Cramming may be hazardous to your health. Think of what would happen to your digestive system if you ate a week's worth of food in one meal. Sounds pretty disgusting, doesn't it? Yet cramming - that old school standby - is the mental version of that stuffing process. While it's self-destructive to count on cramming to get you through a course, it beats not studying at all. Keeping in mind that cramming should only be used as a last resort, here is how to use an 11th-hour sprint in the most efficient way possible:
a. Concentrate. The pressure of a big exam bearing down is the only way some people can really get down to business before a test.
b. Read your notes first to get a sense of what your teacher emphasized in class. This gives you an approach to the rest of the material if you have time to get to it. Reread three times anything you underlined or starred in these notes.
c. Go to your class text. Carefully read all the titles and subtitles at least three times. If you have time, quickly skim the material. If there's no time, just read the headings, opening and closing paragraphs of each section, and any points which were emphasized in class.
d. If you're being tested on rules, definitions, or spelling, read each term or word silently five times, then aloud five times.
e. If you're going to be tested on math or science problems, pick out two or three typical examples which have been stressed in class and work them out as quickly as possible on paper.
f. If you're being tested on novels and stories you've never read at all, you are in deep trouble. The only thing you can do is reread your class notes on that material, then try to get sense of the book by reading the first and last chapters or sections, as well as one chapter or section which has been stressed in class.
g. Get some sleep. Even a little sleep will help you process information better. Researchers have found that concentrated study followed by few hours of sleep works far up to the exam. Without any sleep, you'll be a zombie, and your chances of totally blanking out will be astronomical.
h. Obviously, these jamming techniques are slap-dash attempts at best. If you cram, you are going to wind up with lots of blank spots in your knowledge. When you do get to the test, spend the most time developing what you do know instead of trying to fake your way through things you know nothing about. A few solid answers may balance out those questions you can't answer at all.
Source: Scholastic's A+ Guide to Good Grades by Loiuse and Doug Colligan
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