So is it worth sleeping before an exam?

[Psycho Doctor]

I have 4 hours before my final exam. Is it worth going to sleep now or will it do more harm than good?

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[TMag]

sleep is good...4 hours? THat's a lifetime of sleep! It would make a huge different....for me at least....but make sure to set like 10 alarms.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

sleep is good...4 hours? THat's a lifetime of sleep! It would make a huge different....for me at least....but make sure to set like 10 alarms.

well that includes time to get ready for the exam, review, shower, eat and drive there so it's not really 4 hours of sleep...and yes it is my average night's sleep when i have no exams. I just meant is it too chancey to try to sleep now for maybe two hours?

 

[sacrament]

This is an interesting question that I've struggled with a lot, considering that I've pulled god-only-knows how many all-nighters before tests. In general, I personally have the most success with taking, at most, a 15 minute nap. If I sleep any longer than that, I'm incredibly groggy. The odd thing is, sleeping for almost any length of time whatsoever seems to "inform" me in some sense that it's a new day. That is, if I don't sleep even 15 minutes then I'm in a mild constant state of chronological confusion the next day, but even a quick nap resets that clock for me.

 

[PremedISU]

That's how it is with me. Whenever I pull an all-nighter, the next day I'm always referring to the previous day as "earlier in the day". However,I have gotten my best test scores when I don't go to sleep....

 

[Psycho Doctor]

That's how it is with me. Whenever I pull an all-nighter, the next day I'm always referring to the previous day as "earlier in the day". However,I have gotten my best test scores when I don't go to sleep....

yea so i have I, that's why i'm sort of afraid to sleep now

molecular biology..ugh

 

[jh12]

I have 4 hours before my final exam. Is it worth going to sleep now or will it do more harm than good?

I guess for me the question is: do you have coffee available?

 

[Psycho Doctor]

I guess for me the question is: do you have coffee available?

of course, and I've already had at least 8 cups since last night

 

[Dr. Donkey]

We've probably all heard the 8 hr/night for good neural functioning/mood, but "they" also say 5 hr/night for good neural functioning (crappy mood), but if you can get at least 2 hours of sleep I think that amount would at least help to consolidate some of those memories you just made.

Or just do what Ben Carson did for his Yale general chemistry final, which he claims he didn't study for at all, sleep and God will give you all the answers. He wrote that he did not study for basically the entire semster, then studied from 10pm-12am the night b/f, went to sleep b/c he was tired (boo-hoo), and then in a dream God gave him every answer to the test and he got a 97%...can you say BS? (This guy was departmental director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins and all this comes from his autobiography).

of course, and I've already had at least 8 cups since last night

 

[Spankete87]

For me it would be a power nap. Power nap won't make you groggy and it'll reset your clock as most people have said, plus it'll take your mind off mol bio for a few min, which is always a good thing. I've gotten some of my best grades after a good power nap before a final. Good luck today!

 

[Psycho Doctor]

We've probably all heard the 8 hr/night for good neural functioning/mood, but "they" also say 5 hr/night for good neural functioning (crappy mood), but if you can get at least 2 hours of sleep I think that amount would at least help to consolidate some of those memories you just made.

Or just do what Ben Carson did for his Yale general chemistry final, which he claims he didn't study for at all, sleep and God will give you all the answers. He wrote that he did not study for basically the entire semster, then studied from 10pm-12am the night b/f, went to sleep b/c he was tired (boo-hoo), and then in a dream God gave him every answer to the test and he got a 97%...can you say BS? (This guy was departmental director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins and all this comes from his autobiography).

never underestimate the power of God. And at least he's given credit to God rather than to himself, how many people would do that?

 

[Psycho Doctor]

For me it would be a power nap. Power nap won't make you groggy and it'll reset your clock as most people have said, plus it'll take your mind off mol bio for a few min, which is always a good thing. I've gotten some of my best grades after a good power nap before a final. Good luck today!

ok thanks for the encouragement, i'm off to try to sleep for an hour of so...i just hope my body doesn't already have too much cafeine to enable it to sleep

 

[leorl]

I hope you got to sleep . Studies have shown that processing of new information learned happens during sleep. So while you sleep, you're integrating into your memory/brain all the stuff you crammed during the day! Now if it were only just that simple.... *sigh*

 

[liverotcod]

This is an interesting question that I've struggled with a lot, considering that I've pulled god-only-knows how many all-nighters before tests. In general, I personally have the most success with taking, at most, a 15 minute nap. If I sleep any longer than that, I'm incredibly groggy. The odd thing is, sleeping for almost any length of time whatsoever seems to "inform" me in some sense that it's a new day. That is, if I don't sleep even 15 minutes then I'm in a mild constant state of chronological confusion the next day, but even a quick nap resets that clock for me.

Back in my youth, I pulled a lot of all-nighters and had this same experience. A short nap can "reset" the internal clock for me. Another trick that had similar effect was taking a shower in the dark. It is interesting. Maybe some neuropsych wonk can explain.

 

[RaistlinMajere]

How do you shower in the dark while working on no sleep. That's impressive? I'd wind up slipping and breaking something.

