The Purpose of Studying

To many individuals the purpose of studying seems obvious, as it appears to simply be a means of preparing for a test so an individual does not fail. However, the purpose of studying is usually somewhat more complicated than this idea alone as there are a variety of different reasons that an individual should study. The reason mentioned above is, of course, the most basic reason that an individual would study a particular piece of information or a particular subject as the individual is simply trying to learn more about that subject so he or she can apply it to the exam and achieve a passing score. However, there are a variety of different types of exams that an individual may have to take at some point and passing the exam may not be the only goal. For example, the SATs and the GREs do not recognize a particular score as passing, but instead establish a scale that represents the individual's knowledge of a variety of different subjects. As a result, the second purpose of studying is not only to make sure that the individual does not fail the exam, but to make sure that the individual achieves a higher score on the exam. These two purposes may seem similar, but the difference is that the individual studying to pass the exam is attempting to achieve the minimum score necessary to pass while the individual studying to get a higher score is attempting to achieve the highest score possible. This is an important distinction to consider because an individual that simply wants to pass may want to focus on studying a particular area of the exam, such as a subject area that is weighted more than the rest of the material on the exam, while an individual that wants to achieve as many points as possible might study all of the material that is covered equally.

The third and final purpose of studying is actually not related to preparing specifically for an exam and is instead related to preparing for an interview or other situation where the individual needs to prove that he or she has the knowledge necessary in a real-life setting. These situations may be difficult to prepare for as there is no written outline to study from, but it may still be important for the individual to study the material. This is because studying the material refreshes the individual's memory and allows the individual to prove to an interviewer, potential employer, or other similar individual that he or she knows the material.