The final years of high school are stressful enough, but with a pandemic throwing the world into chaos, students are under more pressure than ever. If you’re stressing about your exams and feeling like the university course of your dreams is slipping away, don’t despair! The following five tips will help you navigate your exams and get the grades you need to get into your first choice university.
1. Get targeted study support
With the pandemic hitting hardest in Melbourne, many Victorian students find themselves still studying at home. Many are concerned that you’re not getting the level of support they need to do well in VCE. Thankfully, there are plenty of dedicated VCE tutors online who can help you with the specifics of your exams. These tutors are typically recent graduates who aced their exams, so they have both the experience and the intelligence necessary to guide you through your studies and put your mind at ease.
2. Create order from chaos
Here’s a convenient truth for you – the best way to get top grades is also the best way to kill your study-related anxiety. All you need to do is take some time at the beginning of each term to create a revision timetable.
By dividing your revision into tiny, manageable chunks, you gain a number of benefits. Each revision session will be short and stress-free. The ongoing repetition allows your brain to retain information far more easily than if you try to cram just before your exams. With the knowledge securely in your mind, you’ll be able to side-step exam stress. As you tick off each session and observe how much you’re retaining, you’ll develop greater motivation to continue.
3. Take targeted breaks
Building from the last point, it’s worth limiting each revision session to just 25 minutes. Have a five-minute break, then move on to your next short study session. Known as the Pomodoro technique, this method of revising in short bursts over a long period of time has been shown to greatly improve people’s ability to recall information.
4. Boost your concentration
Social media and smartphone addiction will destroy your ability to concentrate. Even if you resist the urge to check every notification that comes in, the vibration of your phone and those little pop-ups will slice through the focus you were building in your study session.
If you have good self-control, then leaving your phone in another room ad switching off notifications on your computer may be enough. However, if you find yourself constantly flicking over to Reddit, Instagram, or YouTube, then you might benefit from apps that restrict your internet use for a set period of time. Self Control and Cold Turkey are some great free options to try out.
5. Try ASMR videos
If you struggle to concentrate in dead silence, or you find that random noises from outside keep distracting you, ASMR videos may be the answer to your concentration problems. ASMR stands for “autonomous sensory meridian response,” and the videos offer comforting background noise that’s consistent and strangely calming. In addition to easing study-related stress and boosting your ability to focus, when part of your regular study routine, the simple act of pressing play will eventually create an automatic response in your brain that puts you into study mode.
Create a study routine based around the tips above, and you’ll be on the right path for getting into your first choice university.