make this plan, it’s actionable and it’s clear as to what you need to do while also being very detailed.

That’s what you need to do in order to sufficiently organize your mind for the test.

You have to write it down and you have to give yourself time to review everything that needs to be reviewed.

Now note that this one week plan is just an example. You might need more than 1 week and that’s perfectly fine.

Sometimes, you need 2 weeks to study for the test, especially for engineering and computer science.

But the bottom line is that you need to give yourself enough time to grasp everything while at the same time, not give yourself too much time in a way that the material would slip out of your mind because at that point, you would need to start the prep process again without enough time.

So find the timeframe that works for your given situation and create a detailed, but short plan like the one above that is actionable and has specific instructions as to what to do.

Now to create that plan, I must tell you this:

Arrange your study pattern in a way that you can cover what you know the least first and then build it off of that.

The example that I just gave you assumes that I know about chapter 12 the least, so hence I start from the top and go all of the way down.

You might know chapter 13 the least, so if that’s you, start there instead.

Now there is a way to minimize the information that you forget in your mind when you are studying and I wrote a post about that as well along with how you should be studying for these tests.

Click right here to read that article.

By the way, you should read it if you are new to college or if you’re struggling right now.

It’ll really help you.

If you read the post, that’s how you study.

Period.

And now using that information, we’re going to go very deep into actually executing this plan, so hold on!

No Notes

 

Assuming that you have a conceptual understanding of what you are doing, you should be able to do everything without your notes.

Why?

Because you won’t be allowed your notes on the test and if you know the concepts, you’ll understand the know how naturally since you can fit the pieces together.

So before you write this plan down, try to quiz yourself and see what sections you are having trouble doing.

Which sections do you not need your notes for, sections that you need your notes for, and sections that you just don’t have a clue as to what you have to do.

The ones that you should start with first are the sections that you don’t have a clue as to what you are doing since they need the most attention.

And you should order your study pattern based off of that.

For those sections that you need your notes for, you should sprinkle some time in for review of that material on the days that you are reviewing clueless material so that it is fresh in your head before you go in to drill the concepts again after you review your clueless material.

And when you are finished reviewing the clueless material, proceed directly to the material that you need your notes for and just keep drilling it until it is perfectly in your head.

Even on those days, you should be reviewing the material that you had no clue on what to do and the material that you definitely know so that it doesn’t slip out of your head.

And when you get the material that you needed your notes for in your head, do a final assessment of any material that needs some work to drill in your head and work on the material that needs some work.

And when you are finished with that, here’s what you are going to do:

Do a random test out loud if you are in a memorization test and pick random problems from the sections on your test for STEM subjects.

See if you can do it without any notes whatsoever.

If you can do the material without your notes, you are ready.

You just need to drill everything without notes every day up to the test to make sure that the material doesn’t slip.

Now if you still can’t do it without your notes, then you need to create another plan to get the material in your head without your notes.

There are many ways to combat this:

For memorization tests, you can create another study guide that just has material that is not in your head.

It’s called the star study guide.

This study guide gives special attention to those ideas or facts that need some extra work in order to get into your head.

Here, you are intentionally tricking your mind to believing that you are studying for another test on a blank canvas.

When you do this, you will see that your retention is going to go up since these pieces of material are not just other ideas on your initial study guide and they are given VIP treatment when you are studying because your mind is like “I have to get this in or I’ll fail the test!”

You mind sees the concept of knowing that material more than the others that are already locked in your brain, so hence, it’s going to give priority to the material on the star guide like it’s a new test!

Do you get it?

Good.

So try that on your next memorization type test and watch your results skyrocket.

Now for conceptual tests, you simply need to do problems again from the sections that you are struggling with and do as many as you can before you get the concept nailed down in your head.

That’s it.

Unless your professor says that the test is based off of homework problems and nothing else, then you need to do other problems in the book not from your homework, but in the sections that you are struggling on so that you do the problem from a neutral perspective.

This will allow you to see what’s REALLY wrong in your thinking and understanding.

And until you can do about 5 consecutive problems seamlessly in your section, you need to keep on doing problem after problem after problem.

It’s repetitive, it’s tedious, but it works.

Repetition is the key to learning.

