The best way to prepare for an exam
When exam deadlines approach, your course load suddenly seems more intense than it has felt all semester. Creating a schedule for the specific period will help you get an overview of what you need to read, deadlines and life besides your course load.
Planning
Instead of focusing all your energy on the end goal and handing in your final work, try breaking up studying into smaller milestone goals. A helpful trick is to keep track using a calendar, so you have a quick overview, especially if you have several exams over a short time period. Remember to note your nights off and social activities that are a priority for you.
“Don’t forget that the body and brain need to take a break occasionally. Eat properly, exercise and schedule breaks from studying, so you won’t enter total hibernation. Scheduling your time and knowing your deadlines will help you create time for that,” says Pernille Risør Elving.
Anders Brix finalized his master’s thesis at DTU in 2019. His advice is to take any help you can get.
“An example is taking introduction courses of 20 ECTS-points where you will get divided into groups, receive teaching and have practical classes – kind of like a study café, where instructors can offer you help and advice. In my experience you need to take whatever you can get. It’s like a three-legged stool – those only standing on two legs will fall” he says.
Reading
“Before you start reading it is helpful to be aware of how you read properly, and make sure you know how to approach the workload,” says Pernille Risør Elving.
First, it is about knowing yourself – when is the best time to read for you? It can be of great advantage to tackle the more difficult texts at a time of day where you’re the most focused. And even if you might think that you are a night owl, it can be more beneficial for you to study in the morning. This means that it’s not just about filling out any gaps you might have in your schedule with reading, but about treating studying as a job that needs to be prioritized – you are a student and studying is your job.
You need to be honest with yourself. For some, studying in silence works best and others concentrate better with music in their ears. While many enjoy the company of others whilst studying, they risk losing focus by chatting with each other. In the exam period you must prioritize studying over “hygge”.
Anders Brix read through syllabus three times for each course, he tells.
“You skim the text before class so you know what the class will be about. After class you thoroughly read through the parts of the text your professor put emphasis on. If there are any exercises you can do to strengthen your understanding, make sure you do them. Before your exam skim through the texts once again and redo any exercises, you might be insecure about,” he recommends.
Writing
Pernille Risør Elving recommends using study groups, even if the exam isn’t a group exam. Coworking helps you commit to meeting with your group at certain times and to avoid procrastination.
“Having a study-buddy can also be of great help. Even if you are writing separate assignments you can follow each other’s process, share deadlines for specific parts of the assignment and set goals for the day together. You can also use your buddy to give and receive feedback, helping one another progress” Pernille Risør Elving recommends.
Meeting deadlines of your assignment writing is important, says Anders Brix.
“Otherwise we would never get it done. Meeting deadlines help to secure progress whilst writing, even at times when the task is a little unclear to,” he says.
Deadlines are helpful when you need to get started so that you won’t procrastinate until you only have a week left to write. And they can also help you surpass obstacles along the way. Maybe you are not completely satisfied with the theoretical section of your text; but when the deadline is near, you need to move on to the next task at deadline. Usually, given that you have time, it is easier to strengthen your first paragraphs when you have finished the rest of the assignment, and know the outcome of your experiments, calculations or analysis.
“Share your work with each other. Read each other’s papers and give feedback, test each other’s calculations and talk about any doubts you may have. It may feel vulnerable but sharing your thoughts with fellow students can help you solve problems and find errors and mistakes,” Pernille Risør Elving suggests.
