At some point in your high school or college career, you’ll likely have the opportunity to utilize a “cheat sheet” on an exam. The idea is to give you free reign of what you’d like to have with you during the test; in other words, what information you want to opt out of memorizing or keep for extra security. For professors, many of them view it as a way to alleviate the stress of cramming your brain with memorization rather than critical thinking and problem solving skills, as well as allowing the creation of the cheat sheet itself to be a study method.
Cheat sheet vs study guide: is there a difference?
As an avid user of cheat sheets myself, I can confidently say that they’re always tremendously helpful and make a noticeable difference in my studying. First and foremost, it’s important to distinguish between a cheat sheet and a study guide. While the general method of compiling information is similar, a study guide is often very comprehensive and helps you to study; it’s not as optimal for the actual timed exam itself. On the other hand, cheat sheets are clear, succinct, and provide you with as much information as possible with as little “clutter” as possible.
How to start
It goes without saying that cheat sheets will vary from class to class, subject to subject, but the overall goals are the same. It’s ideal for you to not only create a document of some sort that’ll actually benefit you on exam day (whether directly or indirectly), but to also sift through all the information that’ll be on the test in preparation and decide what you do and don’t know.
I personally like to create my cheat sheets on Google Docs, but you can handwrite it or use any other program such as Microsoft Word or Canva. Start by writing down the large topics or chapters in bold; you’ll now be able to continuously reference the overarching themes you’re meant to be studying under. It’s optional, but I also like to pre-set my font and margin size, as well as the line spaces before adding everything else in.
Fill it in
This is the tedious part, but also the part that will make the greatest impact on your studying and consequently, exam results. Little by little, go through each section under the larger topics-- review your notes, rewatch class lectures, skim through the textbook-- if there are any details you are having difficulty memorizing or are simply too complex, record it on the cheat sheet.
Pay special attention to how you format it. Indenting bullet points, highlighting key terms and ideas, bolding or italicizing specific areas will be your best friend. In a way, a cheat sheet isn’t just for information, it also helps you to map out the concepts and connect them to one another in a way that makes sense for you as an individual.
Revision and cutting down
After you’ve gone through the insane pile of information, start going back and cutting down as much as possible without compromising your knowledge. Oftentimes, I realize that I’ve overdone it with the cheat sheet, such as having excessive explanations or wasting space with material I actually already know. Remember, we want it to be easy and quick as possible when referring to a cheat sheet during the actual exam.
Final tips
Overall, I’d say to give it your all if you ever do come across the chance to use a cheat sheet for a test. Don’t just try to copy your entire textbook onto a single sheet of paper; instead, use it to organize your knowledge, help you out where needed, and contribute to or enrich your studying. I always feel much more secure just knowing that I’m putting in the effort to set myself up for a successful exam and I have no doubt you will too.
As an avid user of cheat sheets myself, I can confidently say that they’re always tremendously helpful and make a noticeable difference in my studying. First and foremost, it’s important to distinguish between a cheat sheet and a study guide. While the general method of compiling information is similar, a study guide is often very comprehensive and helps you to study; it’s not as optimal for the actual timed exam itself. On the other hand, cheat sheets are clear, succinct, and provide you with as much information as possible with as little “clutter” as possible.
How to start
It goes without saying that cheat sheets will vary from class to class, subject to subject, but the overall goals are the same. It’s ideal for you to not only create a document of some sort that’ll actually benefit you on exam day (whether directly or indirectly), but to also sift through all the information that’ll be on the test in preparation and decide what you do and don’t know.
I personally like to create my cheat sheets on Google Docs, but you can handwrite it or use any other program such as Microsoft Word or Canva. Start by writing down the large topics or chapters in bold; you’ll now be able to continuously reference the overarching themes you’re meant to be studying under. It’s optional, but I also like to pre-set my font and margin size, as well as the line spaces before adding everything else in.
Fill it in
This is the tedious part, but also the part that will make the greatest impact on your studying and consequently, exam results. Little by little, go through each section under the larger topics-- review your notes, rewatch class lectures, skim through the textbook-- if there are any details you are having difficulty memorizing or are simply too complex, record it on the cheat sheet.
Pay special attention to how you format it. Indenting bullet points, highlighting key terms and ideas, bolding or italicizing specific areas will be your best friend. In a way, a cheat sheet isn’t just for information, it also helps you to map out the concepts and connect them to one another in a way that makes sense for you as an individual.
Revision and cutting down
After you’ve gone through the insane pile of information, start going back and cutting down as much as possible without compromising your knowledge. Oftentimes, I realize that I’ve overdone it with the cheat sheet, such as having excessive explanations or wasting space with material I actually already know. Remember, we want it to be easy and quick as possible when referring to a cheat sheet during the actual exam.
Final tips
Overall, I’d say to give it your all if you ever do come across the chance to use a cheat sheet for a test. Don’t just try to copy your entire textbook onto a single sheet of paper; instead, use it to organize your knowledge, help you out where needed, and contribute to or enrich your studying. I always feel much more secure just knowing that I’m putting in the effort to set myself up for a successful exam and I have no doubt you will too.