Two-week study plan for midterms

[synthmonsterjax]

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Hi,

I have a chemistry and a genetics midterm coming up on the same day in two weeks. I didn't prepare well for the first midterms for these subjects, so I want to do better this time. Do you guys have any fixed schedules or plans you follow in order to attack tests in advance? I am especially worried about genetics. I know a lot of this kind of stuff is on that StudyHacks website, but I was wondering what you guys found most effective.

Thanks!

 

[V5RED]

Almost every day I make a list of what needs to be done that day and what would be nice to get done that day. This is essential to keeping me focused, especially this semester because I am taking a heavier than usual courseload.

"Need to do" usually entails any homework that is unfinished or practice problems for an exam that is 3 or fewer days away.

"Nice to do" usually entails important items, but not things that must be done in the next few days. This can be practice problems I have yet to attempt(or even repeating old problems if they are likely to be similar to an exam), making a good set of notecards, or revising my notes.

I usually revise my notes after lectures to be sure I understand everything in them. I know some people just memorize things, but that is pointless if you don't understand the concepts. This ties into my wording of "good set of notecards". To be a good set, I have to already understand what is on them. After the cards are made, I usually use them to remember terms or have faster recall of information since exams have time limits.

 

[bigdogrob4284]

When I'm in that situation, I like to roughly schedule my time out from now until the test(s) to ensure that I'm studying each of the subjects enough prior to the midterm. I don't necessarily decide which portions of the subject that I will study during each time slot, its more to simply ensure that I spend enough time preparing for each test. I think most people would consider it overkill, but I'm the type of person who likes to plan everything, so it is helpful for me.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

If you have to study 2 weeks in advance, you are doing it wrong.
Ok all "jokes" aside, (not joking though) just be consistent with the HW till about 3 days before the test then do some really good studying. When I mean study, really reinforce the concepts and learn why this happens to get the right answer. Don't just scribble mindlessly. I see a lot of that in Gen chem and Orgo, people would write through all the HW in the book, but don't really get the full concept down, and end up being destroyed by trick questions in the exams.
Learn, reinforce, and repeat.

 

[kpcrew]

I like to review my notes a week before and continue to reinforce daily until I feel comfortable for the exam.

I also like to get similar exams by searching online and doing questions that seem relevant, such as a problem involving a punnett square. Since you already had an exam you know what format the questions are and what will be asked.

For example, i just googled genetics exam and here's one result:
https://facultystaff.richmond.edu/~lrunyenj/bio201/04BIO201 Exam 2 KEY.pdf

I solve all the relevant questions and skip the ones that involve topics that we did not cover in class.

 

[1TB4RKSB4CK]

Wow, I'm not even in Genetics yet but that test looked ridiculously easy.

 

[kpcrew]

Wow, I'm not even in Genetics yet but that test looked ridiculously easy.

yeah i did well on all my exams but the average somehow ended up being about 70 or so
it might be that you don't know what's on the exam and the pressure gets to you, making you forget. i dunno

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

If you have to study 2 weeks in advance, you are doing it wrong.
Ok all "jokes" aside, (not joking though) just be consistent with the HW till about 3 days before the test then do some really good studying. When I mean study, really reinforce the concepts and learn why this happens to get the right answer. Don't just scribble mindlessly. I see a lot of that in Gen chem and Orgo, people would write through all the HW in the book, but don't really get the full concept down, and end up being destroyed by trick questions in the exams.
Learn, reinforce, and repeat.

This is not necessarily true. Everyone learns differently what takes some a day may take some a week. All that matters is that you know the material when test time comes. Study a few hours a day (including weekends) and you should be fine if you study over the next two weeks.

 

[plumhill]

Break down all of the topics to be covered and focus on one or two each day until you've gotten through everything. If you find certain topics harder, re-visit them once you've gone through everything once. Keep doing practice problems throughout, and if you have access to a practice exam, take 2-3 days before your actual exam.