For the few past years, I’ve always tried to be the best out of the best. I’ve always believed that my grades are the main factor that determines my future. Not to brag or anything, but my hard work paid off moderately. For instance, I’ve never got a D or E my whole life. Even C is a rare sighting. But of course, I wouldn’t have achieved all this without proper studying. So here are my top 10 tips for good grades;
- Recite several du’as and surahs before answering the exam (For Muslims).
The moment you’ve recieved the exam paper, recite as many du’as as possible. We must all be convinced and doubtless that anything could happen with God’s will. So the most important thing in anything is to ask Him for help and forgiveness. Sometimes, even if I haven’t revised a certain topic, God eases me on that certain question. Furthermore, after recieving the good results, make sure to be grateful to Him. InsyaAllah your grades will improve.
2. Listen to music or some surahs from the Quran when studying.
Music and the Quran soothes the mind. It will lessen the anxiety and stress while studying. It may also improve focus on a task by providing motivation and improving our mood. But you need to be smart in choosing the music you listen to. The best choice of music for studying is classical music. But people nowadays don’t listen to that kind of music anymore. Me too. So I suggest listening to ballad and slow songs. I’ve been listening to playlists in Spotify and they’re really helping. There are so many playlists that include ballads only. In fact, there is even a ‘Study Song’ playlist in Spotify if I’m not mistaken.
3. Drink A LOT of water while studying and answering.
Hydration is a very important factor and also links to the brain. Whenever you’re dehydrated, your brain performance will drain. That is why there is an ideal water intake, which is 8 glasses a day. Make sure to have a bottle or mug of water near you whenever you study. And when you start to get drowsy or bored, drink water. It helps like, A LOT, trust me! And make sure you place a water bottle beside you in the exam hall. I know I’m not the only one who gets sleepy when answering an exam.
4. Find the best way to study each subject.
Every subject has a different focus. So we need to find the most effective way to study each subject. Here’s a list on how I study each subject. It might be the most effective but this is the way I’ve been studying the past years. You can adjust them to your own comfortability 🙂
Complete exercises in textbook and exercise books: Maths, Science, All languages
Make notes and memorize: Science, History, Islamic Studies
5. Start studying at least 3 weeks early.Â
As the saying goes, ‘study smart not study hard’. To achieve as such, we must spend a lot of time to study so we don’t cram everything in a short amount of time. The best way is to start studying at least three weeks before the exam. This way, we can revise a certain topic several times so we can remember it better.
6. Revise midyear papers or other tests in the past.
The best way to know where to focus on more is by looking back at our performance before. Make sure you keep your earlier test papers so you can learn from your mistakes and see which topic you’re weak in.
7. Study the hardest topics first.
Now that you already know which topic is the hardest for you in each subject, focus more on that certain topic. For instance, in Maths, I would focus more on the gradient topic since I got that question wrong in my past exam.
8. Make pretty notes.
When you think of the word ‘notes’, some might think of boring white and black notes that you take in classes. But when studying for an exam, your notes must be THE BOMB! So that when you open your notes, you have excitement in reading them and not feel bored at all.
9. Study hard at night and lightly revise on the day of the exam.
As usual, exams will take place one day after the other. At every night, make sure to revise thoroughly on the subject you will take the next day. Then, the next morning, just revise the the most important parts. To make it easier, only read simple notes on the day of the exam.
10. Try to be as calm as possible and try to take the best guess.
At times when you’re stuck at a problem, try to stay calm or you’ll end up super nervous and can’t properly think. I tend to panic a lot when I don’t know the answer but I would try and stay calm (which I always fail to) and try to take the best guess. If you’re stuck too long at a certain question, leave it till the end and answer it with a fresher brain. Also, you must learn to take the best guess. Even if you don’t know the answer, make sure to never answer something that you are certain will be incorrect.
BONUS TIP: When you’re stuck at a subjective question such as ‘What happened to King ……. when he ……?’, and only know a few points, try to mix up the words so that your sentence sounds true. For example, ‘He continued to rule until the year …..’. Sometimes, your answer will be true but not exact. But normally teachers will give you at least half a mark. I tried something like this several times and it seems to have pulled off just fine.
This is just my own opinion so feel free to correct me. This might not be the most effective way to study, but it has helped me a lot in every exam 🙂 Study smart!!
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