Midterms just recently passed, and for many, so many big tests at once can be extremely hard to manage. I’m a student on high honor roll with a first quarter weighted average of 100.792, and I am a part of National Honor Society. I’m taking many classes to challenge myself and it can get overwhelming to study for so many difficult classes, especially when my midterms were all in the span of one week. However, I narrowed down the most effective things that helped me do well on my midterms that you can use to walk confidently into any other tests, quizzes, AP exams, Regents, or finals in the future.
Study environment
To begin, the environment where you study will actually have a big impact on the effectiveness of your studying. I can definitely get a lot of work done while I’m laying in my bed, but sometimes it is so easy to get distracted. When I have the opportunity to, I enjoy going to the library. I like the East Rockaway Library because it’s nearby and convenient. The school library is also available most of the time during lunch periods and after school. For me, I feel very motivated when there’s minimal distractions and I’m sitting up at a desk as opposed to laying in bed. I also love to listen to music on my airpods when I study. I recommend calm music, like piano, so that you don’t get distracted by any lyrics. Look up your favorite album but “piano/instrumental version”.
Make a plan and set goals
The second thing you should do after choosing a positive study environment is decide what units you want to study and what goals you want to achieve. If you don’t have a straightforward plan of what it is you want to accomplish, you most likely won’t get much done. A few weeks before midterms, I assigned which day I would study which subject, and what specific unit from the subject I would study. Having a set plan for what I would do each day helped me get a little bit done each day, for a few weeks, so it didn’t build up and end up being crammed into the night before. It’s super important to start early, and creating a schedule for what to study helped me stay organized and made sure I didn’t miss anything and I covered all the information.
Use Quizlet and Other Sites
The website Quizlet has a variety of options to help you understand your material. If your teacher has given you a specific study guide, you can simply copy and paste it, and it will automatically transfer it into the form of flashcards, learn, test, and match in seconds! You can also do this manually and put in specific terms and definitions. For memorizing definitions, I love to use flashcards but always hated making them on index cards because it would take me more time to write than it would even take me to study them. With Quizlet, it’s so easy to make online flashcards; you can even use the “track progress” option to mark what you got correct and incorrect so you can go back to the terms you didn’t get on the first try until you understand. There are also many other sites similar to Quizlet where you can import your notes and turn them into practice questions, etc. However, just make sure you’re careful if you’re using a site that could have flaws in the practice questions that you’re using to study, like ChatGPT.
Rewrite Notes then Answer According Questions
Doing practice Regents/AP level questions in my opinion is the most effective way to apply your knowledge to questions once you think you understand all the material. However, just guessing on questions when you don’t even remember the unit, then not checking the correct answers is a common mistake that will not help prepare you. There are steps it takes to do this beneficially. First, I like to review my notes, and rewrite anything that I don’t remember. According to many studies, rewriting things is the best way to retain information, so after copying my notes down I already feel like I have a better understanding. It’s important to make sure you understand what you’re writing, and don’t just copy everything word for word. After I think I know everything, I have to actually apply the information- knowing definitions are important but it’s just as important to be familiar with the style of questions, especially AP classes. It’s very helpful when teachers give practice questions to review with, but if not, it’s easy to find online. For example, google “Regents Level Chemistry Questions on Atomic Structure”, “AP World Unit 3 Practice Questions”, etc. Or, as I stated previously, you can carefully use a reliable AI to generate questions.
To conclude, there are many tips and tricks for studying successfully, and effectively. Try incorporating a quiet environment, setting studying goals, using Quizlet/other websites, and trying regents/AP style questions to prepare yourself, and see if you notice a difference in your test scores!
