Studying

<p>Right now I feel a bit overwhelmed when studying for my Psycholgy test this friday. The test is on our notes/book (which is 150 pages of material). There is no way I can know all of this, does anyone have any advice? Most of the vocab (there is 180 words) is something I have seen just this semester. Thanks!</p>

<p>The best (and only way) that I can ever learn a lot of material quickly is flash cards. When I study from notes, my eye wanders to other things, so flash cards keep me focused. You could try typing everything up into a study guide but that could be a lot. Honestly, especially with the vocab, I'd go with flashcards, and maybe do a study guide with the concepts/things you can't put on cards.</p>

<p>Good luck! :)</p>

<p>Lots and lots and lots of repetition. Really. </p>

<p>You need to figure out which parts of the material are important and testable and go from there. Flashcards, writing stuff down repeatedly, whatever. It's completely possible to learn/cram all of that stuff, especially since you have until Friday. Since you have time I'd say to divide the material in two (dedicate tonight and tomorrow night to each half) and then spend thursday studying comprehensively, with lots and lots of repetition. </p>

<p>I've gotten As on tests of that magnitude studying only the day before and without the textbook (had to google every. single. thing. on the review sheets). I totally don't recommend that to anyone ever, but just saying that it's totally possible to pack all of that stuff in your head.</p>

<p>Is there anyone you know who is interested in what you are doing? If so, try to talk to that person about psychology and teach them some concepts. This will help you remember them fo sho.</p>

<p>Remember that everyone else in your class is probably also freaking out about this test. Any way that you can study in a group?</p>

<p>Yeah, I'm doing that tommorrow hopefully so that'll help. Thanks for the suggestions all.</p>

<p>I studied flash cards for 3hrs the day before my Astronomy exam and got an A on it, I'm so happy :)</p>

<p>You want a high grade, right? </p>

<p>Read your class notes, then outline them
Read your text, then outline it
Write out Cornell notes for your vocabulary
<a href="http://www.eleven21.com/notetaker/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.eleven21.com/notetaker/&lt;/a>
Make a big list of themes, main ideas, theories, and theorists</p>

<p>Take your list of "stuff"
Your class notes outline
Your text outline
Your Cornell notes for vocabulary
...and bind everything together with a binder clip</p>

<p>Keep on reading everything until Thursday
On Thursday, write down whatever you have yet to remember using the Cornell notes. Put what you do not remember on one side of the paper and leave the other side blank.
Read over everything again and try to write down anything you can remember cold.
Go back and review and keep on making your list of "stuff" smaller and smaller.
Then before you go to sleep, read everything one last time and have that be it.</p>

<p>This sounds wacky, yeah? But, I have a 3.9gpa at present, and I am all about sharing the love with any study skills I have picked out which have worked for me.</p>

<p>Edited to add, be sure to make time for a nice weekend, and good luck:)</p>

<p>Merlin, i am definitely printing that out^^^</p>

<p>thanks so much for that</p>

<p>Hate to say it but welcome to college! The good news is that it will all get easier as you go and become used to the work. You'll be amazed at how much information you can stuff into your head for a single exam.</p>

<p>"Read your class notes, then outline them
Read your text, then outline it"</p>

<p>Merlinjones, you must have no time to do anything but outline your textbook and notes. If it works for you, great; but I know for me it would be wasted time.</p>

<p>How to prevent getting into your situation in the future:</p>

<p>The key is to take good notes, labeled at the top with course, date, and page number. Use highlighters or different color pens when you take your notes for information you think will be on tests (like the professor repeating it during a lecture or a number of lectures, or his/her writing on the board or overhead).</p>

<p>Review your notes within 24 hours of taking them, so you can fill in any holes and clarify anything. Once a week, read the notes from the current week and quickly skim the notes from the previous weeks. When you get to test time, you'll be surprised at how much you understand and won't have to study.</p>

<p>As for the textbook, read it, highlighting main concepts--try to keep it to 20% of highlighted text. Read the text a few days before the lecture. The night before the lecture, review the chapter by reading what you highlighted and examining all diagrams, charts, and pictures carefully. At test time, review again.</p>

<p>Hope this helps!</p>

<p>P.S. I love flashcards for terms and foreign languages! Also, if you are taking an open-book/note test, make tables of contents for both and use Post-It notes to mark key areas, like dividers in a notebook.</p>

<p>avcastner </p>

<p>Nah, I only put what works for me in order to try and be helpful. </p>

<p>I mean, I only have- church responsibilities, family responsibilities, work two jobs, and try to have a nice time out at least once a week. So, I cannot quite say I have a lot of free time, I just try to make the most of the time I have each day.</p>