Last Minute Lessons — Studying Edition

Disclaimer: The writers of this publication do not recommend leaving your study until the last minute and recognize that the effectiveness of the learning techniques discussed may not apply to all individuals.

Its that time again. You’ve left your time to study for your college exams to the last minute and are panicking about failing.

The truth is this happens to us all and can occur for a lot of different reasons. I’ve compiled a number of different tips that helped me in similar situations.

1. Don’t believe the Predictions: Every class has the person or people telling you what they think will and won’t come up based on last years paper or based on what they think the lecturer may have hinted at. Unless a lecture exclusively says something is or isn’t coming up everything is as likely as something else so don’t cut down material based on that. You’ll find the predictions are as wrong as often as they are right.
2. Find Out How Many Topics You Need: Most of my exams were in the format 5 questions do 3. So basically 5 topics and you have to answer a question of 3 of them. If we assume about 10 topics per semester module that means for Christmas exams you only have to cover 8 topics so leave out the 2 you don’t like or are the longest.
3. Don’t Try be and Expert: The earlier you accept that you won’t be an expert in any of the topics you do study the better. The time to do that was a few weeks ago. Now its about trying to get as much usable knowledge as possible. Depending on the subject try and learn facts that span across a number of topics and basically leave learning specific to topics to the end. Granted I did a Marketing Degree where unlike something like Science or Engineering a lot of things were unspecific and not right or wrong. So craft it to fit your subject as best as possible. For me a fact like “internet usage is up (blank) % since 2011” would be a great example of something I could use in any question and show that I had studied. This can also be extended to case studies that cover a number of topics.
4. Show the Lecturer You’ve been to Class: The lecturers or teachers are not looking for you to have the curriculum off by heart. They want you to show that you’ve been to class and have an understanding of the material. Bring up examples from the class, from your project (assuming it scored well) and critically argue in your answer. Just show you have your own opinion on something thereby showing you understand it.
5. Don’t Discount a Study Plan: If it’s the night before an exam you can ignore this of course but if its 3 days before your group of exams start be sure not to waste those days. Be realistic. If you haven’t studied all Christmas starting it with “ If I get up at 6am…..” probably won’t be very productive. It can be about trial and error. Find what works for you.
6. Be Organized and Prepared: This could be more of a personal thing but I think having all your stuff together, pens, student card, water etc. together the night before will be far more beneficial than trying to cram those last few facts in. The last thing you want is to get a few hours sleep, get up in a panic trying to get your stuff together and be a wreck all day. Get up in time, grab your bag and go. Avoid panicked runs to the bus stop with your notes in hand.

Studying late is never fun and should be avoided. In our publication we aim to release articles that focus on planning, structure, organization and understanding. But like every great Plan A there always needs to be a Plan B. This is where your Last Minute Lessons come in.