GOAL SETTING FOR STUDENTS

Goal Setting for Students: How to Easily Create “The Master Plan” for Exams!

Goal setting for students can be a frustrating process. Why? Because University is supposed to be all about parties and more parties!  Studying is for people in high school right? That’s what a lot of University students think, until a couple of days before the big exams start. Why do students not set goals? Because of procrastination. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail springs to mind!

So how can students manage their time effectively and efficiently so that they can enjoy the University experience of socializing and not be overwhelmed by the work that’s ahead of them? Well goal setting for students just requires planning for exams from day one so that procrastination and overwhelm are a thing of the past. Once you set goals, you are halfway to achieving them. This is a big mistakes most students make, they wait until the last minute to plan and then fail their exams or don’t get the results they want.
Goals are like a GPS navigation system for your life and your exams. When I was in University, my friends and I would sit down at a table and create what we called a “Master Plan”. So what is a Master Plan? A master plan is simply a detailed framework for achieving high results in your exams. It is a framework designed to study the patterns of behaviour of the lecturers and what possible topics and questions will come up on the final exams. It is a framework for success. If you don’t plan or anticipate, you can be sure that a very big surprise will await you in the exams. Suffice to say you won’t know what to expect on the day. Planning will help you.
Would you like to know the 4 EASY steps to creating your very own Master Plan? Ok let’s get started shall we?
Step 1) Buy A Copy of Old Exam Papers: Got to the Student Union and purchase a copy of the past exam papers. Try and get exam papers for the past five years. That should be statistically representative of the patterns of behaviour of the lecturers so that you can start to figure out what topics will come up on your current exam.
Step 2) Plan at least 6 weeks before Exam Time: Get a fresh sheet of paper and write the words “Master Plan” on the top of your page. Writing helps clarify things in our mind. Write the date you start the plan so that all of this is documented. Remember a goal is just a wish until you write it down.
Step 3) Study Patterns of Behaviour: I have provided a picture of what a master plan can look like to help with goal setting for students. It’s important to go back at least three years i.e. 2008, 2009, 2010 etc… and then look at the topics that came up in those years. If it came up then write down an “X” on the year it came up. For example, if Topic A was on the 2008 exam paper and hasn’t come up in the past two years, it is very likely to focus on that topic because it will most likely appear again. Also study the patterns of behaviour of the old exam papers and see when topics came up and when they didn’t.
Step 4) Write up Sample Answers and Practice Writing Them Down: Once you know the topics that are likely to come up. Read the question and then write a sample answer using the books you were told to read by the lecturer. Sample answers are generally five to eight A4 pages long. Once you are happy that you answered the question, it’s just a matter of learning the answer off like a parrot. Keep revising it until you know the answer off by heart.
There you have it, four simple steps to create a Master Plan.

So you see goal setting for students isn’t rocket science. It’s not hard work either. Once you take the time to plan (at least six weeks before the exams), all you have to do is dedicate a couple of hours a day to this revising your sample answers. Remember ordinary things done consistently lead to extraordinary results.