7 Best Study Strategies For Dominating That Test

Studying is a skill that most students really suck at. Even the most successful students usually miss the most important factors in learning everything you need to learn for that test. Most students end up just throwing more time into studying while hoping it improves their grades somehow. The truth is, that's one of the least effective ways to improve your test scores.

The best study strategies involve managing the individual tests and your own psychology. Professors don't like presenting the strategies taught in this article because these strategies don't fit with the classic, “work hard to succeed” narrative that school try and fail to shove down student's throats. These strategies can make taking tests one of the easiest parts of your day without requiring any massive investment of time.

1. Limit Your Study Time

The number one problem students have in studying is spending too much time doing it. I know that sounds insane but it's completely true. Virtually every student that studies at all, studies too much. If you're studying right, 20 minutes of studying should wear you out in a good way. If you invest any more than 20 minutes in studying per sitting then you're probably doing something wrong.

Studying too long usually means that your brain isn't actually memorizing much. Most people let their brains phase in and out of study mode while they're supposed to be studying. One second they're thinking about Lincolns assassination and then they're wondering why they love guacamole but hate avocados. That is not productive studying. Other people lose their productivity by throwing on music or talking to friends while studying.

All those activities are doing is increasing the time it takes for you to study. It's better to study focused for less time than unfocused for more time. While it may sound a little bit counter intuitive, one of the best study strategies is to just reduce the amount of time you study.

2. Don't Study If You Don't Have To

Some tests don't require studying. Unless you're fighting for that scholarship and need to ace every test, do not study for easy tests. Whenever you study when it's not required, you train yourself to relax during studying. If you know you'll do great but sit down anyway, it will take significantly more discipline to focus hard on studying. If you get out of your good study habits then it ends up hurting every single test you take in the future. It's not worth it. Study when you need it and no more.

There are some tests that you might choose to study for in the last minute. I don't recommend last night all-nighters but I am a big advocate for last ten minute cram sessions. Right before class begins you can tear through study sessions more effectively than ever. While you may not be able to get away with it for most large tests, many small tests can become no brainers if you wait until the last minute. The best part of this study strategy is it encourages effective studying. Always study like you have only minutes left to study.

Take note that the first two top study strategies focus on working smarter instead of harder. 

How do you know when studying is required and when it isn't? Number 3 addresses that problem.

3. Know Your Tests

Most students can radically improve their grades by thinking about their general test strategies. Every test is different. There is no magical piece of advice that can apply to every professor and every test but no matter what a professor does, there is always a way to benefit from it. No one knows the tests your teachers give better than you. Use that information to pick and choose the right study methods for that class. This probably sounds pretty boring but imagine this:

Compare your teachers old study guides to their old tests. How closely does the teachers test match their study guide? I've seen teachers match study guides they provide question for question. I've also seen the opposite where using the study guide to study would have been a complete waste of time. It usually comes down to the teachers preference. Once you know the teachers adherence to the study guide, you may be able to eliminate 90% of the material you would have had to study.

Using the resources you're provided, there are always a few tricks of the trade that will bump your grade 5 or 10 points without a second more of studying. That makes it one of the best study strategies while being regularly overlooked.

4. Don't Memorize Much

Straight up memorization is difficult. While a few people are great at it, most will always end up struggling. That's why I always recommend eliminating information that you need to study before studying. Most students spend most of their study time studying information that they don't need to know for the test. Not only is that a waste of time but it's completely discouraging when test time comes.

Before you try and memorize anything, try to find specific reasons why you'd need the information. Is the information listed on the study guide? If not, don't waste 20 minutes trying to lock it in your brain. It's probably not on the test. If it is on the test, it's probably not worth all that much if you haven't heard you needed it.

Many students look to gain every single point they can possibly get. That strategy encourages you to focus on millions of tiny details that no one could ever predict. Forget about that. Focus on the obvious points to study for. Accept that you'll lose a few points here and there for the details. Overall, your score will end up higher for it. 

Really... One of the best study strategies is to not need to study it in the first place.

