Your life is all sunshine and rainbows.

All of a sudden, you get one resounding slap on your face and everything turns hazy.

That’s exactly what exams feel like, especially for students who ignore their textbooks the entire year.

The race to cram a year’s worth of syllabus in a few days is a nightmare, making even the bravest and strongest of people fall on our knees and cry.

There is just so much to learn, keep organized, and remember while preparing for an exam.

So what if we tell you that there’s an easy, effective, tried, and tested way to get the best grade possible, other than barricading yourself in the library?

Well, we scoured our brains and the internet for the best study method and it’s…*drumroll*…a study guide!

A Study Guide? What on Earth is That? (Definition)

Every test has a specific set of topics that student needs to learn in order to prepare for their exam, right?

A study guide condenses all those topics into a single source of information.

Simply put, a study guide is your personalized collection of the most important content displayed in a clear and concise manner, making it easier for you to study multiple topics at once.

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In your study guide, you can write an outline of each chapter with key points, a chronological timeline for subjects like History, a concept map giving a visual of the most important things, flashcards, tests, and much more.

You can use your classroom notes, reading assignments, and homework assignments to write your study guide.

Umm…What’s so Great About Study Guides?

A study by the researchers at Stanford found that when college students apply a strategic approach to studying, they can certainly improve their exam scores.

A study guide is exactly that – a strategic and effective approach to prepare for an exam.

Whether you have got a weekly test or a final exam coping up, a study guide helps you figure out things you already know and things you need to study.

It helps you focus your efforts on the material you still haven’t learned, review things that are most likely to show up on your exam, and master every subject you tackle.

Study guides can help you not only remember information for longer but also spend less time studying while still reaping all the benefits.

In a perfect world, your teacher would give you a study guide for every quiz, test, and exam.

Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world.