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How does everyone cram for exams?

miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
Understand it not just learn it. Make visual mind maps if thats your thing. Helped me with the physiology. And relate to clinical situations.
Make a schedule of what you want to get done every day and keep to it. Reward yourself every 1-2 of studying with a short 10-15mon break and eat something :)
 

Fish

Member
Go through all the past papers you can get hold of - group the questions into major topics and study using the past exam questions as a guideline.
 

Matt

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
My method (because I'm hopeless at cramming) is to study consistently throughout the year so when it comes to this point I can just carry on as normal. :p Sorry, that wasn't helpful at all.

Ok, tips (none of which I personally follow).
  • One method is to go through all of your lectures and jot down 3-6 of the most important points and just learn them. Quiz yourself on these regularly.
  • Eliminate distractions but schedule regular study breaks to maintain efficiency and be realistic about these (at least 15 minutes, I know some people do 5... but I reckon that's way too short).
  • Keep a diary or a study plan and stick to it (make sure it's realistic) and don't spend any more than 10 minutes planning out each day (lest you spend more time planning and less doing).
 

wicked

Member
I type all of my notes and read the chapters to begin with, and then I re-write by hand which helps everything to sink in. If its for something like anatomy, I label pictures again and again until I remember exactly where everything is.

I've also had a friend change my facebook password for study week. ;)
 

miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
Right. My way is too time consuming I have now heard. Stay up all night and don't sleep, because sleep will make you forget everything.
 

Matt

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Drawing, mindmaps, summary sheets are also useful. It's good to have different ways of studying that you can use to mix things up (e.g. a bit of reading, a bit of drawing, a bit of past papers etc).
 

Srao92

Member
Keep a diary or a study plan and stick to it (make sure it's realistic) and don't spend any more than 10 minutes planning out each day (lest you spend more time planning and less doing).

I'm a huge fan of scheduling...I pretty much cannot function without one and its only been a couple of weeks since I started!
Other than that I absolutely recommend that you find some past year papers or make some cue cards and go through them regularly.
If you spend a long time commuting like me, buy a recorder and listen to your lectures on the bus/train/ferry/car and make sure you have the lecture slides with you..
Also if your body is going into fun with drawl, I find watching educational videos online a really good way to learn as it keeps you from slogging. I'm not a visual learner but even I find that watching videos helps me understand topics I'm familiar with that much better :)

Good luck for exams!
 

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Jordan

Regular Member
Me and a friend write practise questions based on a topic and give them to each other then we mark each others answers... actually... terrible cramming technique, fantastic learning technique.
 

Hutcherson

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
My study technique will depend on the subject.
Anatomy & Physiology - Mind maps. They are a life saver. & Past papers.
Dentistry lectures - Type them up electronically.
Dentistry practicals - Hand written summaries
Chemistry - Practice Questions & Past Papers
Psychology - Haven't done anything yet for it woops.

Oh and past paper exams help immensely. I normally pair up with a mate and we quiz each other verbally the day before the exam to see what we know and don't know/ what to focus on. Tooth morphology normally involves just picking a tooth and describing the aspects to the other person. I also sometimes make practice exam questions for my class :) We tend to do study groups as well. OSPE tomorrow. FML. oh and I also make a list is what I need to study each day. After a long study sesh I tend to bust out a tv show onlne to watch to relax.
 

Cide

Regular Member
Past papers are life savers. But I am with Matt, study before and you feel more prepared and less stressed :p.
 

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