5. Don't Study. Recall.

This point is mostly a play on words but it's absolutely essential you get the point. Most students sit down with their textbook to read and assume they're studying. I've never considered that studying because it's usually very inconsequential in the final test score. When you really want to have an impact on your score you should spend less time with that kind of studying and more time with recall.

Recall is actually remembering the information you studied. Spend at least as much time recalling as reading. Flash cards are the classic example of recalling. When you have flash cards, you either know the information or you don't. It makes you dig in the same part of your brain as you'll be digging from during the test. When you're reading, you may be memorizing some of it but it's impossible to know what stuck and what didn't.

The best study methods require this become a natural habit.

6. No-Stress

I don't care what you have to do to make it work but this is one of the most powerful skills you can learn. Listen to some mellow music. Try meditation. Distract yourself. Do whatever you have to do to not worry about the test.

Worrying about the test is horrible for many different reasons. To list a few:

First of all, when you worry about the test you can't memorize as well. Worry was designed for running away from tigers, not remembering random facts.

Second, worrying encourages procrastination. No one wants to do something that they have to worry about.

Third, when you finally get the test, you won't be able to take it effectively. You'll be stuck in the same habit of thinking about the test and worrying. You'll be too worried to remember anything important.

Virtually every student can increase their scores by 5-10% by just becoming more laid back about the test. This comes down to using the best study skills you've got as effectively as you can.

7. Make The Choice

Laid back is good about the specific tests but never become complacent with your test taking strategies. While you may be able to pass your tests easily now, there will always be harder tests in the future. When you become complacent you will start to make mistakes. You may end up focusing a little less during your study times or you might stop looking out for opportunities to improve.

You'll recognize when this happens.

When it does happen, you have to make a choice. Do you want to get even better or do you just want to survive the rest of your schooling? I can understand why you'd choose either.

Why do I consider this one of the best study strategies?

Many students never take the chance to ask these questions and they end up making mistakes. When tests become easy, the excess time and score can get you distracted from your goals. You need to know what you're looking for when the time comes. Why are you studying for these tests at all? Are you looking to pass the course or make a career out of the information you learn?

Once you start to answer these questions you're able to focus your energy into the most important directions for your life.

These are the 7 best study strategies ranked in no particular order. Some of them are more important for some people than others. Look at your personal test taking problem areas and act accordingly. If you're the kind of student that sweats through their shirt on test day then you will see the most results from number 6. If you're the kind of student that studies for hours on end then try number one out and everything else tends to falls into place. The best study strategy for you is the one that you need most.

How To Pass Any Test (Easily)

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Taking tests can be terrifying. You never know exactly what's going to be on any particular test and most of the study habits people are taught as children are downright wrong. 

Teachers have been telling struggling students to study more, try harder, and pay more attention for years but that advice is bull. Really... This is a teacher's way of saying they don't care enough to find the real problem. 

Studying more doesn't always improve grades. Trying harder, when you're already making an effort, can often lead to excess stress which just kills the grade more. A teacher telling a student to pay more attention is just an admission that they don't know how to stay interesting in class.

Learning how to pass any test is not a difficult thing to do. It's not taught in school because it doesn't fit the traditional education narrative. You might even get the impression that these are a set of secret strategies employed by all the highly successful slackers out there.

Too many students are getting suckered into a culture that encourages work without considering results. When you learn to get more done in less time, you get to do more. You can tutor yourself into making test taking time easy. Many times, you don't even have to study for exams. All you have to do is keep a close eye on the test requirements and know your own limitations.

Scouting A Test

At least a week before any test, you need to be looking at all the information you can find on the test. If it's a standardized test then look it up online. If you have study guides then look them over. If the teacher ever starts to talk about the test, you clean your ears and listen close.

Teachers have a bias in this situation. Teachers look bad when students fail their tests. That means that teachers regularly give away all the information required to pass the test. They may give you multiple chapters worth of dense textbook to read but after you scout the specific information you can narrow it down to pages.

Your first goal in preparing for any test should be elimination. Studying can be stressful. The more information you're able to eliminate from your study session, the better you're going to perform on the test. Students that just sit down with their textbooks to study everything usually struggle the most with the test. It's better to figure out what you know you need to know and focus on that.

