<p>I am trying to perfect my method of studying. For all of you guys that go to a competitive school and are ranked within the top 10 ranks (as in ranks 1-10, not top10%), how do you guys achieve this? I'm trying to figure out a way to study for tests at least 3-4 days earlier. I hear the best way to get 5s on AP exams is through knowing all the material (obviously!) but the only way to do this for most people is to do slow review for tests during the school year. Study a little bit each day...</p>
<p>Not at all. I crammed for all my AP tests in the last 2-3 weeks beforehand (six tests, two weeks => five 5's and one 4). Of course, I gave up all semblance of a social life for those weeks and studied 5 hours a day after school...</p>
<p>I think if you know the material well enough for an A in class, all you need is a few weeks of review before the major exam. I may have overstudied for mine, in any case (the only 4 I got was in Spanish, which I was lucky to not fail, as linguistically-challenged as I am). Don't stress too much.</p>
<p>I go to one of the top 10 private schools, and I can easily say that both methods have worked for me.</p>
<p>I try to study ahead of time if I feel that my understanding of the material is abysmal. By doing that, I have the time to figure out what bits of the material that don't make sense to me and can ask a teacher about them the next day. Usually when I study ahead of time, I not only have the stuff memorized, but I "get" it.</p>
<p>Studying at the last minute is slightly different. You can memorize stuff, but you won't truly understand it. Therefore studying at the last minute is not good quantitatively; for this reason I usually study ahead of time (at least 3 days) because cramming will screw you over when you have a quantitative test.</p>