Why you shouldn't go all in on tests

**TL;DR: Tests are great and all, but you'll probably lose your bet in the long run if you depend only on them.**<br><br><br>If you've been on r/AskTeenGirls or r/AskReddit, you've probably seen those "I got 100% on a math test without studying" posts. If you go through the comments, you'll see a lot of people saying that tests are all they need to do well on an exam. While this strategy might help you get good grades for a while, it will probably fail you down the line. In this post I'll explain why tests are a pretty poor way to study, even if you do get 80-100% on them.<br><br>Let's say you get 100% on a test, and then never review the material before a final exam. Do you think you'll still remember everything? As someone who has tried this, I can promise you that you won't remember shit. You might remember some of the answers to specific questions you've gotten before, but you won't have any idea how to do anything else.<br><br><br>**The Purpose of Tests**<br><br><br>Tests are meant to give you an idea of how well you understand the material. They're supposed to give you a chance to go through what you've learned, without having to do all the work of making flashcards, doing practice problems, or making a study guide. They're also meant to help you figure out what you need to work on, so you can review it later. You're not supposed to use them as your only means of studying, but a lot of students do.<br><br><br>**Practice problems are better than tests**<br><br><br>I would argue that practice problems are better than tests for several reasons:<br><br><br>* They're often more difficult, which means that you'll have to put more effort into figuring them out. You'll have a better understanding of the material because of this.<br>* You'll have more opportunities to actually practice the material. If you do a few practice problems, you'll have done more to actually practice the material than if you do 10 tests.<br><br><br>**Tests aren't a good way to find your weakpoints**<br><br><br>If you only do tests to study, you'll hardly ever find out what you need to work on. With practice problems you can pinpoint a specific problem that you're struggling with, which means you know exactly what you need to review. With tests, you don't really see that. You might know that you need to review a certain subject, but you'll still have to find a good place to start reviewing from.<br><br><br>**Conclusion**<br><br><br>I think I've made it pretty obvious that I don't think tests are a good way to study. You'll have to review the material at some point, and it might as well be now, when it's fresh in your mind. I still do tests, just not as often as I used to. The way I study now is to do as many practice problems as I can from the textbook, and then go back and do tests until I get 90% or higher on them. I might change it up later, but it seems to be working for now.<br><br>If you have any other methods of studying you'd like to share, please do so. I'd love to hear other people's perspectives on this.<br><br>EDIT: I think a lot of people misinterpreted the title and thought it meant literally betting on tests, but I just meant betting on tests as a means of studying.