Ask HN: How to ace exams?

[Ganthor]

In terms of high school as well as university exams, what are some tips in tricks in order to ace (not perfect, but do exceptionally well) exams with minimal study time?

I assume the best way would be to study a little bit over a long term prior to the exam, but how would one go about successfully cramming the few days before, especially when the exam is focused on problem solving (not just memorization and BSing, more math problems).

PS In case you can't tell, I have a math exam tomorrow, and have barely studied (it's high school so it doesn't matter that much).

[what]

For math, I find it's all practice. You have to do lots of problems, which isn't really possible in a short period of time. Always do all your homework, spreads your studying through the year and exam/test questions will be similar to ones you have seen already. I also don't like to study last minute, better to get a good night's sleep.

For everything else, I would say write a cheat sheet (not to use). The act of writing forces the information through your brain and out your hand.

EDIT: should add, when you're actually writing the exam, read all the questions first. Then start with the the ones you know right away. If you have to think, come back to it later.

[stoney]

Sorry to say that if your exam is tomorrow you've probably left if too late to guarantee doing exceptionally well. Personally I always preferred intense study over one or two weeks to prepare for an exam, but I think that is a personal preference.

Here are some things that I learnt from doing exams. This is aimed at university exams more than high school - the difference being that at (my) university exams typically consisted of a small number of long questions on a particular area, whereas high school was often a large number of small questions.

- Make sure you have good exam technique: work out roughly how long you can spend on each question and still finish the exam. Stick to that timing leaving questions unfinished if necessary (unless you are writing essays, probably better to submit 2 complete essays than 4 incomplete essays). Read the paper through at the start to work out which questions you think you can do well on. Do those questions first. If you get to a hard part on a question don't waste time, skip to the next question and come back to it. You don't have to do the questions in the order that they are given to you. It's a game - score as many points as you can by tackling the easy bits first.

- If it's a math type paper then you might be able to pick up the odd mark here and there by explaining what method you would have used if only you had the time.

- Past papers are the best study tool. If you have them or can get them then do so and work through the questions. Ideally work through one or two past papers with your study materials, then do one or two under exam conditions.

- If you're really out of time to study then you can gamble: pick the bits of the syllabus that you already know well and focus on mastering those bits, ignore the rest. Then hope like hell that the questions that come up on the day are on the bit that you studied. This can work really well or can turn into an utter disaster.

[hga]

Here's what worked for me, and this echos more than one other commentator:

Write down contemporaneous notes from the lectures. For me, like "what", this commits it to memory, I hardly ever referred back to them.

For math based subjects, do the problem sets as they are due. In these subjects, things tend to build upon themselves, so this is not something you can do at the last moment. Even if there are no formally due problem sets, do enough work so that you really understand the material; if you don't, you're just fooling yourself.

I never "crammed" at the last minute (although one disaster marred term had me learning the last of the material in one subject in my normal fashion and pace the night before the exam, which I then aced), but be as sure as you can to get a good night's sleep before the day of the exam.

Anyway, as you note, in high school it may not matter so much, but you do have to get your foundations one way or another if you're going to go on to college in a math based major. So get serious about establishing your foundation before then. There were a few gaps in mine (I went to a low quality high school where my last math teacher simply refused to teach his class) and they caused quite a bit of suffering when I got to college.

[pmccool]

Practice answering questions under time pressure. Time management can be a big problem in exam situations.