How do you go about cramming for a test?

I take the material the test is going to cover and make an outline. Under the major topics I note the key points, especially dates and numbers.

A lot of my teachers give me what will be on the test. It’ll be maybe 20 identifications, and 4–6 essay questions. Then, on the day of the test, they give you half those identifications and essay questions, and you have to answer half of the ones they give you. So I go through the sheet they give me and write out my answers four times. I’ll print the answers off (often as outlines) so that I can look at it the morning of the test.
For the teachers that don’t, I remake my outline (all my notes are already in outline form), but focusing on the bigger issues and the things the teacher went over several times – for instance, I had one teacher who told us several times how “Abu” means “Father of sons” in Arabic (nooooo idea if that’s true, she generally is an unreliable source), and wrote it on the board a couple of times, so I knew that would be a vocab/identification question.

Make sure to get at least 3 hours of sleep and a proper breakfast. It’s often better to study less and get some sleep than to spend more hours cramming, but have none of it stick because you’re so tired, and then also be tired during the test and unable to think.

Plan to go through the course material multiple times before the test, at different depths. strengthening understanding with revisits. Schedule your campaign. Get prepped with all necessary distractions done ahead of time (beverage, chair, lighting, warm-enough / cool-enough, made all the txts and calls needed, visited to the porcelain convenience).

+1 outline, and +1 remaking/refining/expanding/rewriting the outline continuously as your survey progresses. Using the outline, go over your class notes and official course media and hang what you get out of them on the outline. Figure out what’s the toughest concept among those you know are important in the course.
Make sure your outline has that in mind somewhere. Master that topic as early on as possible.

If you’re in technical, mathematics, sciences… understanding your methods is key.
Know what each tool/method/formula is good for and how to recognize the need or opportunity to apply it.
Repetition with the problem sets can drill in how it gets applied.
A lot of these methods have clearly been applied around us in stuff people make – keeping an eye around for things manufactured or built with the toolkit you’re learning.

For languages you just have to know the words, vocabulary.
Make flashcards and drill endlessly.
Drill with your conjugations and irregulars.
Speak it as much as your environment will tolerate while you’re studying.

This might sound weird but for some reason it never failed to work for me. I studied while listening to my favorite music playing loud.

That works only if you do not pay to much attention to the music ^^

Studying sucks if you do not use the time at the best. Pick the basic then look over the advanced then over irregulars.

[ you should have spend time over the year not in the last few months ]

Thanks for all the advise, I’ll try it all out and see how well it works for me!

Study and pray to whoever you believe in that you do well enough. That’s what I do!

I know it’s not advised, but I find my best is studying minimally beforehand, but the night before, I pull an all-nighter. I usually go to a local 24 coffeeshop (Tim Hortons). An hour or two before the test, I go home and shower and eat.