Knowledge
Ace Your Exams: Tips for Exam Success
A nutritious diet, regular exercise, adequate rest, and a positive attitude will make a huge difference
Success comes when opportunity meets with Preparation! The following tips will enable you to prepare thoroughly, in a planned way, learn with understanding and make your exam ready in a stress-free manner!
Memory Bytes and Winning Study Methods – A sound memory is integral to optimizing your performance.
Memory Techniques
- Organize your thoughts
- Make learning meaningful
- Create Associations
- Learn actively and write
- Create Pictures
- Recite and Repeat
- Avoid distractions
- Keep a positive attitude
- Find time to relax for a “mind- break”
Other useful techniques are:
Monitor Your Comprehension: You can only remember and fully use ideas that you understand. Find ways to monitor your comprehension. Get into the habit of saying to yourself, “Do I understand this?” Always check the logic behind the ideas. Ask questions like Why? How? Tutor another student who is having difficulty; if you teach someone else, you reinforce your own knowledge.
Generate Your Own Examples: Go beyond examples provided in class and in the text, and bring your general knowledge and experiences into play by relating them to academic ideas. In Biology, relate photosynthesis to the potted plant in your garden; in Geography relate theories of climate to your day-to-day experience of weather; in Chemistry relate acids to home uses of vinegar; in Physics relate acceleration to riding your bike. When you can generate your own examples, you demonstrate your understanding, and your memory is enhanced.
Think in Pictures, Colours, and Shapes: Concrete images are more memorable than abstract ideas. Practice colorful thinking! Associate your own mental pictures with the academic content. In your class and text notes use color to highlight headings and other key ideas. Use shapes to help you organize ideas; triangles, boxes, flow charts, and circles.
Use Mnemonics: Mnemonics are memory training ways of making associations to facilitate remembering. They can be extremely powerful; at the same time, if you overuse mnemonics, you can spend too much time generating and learning the mnemonics and too little time on a real understanding of the material. The economical use of mnemonics to study for a test can be very effective.
There are many types of mnemonics:
- Rhymes can be powerful; psychology students will recognize Freud’s personality theory in the little rhyme, “It is the kid!” Geography students may find it easier to remember that the Suez Canal links the Red Sea and Med (the Mediterranean) Sea.
- Acronyms collapse the beginning letters of a set of information into one or a few words; who can forget the colors of the rainbow through the word VIBGYOR or the correct approach to solving simplifications- BODMAS?
- The beginning letters of a set of information can be built into a sentence; for biology, you might recognize Kings Play Chess on Frosted Glass Surfaces.
These are just a few of the many types of mnemonics that you can use. As you study for your exams, use your imagination to generate fitting mnemonics for some of the key information in your courses.
Repetition: The more times you go over something, the better your memory will be of that information. However, each time you go through something, try to find a different angle so that you are not just repeating exactly the same activity. By varying your approach, you will create more connections in long-term memory.
Guidelines for Effective Time Management
- Plan ahead
- Schedule leisure activities
- Break big topics into manageable chunks
- Keep track of your progress
- Make and follow a list of priorities
The following strategies will help you hone your exam prep skills:
Before Exams
- Make a practical Study Schedule – Study heavy and light subjects alternately. Don’t indulge in the selective study. Take short breaks between periods of concentrated study.
- Revise Effectively – Make brief lesson-wise notes. This acts as a recapitulation exercise and saves the time of rummaging through textbooks at the last minute.
- Follow effective memory and study techniques
- Solve Model Test Papers – This is a must to practice time management during exams.
How pre-exam stress expresses itself
Physical Symptoms: headache, nausea, stomach upset, sleep disturbances
Behavioral Symptoms: nail biting, eating disorders (either excessive eating or having almost no hunger)
Mental or emotional symptoms: inability to concentrate, ‘going blank’, unidentifiable feelings of fear and helplessness, mood swings.
Causes of exam stress
- Pressure to complete syllabus
- Competitive peer pressure
- Inadequate sleep
- Inappropriate nutrition
- Lack of regular physical exercise
- Inability to prioritize goals
- Lacking awareness of study skills and memory techniques
- Negative thinking
- Parental pressure
- High Achievement Expectations
- Irritability
Handling exam stress- Following effective study skills and memory techniques.
