BlogStudyShould you Study Right Before an HSC Exam?

Should you Study Right Before an HSC Exam?

For some reason, I always see students madly working on their study notes right before an HSC exam.

In most cases, the people that are doing this are the ones who look really freaked out and stressed.

That’s why in this video, I’m going to explain why you should never study your notes immediately before an exam as well as show you what to do if you’re TOTALLY screwed. 

Reason #1: It Only Shows you What you DON’T Know
Reason #2: It can Cause a Freak Out
What to do if You’re REALLY Screwed

Reason #1: It Only Shows you What you DON’T Know

To be really honest, if you’re needing to work on your study notes right before an HSC exam, you’re pretty much screwed already.

One of the things I’ve found from speaking to top-performing students over the last decade is that none of them studied their notes prior to the exam.

The reason they gave for this is really powerful:

Rather than helping to improve what you do know, all it does is show you what you don’t know.

This may seem pretty simple but it can have some pretty awful consequences…

Reason #2: It Can Cause a Freak-Out

When you’re reading through your notes before an exam if you see something you don’t know it can totally put you off your game.

It can cause a bit of a freak out where you think things like:

“Man, I don’t know this, what’s going to happen? What if the wrong question comes up? What if there’s more content I don’t know?”

This can take you down the rabbit hole right before an HSC exam.

frustration right before an HSC exam

This means by the time you’re in your exam, you’ll be far more likely to get a mental blank or panic attack and then not get anything onto the paper.

This is why you need to try and avoid reading your notes prior to an exam.

But what if you REALLY feel like you need to do at least SOME note revision right before your exam?

What to do if You’re REALLY Screwed

Now, you might be thinking:

“Okay, this all makes sense. However, I’ve pretty much done zero study up until this point. Surely studying my notes is better than doing nothing?” 

If this is the case I’ve got a few suggestions for you.

In the ideal world, you shouldn’t study your notes right before an HSC exam. You would have done the prep earlier and you can totally avoid freaking out.

But if you’re in a real pickle and NEED to look at your notes otherwise you won’t even be able to put pen to paper, my biggest recommendation would be to avoid looking at stuff you haven’t already covered.

Rather, pull out your notes and focus on areas that you’re comfortable with and use it as a refresher.

Essentially, use it as an opportunity build confidence.

If you’re 100% certain you have solid knowledge of at least some of the course content, you can walk into the exam ready to give it your best shot!

So in conclusion, you should never really study your notes right before an HSC exam. This can end badly.

If worst comes to worst, just use your notes to look at some of the things you already know so you can go into that exam feeling confident and ready!

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