 

[UTKB]

My little brother pulled an all-nighter before a physics final, then rested his head on his desk for just a second....he woke up at 12 noon and missed his 9AM final. He ended up failing the course when he would have gotten a C. Moral of the story: do not close your eyes after an all-nighter unless you set at least 2 alarms.

 

[hnbui]

i don't sleep before any of my major exams....

 

[hnbui]

My little brother pulled an all-nighter before a physics final, then rested his head on his desk for just a second....he woke up at 12 noon and missed his 9AM final. He ended up failing the course when he would have gotten a C. Moral of the story: do not close your eyes after an all-nighter unless you set at least 2 alarms.

thank god for caffine pills......

 

[Psycho Doctor]

My little brother pulled an all-nighter before a physics final, then rested his head on his desk for just a second....he woke up at 12 noon and missed his 9AM final. He ended up failing the course when he would have gotten a C. Moral of the story: do not close your eyes after an all-nighter unless you set at least 2 alarms.

Ouch!! sounds like me for an exam last year..I had gotten about 6 hours of sleep in the entire week including the weekend. I walked into the exam practically delirious, I must have closed my eyes for a second, my head hit the desk and i was out. My very kind hearted teacher shook me, reprimanded me for being so abusive to myself, made me leave and allowed me to take the exam that night after insisting I go home and get some sleep. I did much better on the exam than i would have in my former condition.

PS: and i just got about an hour's worth of sleep, took a shower with the light on (taking it in the dark means i would have been asleep standing up until I fell ) and feel much better...now to eat something and go kill that exam

 

[Dr. Donkey]

We were going through Hell Week at my school (i.e. extremely little sleep for a week -in theory none-...just for stupid greek crap) and this guy I knew just fell asleep during his Organic chemistry test and just sat there snoozing for an hour. No one even woke him up! Lucky for him there was one dropped test.

My little brother pulled an all-nighter before a physics final, then rested his head on his desk for just a second....he woke up at 12 noon and missed his 9AM final. He ended up failing the course when he would have gotten a C. Moral of the story: do not close your eyes after an all-nighter unless you set at least 2 alarms.

 

[fullefect1]

Or just do what Ben Carson did for his Yale general chemistry final, which he claims he didn't study for at all, sleep and God will give you all the answers. He wrote that he did not study for basically the entire semster, then studied from 10pm-12am the night b/f, went to sleep b/c he was tired (boo-hoo), and then in a dream God gave him every answer to the test and he got a 97%...can you say BS? (This guy was departmental director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins and all this comes from his autobiography).

I read that book and found that section kinda interesting. I think that god must be pro-affirmative action then...

 

[N1DERL&]

Hey PD, good luck today on the exam!! It's good you got some sleep, brain needs some downtime to recharge!

 

[Medikit]

I don't really have a choice. I have to sleep.

The danger in getting a few moments 4 or less hours before an exam is that your alarm clock won't pull you out of your sleep. That happened to me more than once during my less than stellar academic years.

 

[DrYo12]

I don't really have a choice. I have to sleep.

The danger in getting a few moments 4 or less hours before an exam is that your alarm clock won't pull you out of your sleep. That happened to me more than once during my less than stellar academic years.

If you decide to sleep before an exam, its always better to sleep with the lights on. Not just some little dinky night light, but with the overhead lights on. For some reason, it doesn't allow you to stay asleep and in the deeper sleep for nearly as long and you end up getting refreshed, but you're able to wake up!

G'luck, PD!

 

[dr.z]

I have 4 hours before my final exam. Is it worth going to sleep now or will it do more harm than good?

I never function well without any sleep.

 

[45408]

sleep is good...4 hours? THat's a lifetime of sleep! It would make a huge different....for me at least....but make sure to set like 10 alarms.

No kidding. It takes a nuclear weapon to wake me up with only three hours of sleep. Another hour and I can hear the alarm, but not before.

 

[rambo]

We were going through Hell Week at my school (i.e. extremely little sleep for a week -in theory none-...just for stupid greek crap) and this guy I knew just fell asleep during his Organic chemistry test and just sat there snoozing for an hour. No one even woke him up! Lucky for him there was one dropped test.

I bet the gunners to the left and right of him were thrilled.

 

[Reimat]

In my experience, need for sleep really depends upon the subject. If you're just regurgitating facts you forced into your brain over a single night, sleep is not going to help because you're going to forget them in 2 seconds after you leave the exam room. If it's a test that requires critical thinking, you are screwed without sleep. After no sleep, you're pretty worthless for any higher-level thinking.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

In my experience, need for sleep really depends upon the subject. If you're just regurgitating facts you forced into your brain over a single night, sleep is not going to help because you're going to forget them in 2 seconds after you leave the exam room. If it's a test that requires critical thinking, you are screwed without sleep. After no sleep, you're pretty worthless for any higher-level thinking.

I definitely agree with that assessment.

 

[PostalWookie]

Ever hear of memory consolidation? Well, it happens in your sleep

 

[45408]

Ever hear of memory consolidation? Well, it happens in your sleep

Yes, but it also happens over a period of years. That's why retrograde amnesia is temporally graded over a period of what happened yesterday (or before you went under the knife!) back to a few years ago.

I don't think consolidation really applies to studying for an exam the next day.