- List every topic the exam covers from the syllabus or review sheet. Give each topic its own section.
- Write 3-5 key ideas per topic in your own words, without copying slides.
- Add the terms, formulas or dates you must know, each with a one-line meaning.
- Add one worked example, diagram or case per topic.
- End each section with 3 exam-style questions, answers on the back, and quiz yourself from them.
Copy the template below once per topic. For a typical final with six to eight topics that is six to eight pages, built over the two weeks before the exam.
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Make free flashcards →Study guide template (copy this)
The big idea in one sentence: ______
Key ideas (3-5, in my own words): 1. ___ 2. ___ 3. ___
Terms / formulas / dates: term = one-line meaning
One worked example or diagram: ______
Common mistake to avoid: ______
3 exam-style questions (answers on the back): 1. ___ 2. ___ 3. ___
Confidence: green / amber / red Re-test on: ______
Build it from the right sources
- The review sheet or syllabus first. It tells you which topics exist; your notes fill them in.
- Past exams and homework show how questions are asked. Use them for the examples and the three questions.
- Your lecture notes and textbook supply the key ideas. Close the source before you write each idea, then check it.
What to leave out
- Full sentences copied from slides. If you can't say it in your own words yet, that topic is red; mark it and come back.
- Everything highlighted. Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rated highlighting and rereading as low-utility study techniques; practice testing and spreading your study out were rated the most useful.
- Topics marked green that you can already answer questions on. Spend the pages on amber and red.
Study guide makers: what AI can and can't do
An AI tool can summarize a lecture, but making the guide yourself is part of how you learn the material: information you produce yourself tends to be remembered better than information you only read (the generation effect, Slamecka and Graf, 1978). Use AI to check your guide, not to replace it. Scholarize does not write study guides from your notes. What it does is the step-5 part: you type a topic and it writes a practice quiz on it.
Turn each section into a practice quiz
Once a section is written, test yourself on it. Type the topic into Scholarize's quiz generator (for example "photosynthesis light reactions") and you get a 5-question multiple-choice quiz with the answer and an explanation for every question. You can take one without an account; to see your score and the answers you enter your email, which also sets up a free account, and with it you can make quizzes from your own notes uploaded as a PDF or text file. The free plan includes 2 quizzes a month. Pro is $6.99/month or $39.99/year and includes 100 quizzes a month, or you can pay $19.99 once for a Semester Pass: 4 months of Pro that never renews. The questions are written by AI, so check anything that looks off against your guide.
Questions students ask
What should a study guide include?
One section per exam topic, each with the big idea in one sentence, three to five key ideas in your own words, the terms or formulas you must know, one worked example or diagram, a common mistake to avoid, and three exam-style questions with the answers on the back.
How long should a study guide be?
About one page per topic is a good limit. If a section runs well past a page you are probably copying your notes rather than condensing them.
When should I make my study guide for finals?
Build it during the two weeks before the exam, one or two topics a day, and finish each course's guide a few days before its final so the remaining days go to testing yourself from it.
Can AI make my study guide for me?
AI tools can summarize notes, but writing the guide yourself is part of how you learn it: information you produce yourself tends to be remembered better than information you only read (the generation effect, Slamecka and Graf, 1978). Scholarize does not write study guides; it helps with the testing step, turning a topic into a practice quiz.