Los Angeles Tutor Greg Faletto

I’m going to start this article with a major disclaimer—I really, really don’t recommend studying for tests at the last minute. It sucks. In fact, I’ll probably write a post another time about why it’s so important to not prepare at the last minute.

But, if you do find yourself studying for a test at the last minute, at least do it right. Here are my recommendations.

1. Figure out EXACTLY what’s going to be on the test. The more precise information you have, the better. The most ideal thing to have is a practice test. If your teacher didn’t give you a practice test, hopefully you have a study guide. If not, base your studying on your homework assignments. Also, get a sense of what material is most important to know–what material did you spend the most time on? Did the teacher say that you should focus on certain kinds of problems? You want to have a sense of where you should focus your efforts.
2. Figure out how much time you have. Getting sleep is important. You can’t pull an all-nighter, drag yourself to the test, and expect to do well. Eventually you reach a point where studying more will just hurt you compared to sleeping and getting your rest. For college students, I would say get at least 5 hours of sleep, maybe more like six. High school students probably shouldn’t go below six hours of sleep. So based on that assumption, figure out how much time you have between right now and the test to study. Then, once you know how much time you have…
3. Prioritize what you’re going to study. You know now how much time you have—and it’s limited. You’re not going to be able to learn everything. So you have to figure out what’s most important, and do that first. If you have a practice test or a study guide, understanding that is more important that knowing how to do every single homework problem the teacher assigned. Some of those problems probably aren’t important for the test.
4. Focus on practicing problems that the teacher wrote personally. Or if your teacher said in class that a particular problem would be important, then focus on understanding that problem.
5. Stay calm. You might have a moment where you realize that there is way more material on this test than you can possibly study in one night. In the long run, take a mental note that this is why you need to study in advance. But for now, getting upset isn’t going to help you get a better grade. Stay chill, focus, and learn as much as you can in the time that you have.

Best of luck to you—you’re going to need it. And study in advance next time!