How do you know if you've studied enough?

[Genefreak]

I seem to have a problem with knowing when I've studied enough and tend to over study. For example, I had a Chemistry test a few weeks back and I knew the material pretty well, however the night before the test, I stayed up for a very long while reviewing the material and doing more questions.....then test day came and I couldn't do some of the basic things that I though I could do.

SO how do you know, that you've studied enough and 'ready' to take an exam?

Thanks

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[BJJ]

Notice the calm before the storm. If you're standing outside of class and your peers are furiously studying their notes, while you know anymore studying will be futile...you are ready.

 

[addo]

Notice the calm before the storm. If you're standing outside of class and your peers are furiously studying their notes, while you know anymore studying will be futile...you are ready.

Well yea this is good indication, but not always accurate.

Id say the only way to really know is retrospectively, meaning did you get an A or a C?

A=studied enough
C=didnt study enough

 

[Slowpoke]

Notice the calm before the storm. If you're standing outside of class and your peers are furiously studying their notes, while you know anymore studying will be futile...you are ready.

seconded

 

[Geneticist]

I know that I've studied enough when I can read the first word in a series of notes and be able to regurgitate the rest of it without having to look back at my notes.

 

[circulus vitios]

I don't ever know. I stop whenever I get bored.

 

[apumic]

I don't ever know. I stop whenever I get bored.

hahaha.... for me, it's whenever I feel done. I generally walk into class on test day still glancing at last minute notes (usually for things such as amino acid structures that I wouldn't be able to simply derive on an exam) but with a cool confidence I'll do well regardless. As long as I have that confidence, I know I'm walking out with an A. I guess that confidence comes from an understanding of the conceptual aspect of the course. If you are able to derive the topics of course from each other, you are ready to be tested on anything. If you memorize, you are only ready to be tested on what you memorized and will be bested by just about anything else.

 

[azide10]

Just need to trust yourself. If you feel you studied and can't learn anymore from what you have been studying, get a nice rest. Studying the same thing over and over when you already know it doesn't help, guessing what to study rarely helps. Figure out how you want to study the material, do it, then quit. Rest is more important than low yeild guessing.

 

[sieburth]

I feel like studying sufficiently is only 50% of what goes into getting a good grade on a test. The other half is getting enough sleep the night before, getting a healthy breakfast beforehand, and staying calmly focused during the exam. When you feel comfortable with the material itself (nevermind the test), you're probably golden and ready to earn that A. Once you're comfortable with the material, just take care of your body so that your mind can work well on the actual test. My advice is to never, ever, ever stay up the whole night before a test studying. It's no surprise that you didn't perform well on no sleep. Rest, relaxation, and fun are vital parts of any successful work ethic.

 

[Torr]

I feel like studying sufficiently is only 50% of what goes into getting a good grade on a test. The other half is getting enough sleep the night before, getting a healthy breakfast beforehand, and staying calmly focused during the exam. When you feel comfortable with the material itself (nevermind the test), you're probably golden and ready to earn that A. Once you're comfortable with the material, just take care of your body so that your mind can work well on the actual test. My advice is to never, ever, ever stay up the whole night before a test studying. It's no surprise that you didn't perform well on no sleep. Rest, relaxation, and fun are vital parts of any successful work ethic.

It comes with practice. You start to feel a pattern. I remember how I felt before the test I aced and I remember how nervous I was before the test when I got that C...so you'll just know based on past performances.

Anyway, what I really wanted to talk about was the fact that although i don't encourage all-nighters, I have to say I've aced classes that I pretty much crammed for the entire way through. I think rest is really important but not essential. I've also made stupid mistakes because I was so exhausted though. Guess I really don't have a point here...just rambling while I wait for traffic to die down so I can leave work already!

Good luck OP 😀

 

[Naquadria]

I feel like studying sufficiently is only 50% of what goes into getting a good grade on a test. The other half is getting enough sleep the night before, getting a healthy breakfast beforehand, and staying calmly focused during the exam. When you feel comfortable with the material itself (nevermind the test), you're probably golden and ready to earn that A. Once you're comfortable with the material, just take care of your body so that your mind can work well on the actual test. My advice is to never, ever, ever stay up the whole night before a test studying. It's no surprise that you didn't perform well on no sleep. Rest, relaxation, and fun are vital parts of any successful work ethic.

I'm with ^ Sleep and food can make a huge difference if you are able to recall the information or not.

 

[HBSlim]

In my experience it gets easier to gauge the further you get into the semester. I was usually nervous the first test of the semester (or year if it's a year-long class) because I didn't know what to expect. Once I had a general idea of what a certain professor covered in tests, I usually knew going into the test what grade I would come out with. Obviously this doesn't work if it's a class taught by multiple professors.

 

[blehm98]

I know that I've studied enough when I can read the first word in a series of notes and be able to regurgitate the rest of it without having to look back at my notes.

this is actually exactly what i do. Of course, there are flaws when your notes aren't complete (such as in the case of having material out of the book that you didn't read), but this is usually what i shoot for when studying

 

[Kgizzle]

when you ace the exam...

 

[Doctor246853]

I seem to have a problem with knowing when I've studied enough and tend to over study. For example, I had a Chemistry test a few weeks back and I knew the material pretty well, however the night before the test, I stayed up for a very long while reviewing the material and doing more questions.....then test day came and I couldn't do some of the basic things that I though I could do.

SO how do you know, that you've studied enough and 'ready' to take an exam?

Thanks

Seriously this is a dumb question. If you pass you studied enough. Too much study>>>not enough.

 

[Geneticist]

...Or I study until my neck gets sore from staring down/being hunched over a desk all day.

 

[Caffeine Junkie]

SO how do you know, that you've studied enough and 'ready' to take an exam?

As my favorite professor would say: If you think you've studied enough you should probably start over because chances are you dont know (explative).

 

[postbacpremed87]

Generally it is a compilation of all of these things (neck hurts, you're mumbling test topics in your sleep, time seems to fly by because of your study efforts).

I don't know about others but IMHO people who are studying, talking out loud, and asking questions of one another right before the test are annoying. I go outside until the very moment the test begins so I don't hear other people scrambling.

 

[Geneticist]

Generally it is a compilation of all of these things (neck hurts, you're mumbling test topics in your sleep, time seems to fly by because of your study efforts).

Word.

I don't know about others but IMHO people who are studying, talking out loud, and asking questions of one another right before the test are annoying. I go outside until the very moment the test begins so I don't hear other people scambling.

I actually try to get to class early for that very reason: so I can laugh all the jackasses who didn't study in advance.

 

[blehm98]

for information based classes I'll usually pull my laptop out so i can give my notes a onceover before the test and make sure i don't have any glaring omissions in my memory, but that's about it. and usually i end up sitting on facebook anyway lol
I do my best to emit an aura of confidence just to make other people feel less confident, it's just fun to watch people scramble as they try to compensate doing nothing before the test
because i of course don't do the exact same thing 🙄