Now you still might be stuck, regardless of what type of test that you are taking, and you might need some additional help to get you through what you need to study.

So here are some additional resources to help you out if this is you:

Ask When You Need To

 

1.      Your professor

If you have a good professor, they are your go to source for everything in the class.

Think of them as your MVP for the class.

A good professor will always guide you, provided that you do your part, in ensuring that you have what you need and any doubt or question is addressed related to the material.

So in most cases, the first thing that you should do when it comes to asking for help is to go to your professor when you have any questions about the material or anything that needs to be addressed ASAP.

And who knows? Maybe you’ll get a professional advantage as a result of that relationship.

Read this article here for more specifics.

2.      Your classmates

This one sounds quite obvious, but they are heavily underutilized.

Your good classmates can more often than not brief you in on everything that you need to know for your tests.

I would suggest 2 things with classmates.

A)     Pick a classmate who knows what the hell that they are doing

With this classmate, you can ask them any question about the material and they will be more than happy to explain it to you.

Now is why is this the case?

Because when they teach others how to do the material, they are really assessing themselves on how much they know it, so it’s worth their time to explain it to you.

And also, typically with classmates is that it is a judgment free zone since everyone is learning the material, so they sympathize with your pain and want to help you.

B)     Form a study group

This is extremely beneficial if you are studying for any STEM exam.

For these type of exams, almost everyone in the class is lost on something.

So what do they do?

They depend on each other to learn the material.

So that’s where the study groups come in.

What they do is that they look at a problem together and they all try to solve it together.

Typically what happens is that through a collective effort, they all solve the problem.

And hence, they all understand the concepts and they can do the problems by themselves.

These guys definitely obtain higher test scores as a result and the chance of failing drops significantly.

With all of that said, you should form a study group or join one that will take you in if it is helpful for you to learn what you need to learn for the test.

Believe me, it will work out for you.

3.      Tutoring

And not just any tutoring.

Tutoring at the University Center for Academic Success.

Why?

Because they are included in your tuition and the tutoring that is offered is going to be great and effective.

Almost all of these students in there know what they are doing and they’ll be able to offer you some tips and tricks that outside tutors can’t do since these tutors most likely took your professors when you were taking the class.

So it is a big bonus to you that can at least save you a lot of time in studying since you’ll know what to study and not to study.

So definitely do that when in doubt about the material.

4.      The internet

Enough said about that one.

YouTube is your best friend.

Make sure that you don’t depend on Chegg for everything or you’ll fail!

Many students have dropped out because of it!

And with all of that said,

Mindset; You CAN Do This

 

And this is the most important one.

If you meet the prerequisites of the class, you can 100% do it regardless of what anyone tells you.

You might be seeing students who are failing the class or have failed the class and are trying to tell you that it’s too hard and that you are going to fail as well.

Assuming that you have the prerequisites and you are extremely resourceful, then you can do it.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Do you know what those other guys are?

They are F****** WRONG!

They either were too lazy or they did not do what it took to pass.

I remember when I was taking Dynamics and people who took the professor that I took were saying “Oh, you have her? Get ready to fail! Everybody who takes her has to retake the class 3-4 times before passing with a C! Just pass bro!”

And then when I took the class, that was all bullshit.

Those guys just didn’t figure out the right strategy and didn’t apply themselves to pass the class, let alone get an A.

I figured out the strategy to pass and get an A and it was all fine.

By the way, if you’re taking Dynamics, click here for the fail proof guide to pass. Don’t fall into my classmates’ doom.

So don’t listen to that rubbish that says that you can’t pass.

That’s complete BS.

Those guys can shit on themselves!

But having said that, you do need the right strategies to pass.

Well, this blog post is a start.

It will help you get going in the right direction to achieve what you want out of college.

To program your mind for success, I highly recommend that you read this post here for a quick breakdown of this concept. It will make everything possible for you.

And watch this video here as well. And look at the result on Google for this team in the 1^st round of their playoff series that year.

Pretty unbelievable.

So use that as the model my friend and conquer your classes this semester.

And conquer your life.

May the force be with you and definitely subscribe below if you got a lot out of this blog post and comment below with what you will do as a result of this post. That’d be great to know!

Until next time,

This is Chief Islander Evan signing off.