12 Things You Can’t Avoid When Preparing for an Exam

If you’re not a prodigy with a photographic memory and brilliant mind, you won’t be able to avoid exam preparations. These 12 things are longtime companions or every exam.

1. Asking Yourself, “Is this Exam-Related?”

The two questions students keep asking themselves when attending different classes are: “Do I really need to take down all the things the lecturer says?” and “Do I have the latest edition of book X?” Was the essay you did a month ago even related to this exam?

2. Racing to the Library

After the bell rings, crowds of students rush to the ill-equipped campus library. And it is always the same bunch of people who have already checked out the books you need. Your task now is to become their best friend. You will probably find somebody who’s compiled a decent list of “things to revise.”

You can also cooperate with your classmates and break the whole course into parts. Each of you will then prepare notes for your own section. As a result, you can then combine them into one big manual.

3. Sticking to the Goal-Per-Day Rule

Okay, you have to read 2,000 pages in two weeks. That’s roughly 140 pages a day, provided you have all the books you need. That’s something even a five-year-old can handle! So, maybe you and your friends can have that party you’ve been talking about for weeks now? You still have enough time, anyway.

4. Missing a Target on the Very First Day

Let’s say two of the books you’re missing will only arrive in eight days. That means you have plenty of time to deal with the remaining bunch! As soon as the books have landed on your desk, you can do 27 pages a day and still make it!

5. Doing Nothing but Study for the Next 2 Weeks

When you realize the exam is only four days away, the anxiety begins to gnaw away at you. But don’t let it bother you much! Reading 1,700 pages at this time means 425 pages per day. Piece of cake!

6. Complaining to Your Friends

Even if you have to read TWO pages in two days, you still need someone to sympathize with you. So, who do you turn to in such a case? Of course, your friends! Your usual gripe is, “I’m so sick and tired of having to adhere to all those deadlines! It’s such a drag!”

7. Having a Panic Attack Two Days Before the Exam

Now it’s getting serious. You came up with all possible and impossible plans, buried yourself in books, and put in earplugs to block out all distractions. You barely have time to check your Facebook or watch the latest Netflix trailer.

8. Setting Eighteen Alarms on Your Mobile

OK, the time is 03:35, which means that in just over five hours, you’ll be facing your examiners. So, you set your cell phone alarm to go off every five minutes, starting from 6 am. It would be a huge disappointment to have to resit an exam just because you missed the bus, right? I’m curious how many alarms you’ll skip — my record is all of them.

9. Reacting to the Exam Questions

It’s showtime! You crack your knuckles and start writing frantically. You do not understand anything and rely totally on your hunch. Typically, the 300 pages you did not read would form the basis of the most points-intensive part of the entire exam. Lucky me!

10. Calculating Your Score

If you and the examiner think along the same lines on question 3C, you should marginally pass the approved limit. Profit!

11. Having Last-Minute Doubts

Okay, you messed up a little when answering 3C, and the examiner must have an IQ of 12 even to consider your reasoning. However, you did answer all the other multiple-choice questions correctly. So, having last-minute doubts is perfectly OK.

12. Drinking Your Well-Deserved Beverage

The chances of you passing the exam are 50/50, the sun is shining bright, and the cute girl in the laundry room is smiling at you. It’s time to drink your well-deserved beverage! Long live student life!