Hmm... Revision...

As some of you may know, my biggest batch of exams so far are coming up in exactly a month. Been trying to revise my a$$ off but I'm still not 100% certain that I've nailed all the revising techniques.

I would greatly appreciate any advice or suggestions from some of you older peeps who have already undergone the stress of prepping for big-time exams. Any awesome revising techniques that are quick to do and effective? Best environment to revise in? Most effective structure of revision schedules? My teachers are all saying Revision Cards, posters, stuff like that are quite helpful but I'm not sure. Any help based on personal experience I would be very grateful for :)

Went through tons of such situations. I'm actually specialized in multiple studying techniques since quite some time (I self taught myself some of these techniques just in case). For example, I was not born with the classic cram-and-ace talent; I often found out that there were always one of two major topics I didnt cover a few days before the exam. Had to pay immense prices back then. My "default" style of prep.ing for an exam is gradual and throughout the year as we learn in-class. However, as we all know, things rarely go as perfectly as we pre-plan. I .. well I practically had no choice but to work on learning how to cram effectively and efficiently (without like forgetting the content for ample time ofc.). But these were simply some basic general skill sets I developed over the years.

If you want specific tips- 1) Outline materials that tend to be unwinding; this is a very formal academic structure and must not include ur general opinionated notes. This is often handy as you learn new and unfamiliar topics throughout the year. However, doing this with little time before an exam is also possible, although not safer. The format of this should basically have useful categories with helpful and necassarily details. Try to limit summarizing here.
2) Annotating materials which "oppose" ur P.O.V. or materials that you find is too "raw/dry" is an immensely powerful skillset that is helpful. The structure of this, unlike outlining, is much more volatile. Ofc. include plenty of opinions. Never hesitate to include visuals of if necessary include audio/video learning mediums as you study these annotations. This method is basically often much faster to prepare than an outline. Include personal connections if you feel necessary to include.

The 2 skills of outlining and annotating are just basic foundations of effectively attacking particular subjects/topics which are practically perfect when it comes to reviewing before an exam. Especially useful when going through rigorous college/university courses.

Well your help is greatly appreciated Sai. I'll review and look into your tips, ta bbz <3

Mostly, just straight-up learning is the best path for me. Look at the stuff, but not too long (after a few hours of learning you can't remember anything else).

Some strategems:

• What I still do when I need to seriously learn for things is just taking all the stuff from school and writing down the most important things on a few sheets of paper - which includes answering questions that you may or may not have solved already from scratch. Look at those self-written papers again from time to time, but still do not forget to look at the original material, too - you might have forgotten something after all.
  
  
• Try also crosschecking your school books' answers; these are sometimes better than the ones your teachers gave you.
  
  
• Keep in mind that the papers your teachers printed out are the most important ones.
  
  
• If that doesn't work for you, revision cards are effective, as long as you stick to one or two words each. I haven't used those in ages, but they somewhat worked for me when I did.

About the environment:

The most important thing is not to let your upcoming exams stress you too much while learning. While a bit of stress might be good to help you recall things during the actual exam (as opposed to being fall-asleep lazy), it only helps up to a certain point, and as far as I found, not at all while studying.

• As the music-lover I am, I just put on some music I absolutely adore. Best try using something (either) without lyrics (or with a songtext you can't understand due to language barriers etc). Stick to calmer music tho (e.g. THIS*); your oh-so-loved smooth jazz will do you just fine too, I assume.
  
  
• Sometimes movies also work for me, assuming I already saw them zillions of times, meaning they won't really distract me.
  

Just be chilled and know you can do it. - And voilá, exactly that will happen to be the case.

________
* link leads to the "navigation il mare" arrange album that graces my signature. It is the single most calming thing I have yet heard and this thread allowed me to shove the link in your faces while actually being informative about it.

It's an atmospheric album comprised of a wide variety of instruments, setting you into a state so relaxed, I would call it "just a hint of how a celestial being would feel", going for a poetic approach.

All in all, what I'm trying to say here is: If this album doesn't make you calmer while learning, nothing will.

Sold Out wrote:

Just be chilled and know you can do it. - And voilá, exactly that will happen to be the case.

That's what I do for my chinese test but I still fail D:

And it's not good to put music on that makes you too calm(Symphonic Metal in my case) cause' it makes you sleepy.

Depends on what kind of person you are tho. I rather have trouble learning when my music is too upbeat, as I keep concentrating on it too much.

It more or less depends on what state of mind you are in at the moment you listen to it anyway.

Wow, thanks guys - especially Sold; Going to be using this much-needed advice as thoroughly as possible. Will notify you's once I see some results of my own :)

Oh an another tip, paint your walls RED. They make you calmer whereas BLUE makes you more active, contrary to popular belief. Tested by scientists lol.

(dont follow this advice)

im never in the mood to study so, i go sleep a little bit sooner than normal, wake up in like 2 am and i do what sold does ,take out some blank paper, write the most important stuff, then go to sleep again, during the less important classes when u actually dont have to do alot... or when im on the bus for school OR on the small class breaks i take the stuff i wrote and read it lots of times, i usually get good results but never reach the mark of 80% btw...i did this for all the exams i ever had including the important ones my avarage results were 56-74% except for french because even if i study i just dont understand a damn of it.

the negative part of this is that i become really sleepy for like 4 days, and it becomes really hard to focus on classes v.v

so yeah... not the best way to study, i know...

I procrastinate and get pleasing marks. Born genius right here.

NKDZ wrote:I procrastinate and get pleasing marks. Born genius right here.

Nope. Just Asian.

Sold Out wrote:

NKDZ wrote:I procrastinate and get pleasing marks. Born genius right here.

Nope. Just Asian.

The annoying thing is that it's true -.-"

Ranger 50 wrote:

Sold Out wrote:

NKDZ wrote:I procrastinate and get pleasing marks. Born genius right here.

Nope. Just Asian.

The annoying thing is that it's true -.-"

Ikr!