How to pass a college course with the least possible effort

I passed MBBS this year. It’ll be arrogant to call it the toughest undergraduate course, but it’s pretty demanding. I wasn’t a great student, but that’s exactly what this article is about. How to study just enough to scrape through.

This is what the curve for marks and effort looks like. On the very right, we have the toppers, and you can see that all that extra effort they put in, their marks don’t go up all that much. On the left side of the effort axis, we have the point of minimum effort. This here is the point where a small increase in effort will result in a huge increase in marks. We will discuss how to get above the pass mark of 50% with no wasted effort. I’ve set the percentage at 60% for safety reasons.

Preparation

Let’s be real. If you’re reading this article, you start studying just before the exams. Good for you because you are exactly the kind of person I’m writing this for. Let’s start!

Skip the time table

Time tables are a waste of time. They are a good procrastination tool, but when it comes to solid studying, they create more panic than they help. Skip it completely.

Make a list of topics to cover

Just because we skipped the time table doesn't mean we don’t plan. Make a list of the most important topics.

1. Frequency lists
   Take a look at the frequency list. Choose only the topics that have been asked repeatedly. The ones that have been asked once or twice are probably bouncers so skip those.
2. Fundamentals
   Some topics are constantly referenced in other topics. These are really basic things that other topics are built on top of. You will know it when you see it. Direct questions on these topics are rare. However, you are reading these topics to make answers up if you don’t know anything about a certain question.
3. Topics that interest you
   If it interests you it requires very little effort to remember it. On the off chance that a question does appear on this topic, we’re good to go.

Make a list of topics

If a topic does not fall under the above categories, don’t bother.

Study time:

Choose a book that’s ideal for exam preparation. Prep manuals with bullet points and question-answer style books are perfect. DO NOT START READING A BIG REFERENCE BOOK. Set aside 20 mins for each topic. If it’s a long topic, split it into 20 min chunks. Take a 5 min break between each session.

Reading the full text is too slow. We will be skimming each topic to cover it faster.

First Skim: 5 mins

You are starting the topic and have no idea what it’s about.
You are to only read what your mind is naturally curious about. Things like what on earth is this topic about? Why is this asked so frequently? Just get the basic gist of what that topic is. Stop when your natural curiosity about the topic runs out. This will mostly cover all the basics. You should now be able to describe the topic in 1 sentence to a layperson.

Second Skim: 5 mins

We now need to digest more of the topic so that we can write an answer. Don’t bother with the main text for now. Just look at the headings, the images, tables and the diagrams. Try to get a picture of what everything is how it will fit into your answer. By the end of it, you have a lot more information than a sentence, but you don’t know how to explain it.

Exam Training: 10 mins

Our proper preparation for writing an answer now begins. Each subject will have its own set of subtopics that are required for every answer. For example, any pathology question can be answered with: Pathogenesis, gross morphology, microscopy and clinical features. Every subject has these common subtopics. Identify and memorize them. Next look at the topic that you’ve been skimming and convert your abstract knowledge into these solid subtopics. Read the main text just enough so as to write 2 to 3 points under every subtopic. After you finish reading, try recollecting these points without looking at the text.

Practice diagrams and flowcharts. Just draw a diagram wherever you possibly can. Especially when you don’t know the answer very well. Examiners, who are also humans will be attracted more towards the diagram and will not read your text completely and give you more marks than you deserve.

Multiplicative Factors:

These are factors that will bring down your performance or boost it up. Since we are giving our bare minimum, these will have a huge impact on the result.

Less than 6 hours of sleep: 0.5x

Your ability to recollect what you’ve studied will go down drastically. Not sleeping enough before an exam will not compensate for the extra reading that you did.

More than 7 hours of sleep: 1.25x

When you are fully rested, your mind will be much more creative than usual. This means when making bullshit up in answers, you will sometimes impress yourself.

Low sugar levels during the exam: 0.5x

Being hypoglycemic will not help you at all. Eat a proper breakfast. If not, just throw in some chocolates before the test.

Writing the exam

Attempt every question. Mark the ones you are unsure about and come back to it later. If you know too much about something, refrain from writing more than what is necessary to pass. Draw diagrams everywhere. As a rule of thumb, the answers to questions you don’t know enough about should be longer than the ones you know well.

If you’re done with writing and checking all the answers, get out of the exam hall and get some rest. Do not be surprised if you are the first person to walk out of the exam hall.

Draw something. Anything.

Tips for practical exams:

You are on your own here because I barely made it out alive. It doesn't hurt to act a little anxious and clumsy. Giving entertaining answers have always worked in my favour, but your mileage may vary.