How to Prepare for Your Exams

Exams are possibly the most terrifying things humans have thought of since Godzilla. Since they're worth 15% of your overall mark, they affect your academic performance a lot. Unlike Performance Tasks, they're closed book, so it means a lot of studying and memorizing. It sounds stressful and it can be, but if you follow these 5 tips, you can ace the exams without having to go a psychiatrist.

1) Organize your notes

This may sound self explanatory, but it's something you should remember to do. Prioritize your notes by order of need and highlight the key parts. Overloading your brain with too much will be time consuming, stressful, and leaves you with a headache. Rather than memorize, try to understand your notes. Highlight key concepts and be able to explain them.Word for word memorization is impractical and useless. If you understand the concept, you can apply it to any situation while knowing the exact definition down to a syllable, but not knowing what the heck it means isn't going to help you on those application questions.

2) Practice, don't just learn

This relates a lot to the last point, but having everything memorized won't give you a 100. Learning the key stuff is important, but after that, don't just review your notes 'til the exam. You have to know how to apply the stuff you read about. Thanks to this small resource called the Internet which you may have heard of, practicing school concepts is easier than before! Finding online practice tests an quizzes on certain subjects tells you how ready you are for a test -like situation. Simulating the test will give help you develop underused skills that are just as important as knowing the topics, mainly pacing, applying, and avoiding silly mistakes.

3) Collaborate

No, I'm not saying to collaborate on the exam itself. That's called cheating. But when studying, don't hide in a corner and bury yourself in a book. Be with your friends and peers when studying. When you open up and talk about concepts, not only do you understand it better, but you get other insights on concepts, get clarification of stuff you're not clear on, and test each other. A study group allows you to study more effectively and makes the entire study experience less boring. 

4)  Break it into chunks

Even when just cutting down your studying to the core, you still have a lot to study. Don't overload your brain with too much information. Break it down into pieces, one step at a time. Treat your studying like a puzzle. Each day, you study a piece of the overall picture. Use study schedules to plan from now 'til the exam. Once you've gone through each of the pieces, look at the picture as a whole to cover everything. Cramming too much in one day will be stressful and exhausting. You may think that not spending every hour of the day devoted to academics is slacking off, but in reality, relaxing, resting, and recharging are very important, which leads directly to the final tip

5) Don't study a lot the night before the exam

You're probably thinking that's the stupidest thing you have ever heard. Don't study when you're exams are right there? Thing is, that's pretty much what you should do. Cramming in a lot of studying night before the exam will just get you stressed and tense, so that on exam day, you'll be burned out and have no energy or focus to concentrate. Allow yourself a couple of weeks to do your serious studying, but night before, do some light reviewing to reaffirm all the concepts. Then do something relaxing. Go outside! Get fresh air. Spend some time with the family. Don't hurt your brain, because you need to keep it in the best condition for the next day. Get a good night's sleep so that on exam day, you're ready to ace your finals!

So in conclusion,