Mastering Last-Minute Exam Preparation for Exam in One Day

December 4, 2023
how to prepare for exam in one day

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The most stressful event in a student’s life is the exams, especially final examinations. Students often associate the stress and worry of exams with exam preparation. The stress of covering the entire syllabus is common among the toppers and the late bloomers. But somehow, students find themselves a day before the exam without proper preparation.

Maybe it’s procrastination or simply students have too much to cover. But there is still hope. It is possible to prepare for an exam even a day before. They only need focus and excellent tips and tricks to get good results. Here are the 10 tricks for How to prepare for the exam in one day.

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Hacks To Prepare For an Exam In One Day

The truth is that exam preparation is more of a long-term process. Students can review the topics they already prepared earlier. But they cannot start the preparation a day before the exam. The tips given here will work if the student has learned the topics and is expecting a way to revise them.

Read the tips below to learn how to prepare for the exam in one day.

  1. Review your notes
  2. Prioritise important topics
  3. Practice with sample questions
  4. Summarise key points
  5. Use mnemonic devices
  6. Take breaks
  7. Get a good night’s sleep
  8. Stay hydrated and eat well
  9. Visualise success
  10. Avoid last-minute cramming

Further in the article, we’ll elaborate on each tip on how to prepare for the exam in one day to make the student score better.

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Hack #1: Review Your Notes

The human mind will remember the concept best right after reading it. As time flies, the facts will start to fade. So, the students need to review the notes for optimised learning. Reviewing involves revisiting the topics the student has learned to keep them in memory better.

It prompts the students to remember important points while attending the exam. The best time to study and memorise important points is a day before the exam. So, reviewing the notes right before the exam lets the students get good results.

Hack #2: Prioritise Important Topics

Studying every topic will be a long-term preparation. But, focusing on the important concepts is beneficial a day before the exam. The students must prioritise the frequently asked concepts from the previous year’s question papers.

This trick will allow the students to manage their time. The students must allocate a good amount of time for the topics based on priority rather than equality for all topics.

Hack #3: Practice With Sample Questions

Practice makes a man perfect. To get good results, the student must practice with sample questions. By practicing sample question papers, students can understand different question formats and learn how to answer them effectively. Likewise, this technique will help the students practice the exam’s time constraint.

Hack #4: Summarise Key Points

Reading large paragraphs can be a time-consuming and stressful task, especially when preparing for an exam in one day. That’s why students must summarise the key points to review the important issues. Flashcards are an effective way to summarise the key points.

Summarising the key points involves outlining the critical information as pointers. This approach in exam preparation focuses on the significant concepts to score good marks.

Hack #5: Use Mnemonic Devices

How to learn fast for exams? People use a mnemonic technique to remember important topics, words, or formulas. A mnemonic can be anything like alliteration, visual, spell, or a story mnemonic. Students can use the mnemonic devices to progress in remembering key points.

It is a quick way to retrieve information from memory while attending the exam. Besides, this trick will come in handy while the students try to memorise listed pointers and steps in order.

Hack #6: Take Breaks

Taking care of students’ health plays a vital role in exam preparation. As exam day advances, students tend to focus on exam preparation to an unhealthy extent. The students need to prepare a schedule for study time. And they need to include enough breaks between study sessions.

Students must allow themselves a 5-10 minutes break after 1.30 – 2 hours of studying. Students can also use easy topics as a break from more complex topics.

Hack #7: Get A Good Night’s Sleep

The best time to study is in the morning, as the brain feels fresh and active. As the day passes, the mind gets tired and needs rest. As the exam day approaches, the students are prone to avoid sleep. A tired mind will struggle to cope with concepts.

The student must get a good night’s sleep of at least six hours to stay alert before the exam. So, while scheduling the study time, students must exclude the six hours of sleep time to get some sleep.

Hack #8: Stay Hydrated And Eat Well

On the day before the exam, the students will be too focused on completing the exam preparation. They won’t give attention to their health. It can result in various health issues. Dehydration is the most common among them. So, the students need to drink enough water and stay hydrated.

Also, students must maintain a healthy and balanced diet because they need the energy to prepare for the exam. They should avoid eating junk food or outside food.

