Overnight Studying

[Rail Tracer]

Done it before? Tips? Suggestions?

I've only done it once... but I REALLY REALLY need to cram for the two finals I have coming up soon (a bunch of names and dates I need to remember.)

So to those who have done it countless of times... what did you do to stay awake?

 

[Glycerine]

Have a little snack. Study until you feel like conking out, take a 1-2 hour nap, get up study some more, take the test, then pass out. No alcohol and caffeine.... makes you crash...

Learn how all the concepts, people, events work together and the details will come flooding to you during the test.... that's how I learn from cramming. If it's math or logic, an all nighter is seriously bad.

 

[Rail Tracer]

Have a little snack. Study until you feel like conking out, take a 1-2 hour nap, get up study some more, take the test, then pass out. No alcohol and caffeine.... makes you crash...

Learn how all the concepts, people, events work together and the details will come flooding to you during the test.... that's how I learn from cramming. If it's math or logic, an all nighter is seriously bad.

Good snacks to cram with?

What I am studying isn't math or logic , just..... lots of names, dates, and people. @.@

I've actually devise a way I am going to cram this material.

 

[Glycerine]

Protein and water/juice to wake up your brain. Good luck!

 

[Tiger Owl]

Have a little snack. Study until you feel like conking out, take a 1-2 hour nap, get up study some more, take the test, then pass out. No alcohol and caffeine.... makes you crash...

Learn how all the concepts, people, events work together and the details will come flooding to you during the test.... that's how I learn from cramming. If it's math or logic, an all nighter is seriously bad.

Oops. I just finished an irish coffee a while ago. Darn you Cell biology/physiology, you drive me to the drink.

 

[Rail Tracer]

Oops. I just finished an irish coffee a while ago. Darn you Cell biology/physiology, you drive me to the drink.

I've been drinking lots of soda

but need some stomach food that can hold me overnight.

 

[Glycerine]

Oops. I just finished an irish coffee a while ago. Darn you Cell biology/physiology, you drive me to the drink.

haha, maybe caffeine doesn't make you crash? You lucky man! lol For me, I get energized and then have a major CRASH and fall asleep for the whole night.

 

[ceecee]

Done it before? Tips? Suggestions?

I've only done it once... but I REALLY REALLY need to cram for the two finals I have coming up soon (a bunch of names and dates I need to remember.)

So to those who have done it countless of times... what did you do to stay awake?

I've done it a lot. Doing college the hard way (after kids, full time job) didn't give me a lot of options. One is I always tried to take a nap prior. I would lay down at 7 or 8pm and set my alarm for 10 or so. Coffee, a snack, music or tv but nothing distracting. I use to keep the local weather radar with that robotic voice on. For whatever reason it was enough sound to be soothing but not too much. With my last couple coding classes and prior to taking the RHIT certifications, I had to cut it into blocks and study one at a time. Too many numbers to remember all at once.

 

[King sns]

Many many times. Always had the bad habit of cramming, but I'm also a night person and do my best work overnight. If you want "good" snacks I would say fruit, carrot sticks, cheese, and peanuts/ peanut butter crackers. Cottage cheese if you like it. All snacks that are filling and will keep you going. (I can't say I was good about that, I was into the candy and scotch and redbulls and voila, we developed a panic disorder in college! ) Be really general and conceptual with the learning if at all possible for the topic. Music, power naps, cool showers, stretching and meditating. You should be good to go!

 

[Beargryllz]

Done it before? Tips? Suggestions?

Yes, I have a suggestion

Don't

 

[King sns]

Yes, I have a suggestion

Don't

Yeah, of course that's the best thing.

 

[Tiger Owl]

strange double post.

 

[Tiger Owl]

Try to stick with fresh fruits and complex carbs. Oatmeal is good because you can add all kinds of good things to it. Stay away from real greasy and fatty foods, they take a long time to digest and slow everything down, not good for when you will likely be sitting for many hours. Sodas and other sweets can leave you with a burnout feeling. Many small snacks or meals and no really large ones will help keep your energy without bogging you down. Also, getting up and walking or pacing while reading your notes or going through flash cards can help. Keep the temp a little cooler than usual and it may help keep you alert. Get up and exercise a bit every couple hours, breaks up the monotony and gets your blood flowing, even if it is just a few jumping-jacks or 2 minutes jogging in place.
Good luck.

