Read your notes over at least once outside of class. This serves two very important purposes:

1. It gives you an opportunity to clarify anything that might be confusing.

2. It helps you learn the information and develop a comfortable familiarity with the whole subject.

If you continue reading over your notes, you’ll become more and more immersed in your subject. When the exam comes, you’ll feel like you have the information well at hand. Questions won’t shock you because they seem alien; instead, you can craft more educated responses.

Make reading over your notes a part of your study habits. You don’t need to spend a great deal of time doing this—one or two hours a week per subject should be plenty of time. It’s a good idea to do this on Friday or the weekend, so you can look at all your notes for the week.

You don’t have to read over your notes each night; in fact, sometimes you’re better off leaving them alone for a few days. Once you have done your immediate review while the notes are fresh in your mind, then you can leave them alone for a few days. That way, you can approach them with fresh eyes and a clearer head when you do revisit them.