‘I’ll wake up early tomorrow and study’ I say, ‘4:30 isn’t that early’ I say. I am often proved wrong. 

My freshman year self made many empty promises of studying far too early, and as the year went on, study guides were left undone and test grades were slowly declining. This unhealthy practice continued into sophomore and junior year. Most Louisville students, upon question stated they prefer to stay up late at night to study, totaling at about 80%. Apparently, it proves much more effective to scribble out sleepy information at 1 A.M. than wake up late and forget studying altogether.

The real “secret to studying” is a bit harder to figure out. Like anything else, it takes trial and error, patience and commitment. Study methods are very specific to you, the class and the test.

Personally, my brain works best with social sciences and humanities, so I am usually more motivated to study for tests in those categories. More analytical classes, like English or history, require long study guides with information and insights at the ready. For instance, if I was to prepare for an AP Lang quiz, I would print out the teacher’s study guide or graphic organizers and write out detailed quotes from the course reader that I could use in my rhetorical analysis.

It is important to also take into account how long the test or quiz will be and any other things that may affect how you go about studying. If you are preparing yourself for a 100 question biology quiz, maybe you’ll need to factor in a  few extra hours to assure you’ll attain all the information necessary, but if it’s a five question reading check in English, maybe you can spare the worries and review your annotations for only fifteen to twenty minutes.

My go-to ways of studying all depend on if the teacher posts a study guide or not. Study guides are a great way to get serious about retaining information, especially if you write all over them like I do. Using the right pens, the right pencils, smooth highlighters and the correct paper are all crucial for me and my strange process.

Additionally, when writing in margins of a page, one can only write so big; often it can appear as if you know more than you do. I remember countless times my friends have taken peeks at my study guides and became concerned with their own preparation, as if it was any less than I had done. My method of over-preparing at least psychologically assures me I will do well, which is half the battle of a difficult test or quiz.

If the teacher does not pre-make study guides, however, you can always make your own. Around the middle of sophomore year I started to understand the formula to create a study guide, and it has never failed me once. I am a big believer in the use of a bullet point, “a., b.,” or “1), 2),” and spacing notes below your main topic for further details. However, when creating such a useful study tool, make sure to not put too many true explanations; as I’ve said before, the true studying comes from filling the paper in with a ridiculous amount of pen and highlighter ink. Your study guide should detail important key words, and does not always need every little detail. A good and successful study guide is started earlier in the week, which helps avoid last minute cram studying the night before. 

In my opinion, you will not remember anything you type mindlessly out onto a word document as much as you would if you were handwriting the information. Feeling the paper beneath your hands can seriously help you remember more on the day of your test, when all you can feel is the test paper and your shaky fingers gripping a pencil. I stand by the theory that writing the subjects many times as you can is the best way to ingrain the information into your head. Spanish tests where I wrote out the conjugation of a verb on a post-it 5 times the night before have always gone well. 

Highlighting, using symbols, the application of pencil and pen are altogether a large part of my process. The visual of a finished study guide and the consistency that this routine has helps me remember more on a test. Arrows, circling, asterisks (my personal favorite) and stars are a great way to help yourself remember important concepts. Sometimes, you can see that phrase, name or word on a test and imagine the bright pink highlighter you used that morning. Studying is completely about your senses, focus and memory working together.

My “study guide” method has helped me gain a lot of confidence in my test taking skills and also generally kept the information in my mind even after the test, even on things that would usually exit my brain the moment an assessment was over. Study guides are also great to reference during finals, AP tests or cumulative exams, even though I would still advise to make an additional study sheet (sorry to your weekend before finals plans) that is loosely based on the last one you made for the class.

Most students, especially upperclassmen, complain of the endless hours of studying per week, but this can be made a little easier and a little more effective with this intentional method.