Hack #9: Visualise Success

Being confident about exam preparation is one of the major steps to prepare for the exam in one day. The students have to visualise their success to be confident. The sing owns oneself leads to unwanted stress during the exam. There is no better motivation than imagining the fuss.

Hack #10: Avoid Last-Minute Cramming

Dumping on every topic last minute will hurt exam preparation. A day before the exam, the students must have trust in their process. If the students cram for a test just one day prior, their brains will struggle to cope up.

Students can create a timetable that focuses on important topics to avoid last-minute cramming. Also, they can review and recall the concepts right after they learn to avoid cramming.

Also Read: How to Be Productive and Maximise Your Potential: 16 Tips for Improving Productivity

On The Exam Day

Even though the students prepared well for the exam, the exam day jitters will make them panic. On exam day, the students are liable to forget topics they know best. They often tend to question their ability to answer.

The time constraint of the exam won’t make it easier for the students either. But students must stay confident. Here are some essential exam tips to follow on the exam day.

Don’t skip breakfast: Most students skip breakfast to avoid time consumption and health issues. On the contrary, skipping breakfast leads to fatigue and dizziness.

Eat healthy meals: On exam day, eating heavy meals may lead to digestive problems due to stress. Eating lighter meals is better.

Follow the dress code: The exam conducting body will announce the proper dress code to wear for the exam. The Students must follow the dress code. Otherwise, they won’t be allowed to attend the exam.

Don’t read at the last minute: It is wise to avoid any preparation right before the exam. The students need to relax rather than rush through topics.

Avoid being late: Being late to the exam hall will have issues on its own. It can lead to unnecessary rush and panic.

Necessary accessories: The students must ensure they have all the required accessories. Some required documents include hall tickets, identity cards, pens, Pencils, calculators, etc.

Prohibited items: It is illegal to carry prohibited items. The banned items include cell phones, preparation books, and notes. Carrying such items will lead to malpractice.

Overcome Your Exam Fear with the Above Tips

Long-term exam preparation indeed plays a major role in getting good results. But the last day before the exam is crucial in exam preparation. Because the topics prepared a day before the exam will remain fresh in mind during the exam, students are extra focused a day before as the deadline approaches.

So, they need to know how to prepare for the exam in one day as efficiently as possible. We hope we have provided the students with game-changing study techniques for students to achieve good results. But remember, these tips will help the student with last-minute revision a day before the exam. This preparation strategy will be ineffective if you start learning before the exam.

Even though the exams are stressful, it is how the students achieve their academic goals. They must muster their will and attend the exam with utmost confidence. As terrifying as it is to achieve good results, having faith in exam preparation progress will lead to success.

A student can prepare for high school final exams, college final exams, or any exam in that case, but the preparation strategy remains identical. We wish you all the best for the exam to achieve what you hope!

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Can you prepare for the exam in 1 day?

Preparing for an exam in one day solemnly depends on the student’s IQ. Although it is not recommended, it is possible to prepare for the exam one day. If you want to know how to prepare for the exam in one day, refer to below steps:
1. Review your class notes
2. Prioritise important topics
3. Practice with sample questions
4. Summarise key points
5. Use mnemonic devices

How do I study for an exam in 24 hours?

Preparing for an exam is long-term progress. But if the students have focus and motivation, they can still prepare for the exam. Even in the last 24 hours before the exam. All they need to do is follow the below steps:
1. Create a study plan for 24 hours with enough breaks
2. Work your way down from top priority to low
3. Stick to schedule
4. Don’t lose focus

How can I focus 100% on studying?

Absolution is a myth. No matter what the students do, staying focused for a very long time is impossible. But you can attain maximum focus by following the below steps:
1. Take a break whenever you lose focus
2. Have a study plan with enough breaks to relax
3. Turn on focus mode on phones
4. Avoid small talk with friends
5. Don’t skip sleep and meals

How do you study 1 subject in 1 day?

Studying one subject in one day is a crucial deadline but possible. However, students must have an undivided focus to complete a subject in one day. To study one subject in one day, students can follow the below steps:
1. Check the syllabus for short and significant topics
2. Make a schedule accordingly.
3. Prioritise the important topics
4. Summarise and make notes to revise
5. Take 5-10 minutes break after completing a chapter

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