Edit: If you do opt for some sleep (recommended) try to give yourself time for sleep in multiples of 90 minutes (3, 4 1/2 or 6 hours) Your body should be able to successfully complete a sleep cycle in 90 minutes and you will wake feeling more rested instead of feeling like a zombie.

 

[ceecee]

Good snacks to cram with?

Popcorn
Apple slices and peanut butter
Dry cereal like Honeycomb or Frosted Mini Wheats
Protein like beef or chicken in a wrap with some veggies.

 

[Rail Tracer]

Yes, I have a suggestion

Don't

Well, I don't have a choice this time around, do I?

 

[Blank]

I've found it's better to get a good night's sleep (or at least six hours) and wake up early to cram maybe one or two hours before your test, then ace the shit out of it while it's still fresh in your mind.

 

[NPcomplete]

If it was the kind of exam you're talking about - remembering dates, places and names - I used to read the material as stories. If there weren't any stories, I'd come up with them. Last-minute inspiration + exam adrenaline =

In case of math and science exams, I would practice problem sets, look at past exams, quiz and get quizzed by my trusty study partner and finally get at least 6 hours of sleep.

Do you have anyone you can study with (anyone who's not too chatty or disruptive..)? Are there past exams? You might see patterns such as the types of questions asked.

Good luck!

I miss exams now.

 

[Usehername]

1. When you sleep your brain reorganizes for long term storage. During the semester, you want to study, then sleep, and have your brain do its thing to store information long term. However, if you are truly night-before cramming, it's smarter to sleep from like 9pm - 12pm (90 minute increment!) and then spend 8 hours cramming and write your test without going back to sleep because you're short-terming it and need as little brain change as possible.

2. If you're getting tested on names/dates, and other specifics, all the studies show you're better off lasering your focus on a few key things you think your prof will put on the test and gambling on those being there. DO NOT waste your time learning general information on every unit. For a details-oriented test, you won't be able to score points if you only know the context and general information, so don't waste your precious few hours trying to conquer everything. Accept your situation, cut your losses, and be a laser on the things you think are going to be on there. This is where you poll your classmates and use their instincts to triangulate where you should focus on the details.

3. Invent and memorize a few mnemonics. Scan your mnemonics as late as you can until they tell you to put your materials away, and then repeat them to yourself over and over in your head as you wait for the tests to be handed out. Then as soon as you get your test, brain dump them on the first page. This is not cheating, it's just effective strategy.

For example, in music, you might memorize the order of sharps: FCGDAEB. "Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle." So first you brain dump a bunch of weird things like FCGDAEB on the page, and then you IMMEDIATELY decode them and write that down, because you don't want to forget the meaningfulness that you've attached to it.

Voila. A *legal, moral* cheat sheet.

 

[Rail Tracer]

2. If you're getting tested on names/dates, and other specifics, all the studies show you're better off lasering your focus on a few key things you think your prof will put on the test and gambling on those being there. DO NOT waste your time learning general information on every unit. For a details-oriented test, you won't be able to score points if you only know the context and general information, so don't waste your precious few hours trying to conquer everything. Accept your situation, cut your losses, and be a laser on the things you think are going to be on there. This is where you poll your classmates and use their instincts to triangulate where you should focus on the details.

Definitely this. One of the professors does the same type of testing for every tests, she even tells the class that the testing is similar, so I am not as worried too much about it (the information is more important to her than the name/date/period etc.)

The other one, however, seems to love to give more information than required. She puts equal points on the dating and the information that pertains to those facts. She is more into the "extraneous" information. Her final is cumulative, however, and it puts more stress into other dates and facts that I may have forgotten.

I'm sort of learning in 2 different modes here. The second one being the harder to do because there is just too many detail to think about.

Anyhow, I've decided to sleep today and actually do the overnight studying tomorrow. Most of today have been spent organizing my study material so that I can add the information into my head. Just the organizing and rearranging of information adds a lot to my mind.

 

[Usehername]

Finally, try to add as many senses as possible so it gets snagged and trapped in your mind. Write it down to bring in your motor memory, sing it and listen to your singing to bring in your auditory memory, etc.