Is Cramming an Effective Study Method?

Cramming is a tried and untrue method of studying used by students who’ve made a bevy of poor decisions leading to an exam. The method is almost unheard of among students who study in advance for an upcoming exam. That’s because cramming isn’t all that useful if you’re studying some time before the exam actually occurs.



Cramming is most common in the days before an exam. Students desperately try to cram as much information into their minds and pray that their working memory can carry them to a passing grade. However, this is rarely the case. Here’s why cramming isn’t an effective study method.

What Is Cramming?

Cramming is an attempt to absorb and retain as much information as possible in a short period of time. Cramming is most common near an exam among students who’ve either not studied at all or think they’ve missed something. The latter kind of cramming is excusable as long as it’s not a pattern. We’ve all done that or lost faith in our memories near the exam. However, the former kind is the subject of this article.

Why Is Cramming Bad?

It would be wrong to say that cramming doesn’t result in you retaining any information. You do, and if you’ve crammed before an exam, you’ve probably noticed that you recognize what the questions mean.



However, to pass an exam, you’re going to need to do more than understand what the questions are saying. And that’s precisely the problem with cramming: you can recognize things, but recognizing isn’t knowing. Recognizing means you can tell that you did read the answer to a question at some point, but it won’t help you answer the question.

What Are the Alternatives?

The obvious alternative is to be more proactive about studying. Everyone loves procrastinating, and taking breaks is actually essential to study effectively. However, you have to stop getting carried away with the breaks, and you need to use them more productively.

For instance, you can set up a study schedule or routine with set times for studying and breaks. This will help keep you consistent. Besides that, you should also plan what you’ll do in said breaks. Take some breaks to eat (important for focusing), and others to move around and stretch.

If you’re preparing for any of the NYS Civil Service exams, and these tips don’t help you, contact Civil Service Success. They offer prep classes for the NYS Civil Service exams, such as the firefighter and court officer exams.

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