Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 2: Part one: The night before the exam
• Method 2 of 2: Part two: The day of the exam
• Tips
• Warnings
• Things you need

Oops! It's the night before your big exam, and you haven't learned anything yet. While blocks probably won't get you a 9, it can save you from failing. Follow the suggestions below and get ready for a long, hard night.

To step

Method 1 of 2: Part one: The night before the exam

1. Take good notes. If you have very little time to learn for an exam, good note-taking and writing skills are essential to get the most out of the night before.
   • Find out what you really need to study. If your teacher is conducting a review session for the exam, take that opportunity. You will find out which topics your teacher finds important and you have an opportunity to ask questions (but if you have to study, you will probably have too many questions at this point). Many teachers hand out study guides, so use those. While it probably won't cover everything that appears in the exam, you'll at least be able to focus on the most important topics.
   • Get out your college notes. If you attended lectures regularly, you should have some notes to look through. If you don't have any notes, try getting them from a classmate. Your lecture notes are a wealth of important knowledge because your teacher covers the things he or she finds most important.
2. Write down the important concepts. As you work through your notes, look for important definitions, concepts, and equations. If you don't know them by heart, write them down on a separate piece of paper - your block notes - or on cards. This will help you identify what you need to know, and you have a handy set of index cards.
   • Rewriting it again can also help in remembering the content. If you are a good visual learner this will certainly help. If you are a good auditory learner, which means you learn by ear, say the words as you write them down on the note cards.
   • If you have enough time, consider rewriting your note cards a few times. This may seem like an exaggeration, but if you are trying to learn facts and information it is very helpful. If you are comparing or trying to learn more practical applications, this repetition is less useful.
3. Learn effectively. You won't have time to cover everything that might be covered in the exam, of course, but you can limit yourself to topics that are likely to be covered and find ways to best focus on these concepts.
   • Identify important topics. Read your study guide and block notes and look up the important or most repeated topics in your study book. Scan the most important parts of your text and write down any new information that seems important. The idea here is not to write everything down, but to identify the specific ideas, facts, or equations that are likely to be in the exam, and focus on those topics as much as possible.
   • Look at the beginning and end of chapters in a textbook. The first page of a chapter often contains important points that will help you understand the lesson material. The last pages often summarize the chapter, define or emphasize important terms and, in the case of math texts, provide a list of important equations.
   • Think about possible essay questions (if any) and how you would answer them. At least you should now have a light grasp of the teaching materials. Think about the overarching concepts and outline (preferably on paper) your approach to essay questions.
4. Go through everything for a moment. Here you give it hands and feet. Soak up all the information you've so fiercely collected, test yourself, and quickly evaluate how well you've done. This should tell you which areas of learning you still need to focus on.
   • First review your index cards or block notes. Go through the most important topics quickly. If you feel like you understand and can remember a topic or equation, cross it off the list or set that index card aside. If you get extra questions, look them up in your notes and text.
   • Test yourself. If your teacher has handed out a practice exam, take it now. If not, take the practice exams or review questions at the end of the chapters in your textbook. Only do the questions that are directly relevant to the concepts you have identified as important. Don't spend too much time on each question. If you get stuck on a question, make a note of it and go back to it after grading your exam.
   • Check your self-exams. Be fair in your grading. If you are not, you will only hurt yourself on the actual exam. Look at the questions you got wrong and compare them with your block notes or flash cards. You may have to make some new index cards or rethink concepts you thought you knew.
5. If you can't remember facts and you're not going to study well, try some memorization strategies. The brain never forgets. Forgetting data is either inheriting failure to save properly, not being able to recall it, or not storing it in a way that it can be found. Practicing simple reminder techniques will help boost your last-minute block session.
   • Try using a mnemonic tool. That's a difficult word for a mnemonic. Remember when your teacher taught you ROGGBIV to help you memorize the colors of the rainbow? Making something short, such as "ROGGBIV", is a mnemonic tool.
   • Try to make "parentheses" to hang the information on. You can do this by putting the information in rhyme, relating it to a well-known image, or telling yourself a story about it that you are sure to remember. Try to take information that is processed with one sense (words are processed through sight) and try to process it with another sense.
   • Divide it into chunks. This means that you put something in a category. For example, if you are studying economics, try putting securities, bonds, funds, etc. under a category, securities, and understand what that category means. Organize important ideas under concepts.
6. Pack your bag and go to sleep. Sometimes you just don't have enough time to sleep, but try to sleep as much as possible before your exam. It's a good idea to do most of the blockwork before going to bed and get up early enough so that you have some time to learn. If you work all night long, you will be tired and more likely to make sloppy mistakes on the exam.
   • Studies show that sleep loss affects memory. Not only that, but sleep use also makes last-minute data you learn more difficult to remember. So try to block as much as possible before you get sleepy and go to bed on time.

