Exams are going to be the death of me.
me
To be completely honest, I don’t know how to share tips on surviving DevCom exams because I, myself, am a professional at cramming. (note: I need an intervention)
I am one of the students who only study the night before the exams therefore gets little to no sleep which causes declining health and poor performance. Ain’t it fun?
Since sharing tips like “do not cram” would be very hypocritical of me, I decided to write about how I, someone who crams a lot, survive DevCom exams since y’all know we can’t help but cram. Kinain na ako ng sistema, mga sizt.
LISTEN! Listen during lectures and make sure to listen well. I assure you that your brain will retain most of the information from the lecture if you listen well enough.
Make a reviewer. Even if I always cram, I make sure that I have a reviewer. DevCom professors generously provide students with lecture slides and writing an outline of these slides really helps a lot in studying for exams especially if you’re studying last-minute. As you are writing your reviewer, make sure that you read and understand what you are writing. Don’t just run on autopilot and write things because that won’t help in remembering the lessons. Reviewers are also convenient because you can just pull it out of your bag and it enables you to go over the lessons anywhere.
Memorize and understand. DevCom exams have both objective and subjective parts. Although exams require a lot of memorization, it is crucial that one understands the concepts and knows them by heart. Since there are a lot of information that needs to be memorized, it helps that you memorize the first letter of every word or phrase. Of course, we all have various techniques in memorizing and what works for me may not work for you.
Do not force yourself. Your brain cannot take in all of the information that you are jamming in it if you don’t have the will to study. Forcing yourself to study will bring you no benefits and will also tire you out. If you know that you are forcing yourself to study, take a break then resume studying once your brain has had its rest.
Eat before taking the exam. Since I always do last-minute studying, the number of hours in my sleep is around 4-5 hours which can really drain the body. Eating before the exam will give you energy to answer the questions.
Of course, cramming is not a very efficient way to study because it can stress the hell out of you and will also endanger your grades unless you are the type to really absorb information while under time pressure. Given that the amount of workload in college can consume most of one’s time, it is not surprising that a lot students cram but remember that cramming should always be your last resort.
Good luck on your exams!
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