Attempting essay-type questions: analyze, compare, define, evaluate. Identify the reasons for stress by asking yourself questions oneself. Find realistic solutions to those reasons. Prioritize between short-term and long-term goals. Set SMART goals.
Avoid procrastination: making use of the ‘2-minute rule’.
Eat healthy, nutritious food. Exercise and use simple relaxation techniques like deep breathing. Rest well and regulate sleep patterns. Develop an ‘I CAN’ attitude (positive self-affirmations help)
Preparing for Exams: Have a clear understanding of what the exam will or won’t cover. Find out what kind of exam it will be – MCQs, short essays, long essays, or a combination. Prepare summary sheets of your notes. Concentrate on the topics emphasized by your teachers. Go through the previous year’s question paper.
Preparation by Type of Exams
For Objective Type:
- Study as if it were an essay exam.
- Stress on key terms and examples.
- For True/False, write some false statements.
Essay Exams:
- Stress on Concepts.
- List probable questions.
- Prepare good outline answers and practice them.
- Memorize formulas if required
- Practice, practice, practice.
Getting ready for your final exams:
- Maintain a proper study schedule.
- Ensure that your time management is efficient
- Study heavy and light subjects alternatively
- Take short breaks between periods of concentrated study
- Solve model papers within the time limit
- A nutritious and balanced diet will keep you healthy and alert
- Find time to relax and have sufficient sleep
- Believe in yourself- have a positive ‘I CAN’ attitude
- Avoid distractions. While studying put your mobile phone on either flight mode or switch it off.
Remember, if you need help, reach out or talk to a friend, or a family member or call us.
During Exam – tips
Tips for writing the papers
- Read questions carefully; Time your answers – Preferably pick questions that require to-the-point, short answers or diagrammatic representation. Leave space for answers you would like to attempt later.
- Focus on the Presentation – Neatness is very important. Go for paragraphing and spacing. Avoid erasing, scratching, etc. In each paragraph, underline the key sentence. Use your general knowledge wherever relevant. Remember, like all challenges, taking an exam competently depends on effective planning, efficient strategies, and a confident approach.
- Complete Early; Check the Answer Sheet – Complete your paper at least 10 minutes early and go through your answer sheet. Check that you have not omitted any question/sub-question. Ensure that you have numbered your answers correctly, and recorded your details (name, school name, roll number) properly.
- Watch out for these Words – The following words are commonly found in essay-type questions. Understanding them is essential.
Analyse: Break into parts and discuss, examine/interpret each.
Compare: Examine two or more aspects. Identify similarities and differences.
Contrast: Show differences / Set in opposition.
Criticise: Make judgments. Evaluate comparative worth. Criticism often involves analysis.
Define: Give the meaning – specific to the course/subject. Definitions are usually short.
Describe: Give a detailed account. List characteristics, qualities, etc.
Discuss: Debate the pros and cons of an issue. Write about any conflict. Compare and contrast.
Enumerate: List ideas, aspects, events, things, qualities, reasons, etc.
Evaluate: Give your opinion or cite an expert’s opinion. Include evidence to support the evaluation.
Explain: Show logically how an idea/concept is developed. Give reasons for an event.
Illustrate: Explain through concrete examples/comparisons.
Interpret: Comment, give examples, describe relationships, explain the meaning, describe, then evaluate.
Outline: Describe key ideas, characteristics, or events.
Prove: Support with facts – especially those presented in class or in the text.
Relate: Show the connections between ideas or events. Provide a larger context.
State: Explain precisely.
Summarise: Give a brief, condensed account with conclusions.
Trace: Show the progress of a subject/event.
Remember, there’s no shortcut to success. If you have worked hard, you will succeed.
Additionally, a nutritious diet, regular exercise, adequate rest, and a positive attitude will make a huge difference.
Good Luck!
Author – Dr. Founder Director, Institute for Career Studies, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 
