Every student can agree that studying for finals or exams can be a lot! I’ve researched some of the top tips for studying and preparing for exams!

Study When You’re Sleepy

Studies show that when you are sleeping, your brain strengthens new memories and puts them into long-term storage. This leads a high chance that if you are studying before you fall asleep, you’ll remember right before you doze off. 

Use Colored Pens

Psychology research suggests that reading and writing text in color increases the likelihood that you will remember that information. This is something that I found out a long time ago, and now it is all I use when I take notes. Taking notes or studying with a colored pen will greatly improve your memory. When I found this fact out in one of my classes, I started using blue pen and I can honestly say it works for me.

Study in a Group

Whether this is doing a group video chat or meeting face-to-face, I’ve noticed this helps me a lot. When you are studying in a group, you are able to all learn and teach each other. I have learned that explaining material out loud to someone helps me learn better and understand the topic more. In a group, you are also able to help each other study and bounce ideas off of each other. 

Start Studying Early

I know as a student, we have a lot to do and sometimes leave all the studying to the night before the exam. The best way that I have found to study, is to start a few nights before and study little by little. What I have found that is helpful, is to go through all of the material that you need to review, and designate days to study a chapter/section/topic. Then by the night before, you review it all and see what topics you need to focus on a little more. For example, let’s say I need to know chapters 15-19 for an exam. The first day I would start with studying 15, the next day I would review 15 and start on 16, etc. 

Make Note Cards

If you are a visual learner, like me, making note cards helps a lot. By writing things out, it helps you remember the information. Rewriting information is another key way to remember things. By having note cards, you can review it as much as you need, or wherever you need. If you’d rather type things out, Quizlet is a good app/website to use for making note cards. In that website/app, you can play games with the note cards, take quizzes, and so much more!

I hope these tips help you with your next exam! Happy studying! 🙂