If you read the rest of these pages on exam study tips, you’ll notice a universal theme. Everything is inter related. Your reading, note taking, organization, intensity...it all builds around preparing yourself for the exam. You can’t read this page in a vacuum. Everything else you do to study is somehow related to preparing for the exam...

The truth is, that if you gain knowledge, you will also attain the grade. But the reverse isn't true.

A college education is way too expensive if your goal is “just good grades”. You’ll graduate with honors, but with little real knowledge. It’s a short sighted view, and extremely immature. My recommendation is to get every last penny of your tuition. Milk it for everything you can.

1. Exam study tip number one. Sounds like a broken record, but have a plan and start early. The night before the exam is too late to begin learning the material. At this point it should only be a review of material.
2. Exam study tip number two. Attend every lecture, and listen carefully for key concepts and key words the teacher may emphasize. One sure clue is to notice things the teacher writes on the board or overhead...why is she writing this if it isn’t important? This is a clue on what your teacher thinks is important (testworthy).
3. This seems line common sense, but exam study tip number three is to attend all test reviews. Some professors and teachers are pretty straight forward on what will be on their exam. And if you’ve been sticking to the program, how reassuring is it to be able to answer the topics the professor goes over in the review.
4. Tip number four, especially in college, check with the school library to see if your professor has put any of her old exams on file for students to review. This is an extremely important exam study tip that many students are unaware of. When I went to law school, I was stunned to find so many old exam questions that were resurrected from the library files.
5. Tip number five, talk to students who have previously taken the professor or teacher, who may have copies of returned exams. If nothing else, this gives you an idea of what kind of questions the professor will ask.
6. I talk about study groups elsewhere, but exam study tip number six is at the beginning of the semester, form either a study group, or a note taking group (or both). Make sure the students in your group are serious students. Students in a note taking group will either all take notes and compare their notes, or designate certain students (on a rotating basis) to take notes, while the others listen to the lectures as intently as possible.
7. Exam study tip number seven, another often neglected tip, is if your nervous, go talk to the professor, and let her know the areas where you’re having problems. Impress her with the fact that you’re keeping up with the class reading and notes, but need some clarification. There will be some real jerk professors, but most professors and teachers are well intentioned educators who want to see their students succeed, and it’s refreshing when a student shows some initiative. A caveat here. DO NOT go to your professor with a blank slate. Make sure you’ve reviewed your notes and reading assignments. Your professor wants to see that you’ve made an effort before you come to her. If all you have is your sad puppy eyes, you won’t make a positive impression on your professor.
8. Here’s an old trick (and the final exam study tip) I learned from a genius room mate of mine. There’s an old saying in the legal practice and it goes something like this: “But your honor, if I knew you wanted a shorter brief, I would have needed more time.”

In order to drastically condense notes in this fashion, you have to really understand the information. He continuously condensed his notes throughout the semester. By the time of our final exam, he had condensed everything we had learned during the semester into one page.

Besides starting early, there are some intuitive and not so intuitive steps to follow immediately before and during the exam. Again, some of these exam study tips apply equally to test taking. So, here’s another list.

1. Our bodies and minds need to replenish. Rest, and especially sleep is essential. Get a good nights sleep before the exam.
2. The morning of the exam eat a healthy breakfast. Make sure you’re refueled and in tip top shape for the grueling exam ahead.
3. Bring extra everything. Pens, pencils, paper, calculators, batteries, scantrons, blue books. Over prepare your supplies, like you’ve over prepared yourself for the exam. There’s nothing worse than being ready for the exam but not having your supplies.
4. Carefully read the instructions for the exam, and follow them.
5. This is one people freak out about, but take a few minutes to read over the entire exam. Especially in timed exams, you actually save time in the end by reading everything first. Plus it gives you the “lay of the land” so you can better plan the time you’ll spend on each answer.
6. I’ve taught college for about 8 years, and I say this before every exam. Make sure you answer all of the questions. And, it never fails, kids turn in exams with unanswered questions. After all your hard work, this has got to be one of the most bone head things to do.
7. Remember, you don’t have to answer questions in the order that they’re presented on the exam. If you’ve read the entire exam, you know which questions are the most important, and you can start with them. But if you do this and skip around, be wary of number 6 above, and make sure you answer all the questions before you turn in your exam.