The reality is that cramming works—on one level—for a small minor-
ity of students. Somehow, they’re able to shove more “stuff ” into
short-term memory than the rest of us and actually remember it, at
least for 24 hours. After those 24 hours? Gone with the wind. Which
means if they managed to do well on a weekly quiz, all that cramming
didn’t do them a bit of good for the upcoming midterm or final.
The rest of us don’t even get that smidgen of good news—after a
night of no sleep and too much coffee, we’re lucky if we remember
where the test isthe next morning. A couple of hours later, trying to
stay awake long enough to make it back to bed, we not only haven’t
learned anything, we haven’t even done very well on the test we
crammed for!
That’s probably the best reason of all not to cram—it just doesn’t
work!
How to Cram Anyway
Nevertheless, despite your resolve, best intentions, and firm con -
viction that cramming is a losing proposition, you may well find
yourself—though hopefully not too often— in the position of need-
ing to do somethingthe night before a test you haven’t studied for
at all. If so, here’s some advice that will make your night of cramming
at least marginally successful:
Be realistic about what you can do. You absolutelycannot
master an entire semester’s worth of work in a single night, especially
if your class attendance has been sporadic (or nonexistent) and you’ve
skimmed two books out of a syllabus of two dozen. The moreinfor-
mation you try to cram in, the lesseffective you will be.
Being realistic means soberly assessing your situation— you’re hang-
ing by your thumbs and are just trying to avoid falling into the boiling
oil. Avoiding the oil, saving the damsel in distress, and inheriting the
kingdom (“acing” the test) is a bit too much to ask for, no matter
whom your Fairy Godmother is.
Chapter 8 ■ How to Study for Tests 181