Signet Education Guide
Signet's Guide to
Successful Studying
Work Smarter, Not Harder.
Parents and students know studying is key to high school success — but what should it actually look like? We'll answer that, and more, in this guide.
Overview: Three Essential Facts
We believe smart studying is based on three major concepts:
Study in Advance
The most effective studying is done consistently throughout the semester — not by cramming just before exam time. This reduces both time needed and stress surrounding exams.
It's a Repeatable Process
Studying isn't a mystery. Like all good processes, it has a beginning, middle, and end — and the right method can be used for any course with only minor adjustments.
Specific Techniques Help
There are proven techniques that help students study better. We'll introduce you to them here — and you can always reach out to us directly for more personalized assistance.
The Benefits of Studying Well
Effective studying has a broad range of benefits that go far beyond just doing well on a single test:
A refined study process can reduce much of the stress that comes with preparing for exams.
A clear study plan gives students a concrete beginning and endpoint so they know when studying is complete.
Improving study skills makes students more effective and efficient learners, which often leads to better school performance.
Students are less overwhelmed when they know exactly what to target when studying.
A study timeline prevents last-minute cramming and allows students to work in low-pressure circumstances.
A study plan makes procrastination much more difficult, because students have accountability for completing each mini-assignment.
The Different Kinds of Studiers
We've worked with thousands of students over the past decade. Students tend to fall into one of several patterns — and it's even possible to fall into different categories for different classes. Which one sounds like your student?
Too Much
Puts in an unsustainable amount of effort trying to relearn everything. Never knows when to stop. Often high-performing, but at risk of burnout — especially during high-stakes seasons like junior spring.
Not Enough
Doesn't do much preparation at all. Studying feels like a great mystery — they're unclear on how, when, or what to study. May wing it and hope for the best. Often just as stressed as overstudiers.
Not the Right Kind
Embodies the phrase "busy work." Wants to do well but lacks strategy. Approaches learning as memorization rather than synthesizing material. Often performs below their potential.
Too Last-Minute
The "deer in the headlights" studier. Puts everything off until the night before. May cram or pull all-nighters. Often leaves a test feeling like they didn't perform to their potential.
The Goal ✦
Focuses on learning concepts the first time they're introduced. Reviews the syllabus, prepares for class, takes good notes, and does homework to internalize material — not just to complete it.
The Basic Pattern of School
One of the things that sets great studiers apart is understanding that school follows a clear, repeatable pattern. Many students don't connect the dots between what's taught in class, the homework assigned, and what shows up on the test.
Teachers introduce and teach students material — or students learn on their own in some cases.
Teachers assign homework to help students understand the content and practice the most important skills. Homework is a clue to what teachers view as most important.
Teachers give quizzes or tests to make sure students have internalized and truly learned the material.
The best way to capitalize on this pattern? Learning to study effectively.
7 Steps to an A+: Signet's Study Method
This study method is the product of over a decade of experience helping students. It applies to all types of courses — humanities, science, math — and can even be adapted for long-term projects and writing assignments.
The 7 Steps at a Glance
- Step 1: Understand the Exam
- Step 2: Gather and Assess Study Materials
- Step 3: Create a Study Guide
- Step 4: Determine How to Review
- Step 5: Create a Study Timeline
- Step 6: Execute the Study Timeline
- Step 7: Review Performance After the Exam
Understand the Exam
Create a clear, written statement of what the exam will contain.
As soon as an exam is announced, students should clarify exactly what material will be covered — and if they're not sure, they should ask the teacher right away. By clarifying what's on the test, students take the mystery out of preparation.
Guiding questions to ask:
- What weeks of the course will the exam cover?
- What specific concepts will be on the exam?
- What format will the exam be in? (Short answer? Multiple choice? Essay?)
- How many questions will be on the exam?
- How much time will be allotted?
- What is the instructor's testing style? Do they test specific details? Do they want synthesis and analysis, or a regurgitation of facts?
How to find the answers
- Read any written material about the exam carefully
- Take notes on information the teacher gives about the exam in class
- Ask friends who have taken the class what the exams were like
- Scrutinize past quizzes or exams if they're available
- Ask the teacher directly if none of the above are helpful
Gather and Assess Study Materials
Identify and gather the specific material the exam will be based on.
Don't be deceived by its seemingly simple nature — this step is a big part of the magic that happens for ideal studiers. By limiting themselves to the materials that are actually appropriate for the exam, students prevent both under- and overstudying.
Possible sources of information include:
- Notes from class
- The teacher's notes from the course
- If allowed, shared notes from other students or study group members
- All past homework assignments or problem sets
- Any relevant texts, including textbooks and readings
- Reading notes
- Audio recordings of lectures (if available/allowed)
Next, decide which sources are most valuable — look at how the teacher spent in-class time and the homework they assigned as indicators of what's most important.
Create a Study Guide
Compile study materials into one document to streamline and simplify the studying process.
This step is all about streamlining materials. Students should put their materials into as few documents as possible, gathering everything into one place — either physically or digitally.