Method 2 of 2: Part two: The day of the exam

1. Have a light, balanced breakfast at least one hour before the exam. Just avoid carbohydrates, and instead eat a meal rich in protein (eggs), omega-3 fatty acids (salmon), fiber (black beans), or fruits and vegetables.
   • Some "super foods" that help increase brain function and endurance are: blueberries, salmon, nuts and seeds, avocados, pomegranate juice, green tea and dark chocolate.You can eat some of these with your breakfast.
2. Schedule a learning session. Learn in the car or on the bus with a friend. Gather a few friends an hour before the exam and ask each other about the most important concepts. You want the information to be as fresh as possible in your memory. Make sure that the learning session does not become a pleasant gathering.
3. Read all your block notes or index cards again. Just before the exam, go through each of your index cards or notes, even if you think you know them by heart. You want everything to be fresh in your mind when you take the exam. If you have trouble remembering a definition or comparing it, write it down six or seven times in a row. That should get it stuck in your mind.
4. Go to the exam room on time and go to the toilet. Go to the exam room at least 5 minutes before the exam, and make sure to go to the bathroom before settling into your chair. You don't want to be required during the exam. Afterwards, unwind, relax and be confident. Imagine your success.

Tips

• If you have trouble staying alert during blocks and don't have time for sleep, eat something that naturally provides energy, such as an apple or a banana. That's better than caffeine and sweet drinks because you don't get a mental "crash" afterward.
• Do some exercises just before the exam. Run up a flight of stairs or jump up and down a few times. Exercise gets the blood flowing and calms you down. It also increases your alertness.
• Read out loud. Verbal memory storage is often a better way to learn quickly than just reading.
• Eliminate potential distractions as much as possible. If you can learn without a computer, do so. If you have to do an assignment on the computer, temporarily disable the internet before you start. If you need to research on the Internet, practice self-control.
• Take short breaks regularly. Breaks help you stay alert and can prevent burnout. Take a 10 minute break after every 50 minutes of work.
• Drinking enough water helps you to think, and more importantly, it keeps your fluid balance. Remember that caffeine is a diuretic. If you've consumed a lot of coffee to block for your exam, you'll need to get your fluid balance back up.
• The scent of cinnamon (e.g. cinnamon gum) can help you concentrate, so grab some Big Red gum for extra concentration.
• Learning can be easier with a study partner. You can interrogate and answer each other's questions while learning. Some people find this a distraction, so see what works best for you.
• If you wait until now to learn, you are apparently procrastinating. Stop reading these guidelines and start learning! Good luck!

Warnings

• Even if you do well on an exam, don't expect to memorize the lesson material a few days later. People generally learn better when they do it gradually. Blocks is just a short-term mnemonic. If you need to know the lesson material later - math equations are a good example - you will probably have to study it again after the exam.
• Don't give in to the temptation to cheat. A 5 you have earned is better than someone else's 10. Even if you don't feel guilty afterwards, you're still taking a huge risk. Teachers don't appreciate cheating and if they catch you, the consequences can be far worse than a 1 for an exam. They will start to review your assignments more rigorously, and if you need a recommendation from a teacher, they will likely decline or report the incident in the letter. Some schools use suspension as a punishment.
• Sleep deprivation and caffeine intake are very unhealthy and should be avoided if possible. Sleep deprivation can also increase your reaction time, so think twice before driving to or from college after an overnight block session.

Things you need

• Study books
• Notes
• Pen
• Paper
• System cards
• Coffee (optional)
• Caffeine tablets (optional)
• Healthy food (optional)
• Energy drinks (optional)
• B-100 Complex vitamins (optional)