Don’t freak out before an exam!

Syeda Nowshin Ibnat
3 min readFeb 15, 2022

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The tips that I am writing here were given by one of my favorite teachers at university. These tips are very useful if one wants to study in an organized way. Well, I like to organize everything before studying for exams. Otherwise, I freak out before an exam. These tips are especially effective for exam preparation. I was so distracted with my studies lately and thought to write a blog to feel motivated. Hope this blog will be helpful and you don’t have to freak out right before an exam!💁‍♀️

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

| Six tips for semester exam preparation |

1) Target small units.

Sometimes we don’t give CT or Quiz tests seriously. And we don’t do assignments or lab reports properly. But these small factors can be very effective and we need to take them seriously. I study for a CT/Quiz and it really reduces my stress before the mid-term or final-term exam as I have already completed some chapters for CT/Quiz. And I do most of my assignments by myself. Sometimes, I took help from others or from the internet (it’s allowed in some cases😛).

2) Pre-preparation.

Before start studying you have to find out the following things:

Q1: What will I study?

You have to find out the things that are important or most likely to come in the exam. Then make a list of these things or highlight them.

Q2: What can I cut off from the syllabus?

Frankly speaking, you can’t study everything right before an exam. You have to cut off some concepts/topics. There will be some concepts that are not clear to you or you did not read them before or no chance to come questions from these concepts in an exam. You have to analyze these things. The concepts that are not clear to you but most likely will come to the exam then you should clear those concepts. In that case, your friend can help you the most. Otherwise, there are Indian YouTubers aka life savers can help you.

3) Shopping.

Buy all the necessary stuff like pens, pencils, notes, etc. at least 5 days before an exam. I saw some of my classmates asking for pens during an exam. It’s okay sometimes to do this kind of mistake but you should be careful about these things.

4) Organize everything.

You should organize everything before studying. You should analyze the question pattern to make everything clear. I use Microsoft “One Note” for question pattern analysis even for note-taking sometimes. You can use a notebook to write it down.

Photo: Sample of question pattern analysis for an exam (One Note)

5) Don’t memorize everything.

You should write down the important things or you can also make a mind map/cheatsheet for revision. Your target should be to write accurately in the exam. So, it’s allowed to make mistakes before an exam.

  • Take study seriously before an exam. Your seriousness can be a game-changer!
  • Practice and write down the important things several times. Important things can be diagrams, charts, codes, etc.

6) Finish the syllabus 1 day before an exam.

You should finish your syllabus at least a day before an exam. Revise everything at least 2 times. And don’t read anything 1 hour before the exam. Stay calm and relaxed.

I still remember that I used to finish everything before the midterm/final term exam when I was in my first year of undergrad. And the night before the exam I used to watch movies(🤐). Please don’t try this at home!!

Bonus: Try to sleep at least 6–7 hours before an exam. You will feel refreshed and you will have a clear and calm mind to sit on an exam.

At last, I can say …

© Syeda Nowshin Ibnat

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