A Note on Pre-Made Study Guides
Even when a teacher or study group provides a study guide, students should still go through Steps 1–3 themselves. Teachers often provide an overview without all the supporting materials, expecting students to fill in the details. We've seen countless students miss important exam content by relying on guides that weren't complete.
A Note on Homework
Homework is truly finished not when the problems are completed, but when the relevant concepts have been fully learned and understood. Great teachers don't assign homework as busy work — assignments are meant to identify and reinforce specific concepts that build on one another across the semester.
Determine How to Review
Decide on specific strategies to use for reviewing the study guide.
Students should be engaging in active studying rather than passive studying. Passive studying is skimming the textbook again and hoping you remember it. Active studying means synthesizing, working through problems, and quizzing — and is much more effective for both test performance and long-term learning.
Strategies for exam review:
- Write fresh versions of previously assigned problems
- Do extra problems, especially on concepts that are weak
- Create a list of key terms
- Make a study "cheat sheet" distilling the important concepts
- Create flashcards (and use them!)
- Do practice exam questions, or create some — trade questions with a friend
- Use analogous materials from other courses that test the same material
- Quiz a friend and be quizzed
- Use memory maps or mnemonics to remember specific concepts
Be Specific
"Redo problem sets" is not as good as "rework problem sets 1 through 5." The more specific the list of review tasks, the better it will serve you in the next step.
Create a Study Timeline
Have a clear set of mini-assignments with due dates spread throughout the study period.
The earlier students can begin, the better. A study timeline assigns identifiable chunks of material to specific study periods — so students always know what to do next and when they're done.
How to write a good mini-assignment:
"Review sample problems." — Which problems? When? How many? This creates more questions than it answers.
"Spend one hour reviewing practice problems in order." — Better, but time-oriented rather than material-oriented. Studying for an hour doesn't mean all relevant material was covered.
"Review all practice problems from chapters 1 and 2." — The student knows immediately when this is done.
Buffer
Things always come up. Build wiggle room into the timeline — a day or a week depending on how long the overall study period is.
Consolidation
For longer study periods, leave time to review everything at once. Material covered 6 weeks ago might need a quick refresh one or two days before the exam.
Work Over Time
Studying 10 hours over 10 days is almost always better than 10 hours over 2 days. Consistent, incremental effort leads to deeper learning and better retention.
Execute the Study Timeline
Keep it simple. Put steps 1–5 into action and do the actual studying.
By this point, students know exactly what to study, how they'll do it, and when. All that's left is to execute the mini-assignments according to the plan.
Students should revisit and adjust their timelines if necessary — most people tend to overplan or underplan when first starting this process. That's okay. The plan should always reflect a realistic sense of what's possible.
A Note on Note-Taking
Mark up the study plan with observations as you go. Track what time of day you retain the most, which tools work best, and whether you're overplanning or underplanning. These notes become a reference that makes the next study cycle even better.
Review Performance After the Exam
Use this experience to learn how to study even better next time.
The study process isn't complete at the end of the exam. Performance review is key to improving for next time — and even students with solid study habits often overlook this crucial step. For maximum benefit, write these answers down rather than just thinking about them.
Reflection Questions
- What went well? What didn't?
- Were there patterns to what didn't go well? Was it a lack of familiarity, understanding, or attention to detail?
- Did I study enough? Could I have studied less and done just as well?
- How did the exam material relate to my class? Were some sources of information prioritized more than others?
- Did my teacher change how material was presented on the exam vs. in class?
- What specifically can I do on a day-to-day basis to learn the material better?
- What specifically should I do to prepare for upcoming exams in this class or similar classes?
Common Challenges to Execution
Students who follow this method will still hit bumps in the road — especially when first starting out. Here are the most common challenges and how to address them:
Students lack prerequisite skills
Students who struggle with basic time management and organization often find those obstacles make implementing a study process tough. Creating the best study guide in the world isn't useful if the student can't find it the next day. Students who need help here should check out our Guide to Strategic Organization or reach out to us directly.
Students are unsure about what to do
This method requires students to make judgment calls: what to study, which resources are most important, how much time to allot each topic. Students who find themselves stuck should ask for help from teachers, classmates, parents, or outside support. The ability to make these calls improves with time.
The study process feels too laborious
This perception doesn't account for the time and energy students spend worrying about exams without taking effective action. A study process will eventually save time. It can feel clunky the first two or three times — but like any skill, it gets easier with practice.
One of the steps is confusing or challenging
When first implementing the plan, leave a lot of buffer — budget 1.5–2x the time you think each step will take. Track how long different tasks actually take and where bottlenecks arise. Over time, you'll develop an accurate sense of your own study pace.
Conclusion
Although we believe the method we've laid out here is a powerful one, it's not the only way to study well. Students may develop a process that looks different from ours — and that's okay. What's important is that there be a process.
If students and parents take away anything from this guide, we hope it's the idea that studying is not a mystery — it's a repeatable, improvable skill that any student can learn to master.
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