Cramming Tips

Victoria.

Ok, I know this is not an ideal way to study but is anybody having any success and want to share a few tips?

Especially for english, history and geog?

Any other general tips or for specific subjects extremely welcome!

Thanks

**Timbuk2**

Exam papers are your bible! Remember not to stay up late at night studying - it is just awful (I'm sure most of us have stayed up past 12am studying at least once before)

MavisDavis

Two words: flash cards.

gant0

I just right out what i want to remember a few times and I'm good to go...not the best method if you're physically tired tho

zam

If I want to learn something, I say it out loud a few times and test myself by writing it down. Then go back to it and have a look later (you forget about 90% of what you learn in 24 hours, so a quick look later will help you retain more.)

LC2010HIS

MavisDavis wrote: »

Two words: flash cards.

did this today
Had 2 history learnt off in an hour
weeee

fufureida

MavisDavis wrote: »

Two words: flash cards.

I couldn't agree more.

rebel girl 15

MavisDavis wrote: »

Two words: flash cards.

flash cards before bed worked a treat for me - the information keeps going around in your head while you are sleeping.

Kevvv

What do yous mean by flash cards?

spongeman

1) Learn key words. Not paragraphs etc. Then when in the exam read the questions and jot down those key words on the exam paper and write paragraphs around them.

2) Do not study the night before an exam , or the morning of an exam. Keep your mind fresh.

3) Do not try to learn new things close to an exam . Consolidate what you know already.

Worked for me all those years ago.

spongeman

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Exam papers are your bible! Remember not to stay up late at night studying - it is just awful (I'm sure most of us have stayed up past 12am studying at least once before)

Excellent advice.

rebel girl 15

Kevvv wrote: »

What do yous mean by flash cards?

Small cards that you can write on, you can buy index cards about 5x4 inches in size in any good stationary shop, you can get bigger ones as well

rebel girl 15

Spongeman1 wrote: »

1) Learn key words. Not paragraphs etc. Then when in the exam read the questions and jot down those key words on the exam paper and write paragraphs around them.

2) Do not study the night before an exam , or the morning of an exam. Keep your mind fresh.

3) Do not try to learn new things close to an exam . Consolidate what you know already.

Worked for me all those years ago.

I don't know about number 2, some people like to go over stuff to be certain. To keep your mind fresh, I'd be going to bed at a good time and waking at a good time. Big thing is to relax when studying, if you are all tense, you won't remember as much stuff as you would when you study when you are relaxed!!

I didn't study the day before the Leaving, I was mentally preparing for the first day, but I still looked over a few bits in the morning before the exam

**Timbuk2**

Some people study the night before (or morning of) exams. This works for some people, as it helps them refresh their memory, especially those really good at cramming. For some people, looking over the information the night before makes very little difference, and may serve to get them stressed even more - usually people that can learn small amounts steadily over a period of time.

Me personally, I don't think that I would be able to sit back and not study the night before. I always cram for tests. I certainly would not follow the advice of 'relax and watch a DVD' the night before an exam. However, I wouldn't stay up late as 3 hour papers are draining enough, even when fully alert.

3_BOoYA_X

Kevvv wrote: »

What do yous mean by flash cards?

Flash cards Kev. The little cards i have all over my desk that your always writing on! ...I gave you a load ages ago.

Victoria.

Thanks everyone!

Micilin Muc

I didn't do history for the LC but part of my research for college involves history and maybe my trick will help you - make a timeline in a spreadsheet with Microsoft Excel or any other spreadsheet software.

You could create a spreadsheet with a timeline running all the way down the first column. Then you could give 3 columns names, for example you could name them "Historical Events in Ireland", "Historical Events in Europe", and "Historical Events in America".

For me it's easier than pages and pages of sheets/flashcards and seeing the events in chronological context helps me understand the reasons behind the events. Best of luck!

pervertedcoffee

Flash cards are great but recently they've gotten a bit more advanced and have become SRS. One good one online is Smart.fm and Anki is quite good if you download it. They're programmed to space out the information so you see it at regular intervals that allow you to remember the information. I use them for studying Kanji/vocabulary. Works a treat!

OxfordComma

I agree about the flash cards, even though they can be time-consuming to make. They're good for testing definitions in the sciences and things like that, but as I said before, actually making them wastes time.

For History, one of the best things you can do is to read through a chapter, highlight important information like names, dates etc, and summarise everything into a list of 12-15 key points (or more). Even a single word or a short sentence to trigger your memory will do - the paragraph headings in the book work very well too. Make sure you can discuss each point in detail - just go over it in your head. Then memorise this list, and when you're doing an essay, you can pick and choose which points to use and construct a paragraph or two around each. It's the best way of consolidating all the information in History, because if you only read through a chapter, you'll find it very hard to remember everything and organise it in sequence.

Another important point about History is not to try to cover too much of the course - you're better off knowing, say, half of it in good detail. In the exam, you're only going to be writing on a very small fraction of the total course.