IL by Haley

IL by Haley - May 2016 Scholarship Essay

Final exams are sometimes tricky to study for because different courses and different teachers test using different formats. Some final exams are cumulative; some are not. Some final exams are multiple choice, some consist of writing an essay, and some are a mixture of several formats. The most important factor in determining the proper study technique is the format of the test. During my last round of final exams, which were primarily multiple choice, I found that creating and studying flashcards was the most helpful.
When using this technique, I read through my notes several times, pinpointing the most important terms and tidbits of information, and then create a separate flashcard for each one, writing a term or question on one side and the definition or answer on the other. The act of writing out the material on the flashcards is a good study technique in itself because as I do so, I am evaluating the information from my notes, and this process helps me to recall it more efficiently when I go to study the flashcards later on. Afterwards, I go through the stack multiple times, shuffling in between each round, until I can remember the gist of the information on every flashcard. The persistent repetition instills the information in my mind and allows me to recall it very quickly. This study technique always seems to serve me best, and I walked out of my final exams feeling confident in my performance.