Studying for Big Exams

Cumulative final exams, licensing exams, masters comprehensive exams, doctoral qualifying exams - all are BIG! And effective study strategies focus on consolidating large amounts of information into tenable concepts that can be applied to whatever question thrown at you. Instead of getting bogged down in the details, painting the big picture is where you want to start. ​

Materials in this photo: Arc Discbound Notebook (Letter Size, Poly Cover)  |   Office by Martha Stewart Discbound Dividers (5-tab, also available in 8-tab)      |  Planner by Blue Sky, no longer available   |   ​ Printable Graph Paper

*affiliate links

---

In this post, I'll walk you through some strategies that will help you make this process as painless as it could be. Be forewarned, these are not your typical lecture-quiz-exam study methods, so they'll feel foreign and uncomfortable. But practice makes perfect, and after about a week long learning curve you'll look forward to study sessions and feel efficient and knowledgeable. 

Use Outlines to Identify Patterns

If you're studying from an overall text book or syllabus, start by making an outline of each topic or chapter. 

Why? You may find patterns. For example, in the risk factor analysis of my text book, each chapter focused on a single risk factor, and followed the same structure: introduction, definitions, measurement, mechanisms, distribution, prevention, and current issues. 

When different concepts have a similar structure you can combine them in a single organizer, like a table. 

Again, why would you want to do this? A table keeps you focused and confined. You won't find yourself writing down every sentence as a bullet point, but instead reading, judging the most important information, and adding to your chart. 

Then when it's complete, you can step back and compare between topics, like my risk factors. How does measurement and distribution compare between different risk factors? What challenges are faced by some but not others?

Re-organize Information

Not all material will be amenable to combining in a chart. So what do you do then? Organizing the information you read to answer basic questions, like who? what? where? when? why? (as relevant to your field) helps you stay focused, and use the information as a way to learn, and not as material to memorize. 

If numbers are presented to you in text or in a table, and they're not clicking with you, make a chart! You can do this on the computer, and recreate yourself, or just do it by hand. Look for patterns! 

Use color for organization - don't get carried away with the color coding you see on Pinterest, work with what you have, and do what makes sense.

Making Connections

When you make connections between concepts, you can note them on separate topic sheets.

These connections may be on similar concepts, like the risk factor chart in the last section, or they may be across larger categories, like in the image, where ideas from separate chapters connect.

​My Resources page has study packets that utilize topic sheets. Check out the freebies for examples.

It's these big picture concepts that you're often asked about on graduate-level exams. If you can anticipate them and incorporate them into your studying, you'll be better prepared. That's studying for the big picture!

---

What study tips do you have for big exams? What questions are you left with? Let us know in the comments. 

​BD