You’ve been told time and time again to avoid cramming. But let’s face it, there will be times when you're left with no other choice. So instead of fretting about it and making matters worse because you can’t concentrate - accept your situation and try to maximise what little study time you have.

When you find yourself in a situation where you literally have to “stuff” everything into your head the night before, it’s probably because either:

1) You’ve worked hard all term but now have three exams in five days and find you only have an evening to review already learned material.

OR

2) You’ve slacked off all term and now find yourself in a justifiable panic state.

Look at the tips below to find out how to make the best of your situation. Be honest with yourself as to which situation you find yourself in, as the strategies involved differ.

Situation One - Multiple Exams Back To Back

1) Write out a course summary.

Reviewing how the course is structured will help you to remember, understand, and retain the material.

2) Skim through your notes and assignments.

This will help you prioritise what you need to review in what little time you have.

3) Stay calm and confident!

If you’re instant reaction is "Yeah Right!" You’re not alone. But keep in mind if you start panicking, you won’t be able to retain anything. So even though you only have a limited time to review your work, take short breaks from your studying and make sure you get at least six (preferably eight) hours of sleep.
Remember: Don’t forget to tell yourself that working hard all term really will pay off.

Situation Two - Slacker Panic Time

1) Try to gather information about what's likely to be on the exam.

Find out which chapters in the text were covered. Get a set of course notes. Ask your lecturer or tutor what topics were emphasised during the course.

2) Once you’ve gathered this information, on a separate piece of paper list the principal themes, sub-topics, and major illustrations. MEMORISE THEM!!

Accept the fact that there is NO WAY that you will “learn” what you need to in order to pass this exam, so don’t even bother wasting valuable time. Your only hope at this point is to memorise “a road map” of the course, so put all your efforts into that. Repetition is the key to memorisation - or rote learning. Other things that work include, word association, rhymes enumeration, sentences from acronyms. Whatever method works best for you - use it!!

3) Be selective. Once you’ve memorised the major themes, decide what supporting material you should concentrate on.

You're more likely to remember a narrow range of material covered in depth. If there is only one text, skim it and only concentrate on the chapters that were emphasised on your information gathering. If there are multiple texts, pick the two that seem to contain the most important information and concentrate on those.

4) REVIEW!!

Take time to review what you've covered. This will stop you from panicking and help you concentrate on the information you’ve just compiled.

5) DON’T PANIC!!

If your instant reaction is “Yeah Right!” You’re not alone. But keep in mind if you start panicking, you won’t be able to retain anything. So even though you’ve left everything to the last minute you need to be kind to yourself and make sure you get at least six (preferably eight) hours of sleep in order to function properly, otherwise as soon as you receive the exam your mind will go blank.

Once you’ve survived this experience (and you will) remember how painful it was and DON’T REPEAT IT!!