Sometimes, this will lead you to missing one test answer that comes out of the blue. That's okay. You're sacrificing one hard point for tons and tons of easy ones. Unless you're looking for a perfect score, you don't need to worry about the information that you couldn't have predicted in advance.

Study Sessions

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I absolutely hate when people say to study more.

That is the absolute worst possible advice in 9 out of 10 cases. Do you study? If you study then you're not studying too little. You're probably just studying with bad habits. First of all, you should not be studying more than an hour a day. NEVER. Don't even do it before a big test.

If you're studying right then after 20 minutes of studying you'll be worn out. Any more studying after that produces diminishing results while encouraging you to develop poor study habits. Worn out studying is a mistake. It's better to study with better habits for less time than with worse habits for longer.

One of the most effective ways of studying is creating multiple short sessions for studying instead of one long one. Your mind needs time to process the information you're trying to remember. Give it that time before loading more information in there.

During those study sessions, remember that reading is not studying. Studying requires recall of the information. Flash cards are a great example of this. Just reading information can help information stick but if you're not 100% engaged in the moment then it's wasted. You can't get away without recall on flash cards. You either remember it or you don't. The recall is the important and stressful part of studying.

Also, never study distracted. When you're studying, do not IM friends. Do not listen to music. Do not daydream. Make sure you have plenty of privacy and quiet. You need to only study. I understand that can be difficult. If you have to then cut your study times down dramatically. Focused study for less time is better than unfocused study for longer. Make it 5 minutes if you have to.

One of the most important reasons to study this way is habit. At first you might not get much out of it but over time you're going to train your brain to study faster. When you concentrate 100% on studying, your brain gets better at it with new habits. Whenever you let yourself get distracted you get out of the habits that let you study fast. Study or don't study. Don't just pretend to study.

What about that test you didn't prepare for tomorrow?

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Do not break the study habit by trying to cram. It's a waste of your time. You

may gain a few points but it's just going to encourage you to make the same mistake in the future.
Study less than an hour in multiple sessions during that period of time. Take enough breaks to know you're not stressing. After that accept that is all you can do. 
The real problem isn't the few points you lose by not studying enough tonight. The real problem is that boatload of points you already lost by not starting your studying a week ago.

What if you don't think you need to study for a test?

Well, if you scouted the test properly then you know better than I do. If you're wrong, it's going to end up biting you but that's a risk that you need to decide you take yourself. There are many of tests that you don't ever need to study for. You probably will end up with a slightly lower grade but it can be very motivating to pass without ever picking up a textbook.

Test Taking Time

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When you're thinking about how to pass any test, the most important factor is not study habits. Yes, study habits are a massive portion of the final grade but most people don't even need to study to pass any test. The vast majority of testing points comes down to a persons ability to manage the test in their own heads.

Stress will completely destroy your final score. You can have all the answers locked up somewhere in your brain but they do absolutely no good without your brain being in shape to find them. Getting worried was intended to let you run from tigers, not to help you find answers tucked away in the nooks and crannies of your brain.

Keeping the stress down usually just requires you keep a clear perspective on every test you take. There is nothing life threatening about failing a test. If you studied enough, there is nothing else you can do anyway. If you studied too little then you're just going to stress out worse if you worry about it. When test time comes, your score has been decided before you even answer the first question.

During the test, if you don't know an answer, skip it until the end. Fighting over a difficult problem can ruin stress levels for the rest of the test.

Don't feel the need to keep stressing about a problem you don't know the answer to for the whole duration of the test. I test take by this philosophy: I either know it or I don't. Almost knowing an answer doesn't count. Every second you stress out trying to find an answer is a second you're learning to stress out during tests. You won't remember the 25 minutes of breezing through the easy answers. All you'll remember is the one answer you spent 10 minutes on to still not get right.

If you use the strategies taught in this article, your grade will surprise you. You can often get away with studying significantly less while improving your grades. You don't need a tutor. You don't need a drug. You don't even have to spend all that much time really trying. You just need to figure out the test or exam, study with the right habits for not too long, and then let yourself pass the test without pulling your hair out.