5 Things Not to Do When Studying for a University Exam

I f you have your semester finals coming up, you may be very tempted to fall into unhelpful mechanisms that seem helpful in the moment. They are, in fact, not at all in your favor. Here are 5 things not to do when studying for a university exam.

Do NOT Pull an All-Nighter

Staying up all night to study and revise is arguably the most common thing that students are tempted to do, but it’s also arguably the worst thing they can do to their mind right before an exam! As a university-going adult, you need at least 7-9 hours of sleep to be fully rested to wake up fresh in the morning.

If you do not sleep, you will be groggy and exhausted by the time you have to attempt your examination, and you risk forgetting everything you’ve studied and gone entirely blank. Your safest bet, if you wish to have some time to revise before the exam, is to sleep early around 9 PM, and wake up at 5 AM with 8 hours of sleep, so you can revise in the morning before you go and give your exam.

Do NOT Forget to Fuel Your Body

It is extremely easy to find yourself engulfed in your books and “in the zone” and study for hours on end, but sometimes a consequence of binge studying is that you forget to eat or stay hydrated. Food and water are incredibly important, especially since just a mild case of dehydration can have extremely negative effects on short-term memory retainment.

Hunger can lead to irritability, and if you do not nourish your body you will be at a higher risk of distraction. Lack of nutrition can also lead to fluctuation in blood pressure and muscle cramps, and at a crucial time like studying when you need to use your arm and wrist to write a lot, muscle cramps aren’t exactly the best thing that could happen to you. If you wish to stay vigilant during your examination and not faint, don’t skip out on the food!

Do NOT Leave Any Chapter or Topic Untouched

I know, I know. I’m guilty of this one too, but let’s face it; you never know what the topics being examined are going to be. If you ignore even a tiny part of the syllabus and that particular topic decides to show up in your examination, what are you going to do? You’re going to end up losing possibly a good amount of marks, and during graded papers, every single mark counts.

If you’re short on time, do at least read everything even if it is just reading it once. You never know what might stick in your mind and what you may recall at the right time. Who knows, maybe that graph that you skim-read only for two minutes can help you score a few marks that may bump up your B+ to an A-!

Do NOT Be Afraid to Ask For Help

You may feel shy in asking your friends, classmates, or your teachers for help with your studies. Do not allow your anxiety and shyness to overtake your priority to study well! Your teachers will be glad you reached out for help and sometimes asking one of your friends can help them revise while they try to teach you a concept. There are also teachers’ assistants that you can always ask for help from if your friends are busy or your teacher isn’t responding.

The point is,, if you allow your shyness to overtake, you will regret not being better when you had the chance. Knowing there’s room for improvement and having the means to improve yet doing nothing about improving is not the mindset that successful students have. Try your best! If you still don’t achieve your desired grade, at least you’d know that you did everything you possibly could.

Do NOT Cram One Day Before the Exam

If you struggle with sensory overload, cramming is likely one of the worst experiences you can put yourself through. Even if you don’t, there’s no point in trying to stuff your brain with twenty different kinds of information if you’re not learning it properly to be able to retain it.

In fact, cramming has been proven to drastically increase stress levels and can cause panic and anxiety which inevitably make it very hard to take in any information.

In conclusion, DO study and try your best, but keep in mind these 5 things not to do when studying for a university exam.

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