How to build and use a formula sheet

Whether or not the exam allows one, building a formula sheet is one of the best study activities there is.

The act of deciding what goes on the sheet forces you to review everything and to sort it by importance. Students who build a sheet and then are not allowed to use it still score higher, because the building was the studying.

Building it

1. Start from the Mathub formula sheet for the class and the sections on the exam. Print or copy only those.
2. Next to each formula, add in your own words when it applies and one common mistake.
3. Add one tiny worked example for each formula you tend to misuse: the numbers, not the method.
4. Rewrite it by hand once. Handwriting is slow, and slow is the point.

Using it

• During practice, use the sheet and circle every formula you looked up. Those are the ones to memorize; the rest you know.
• If the exam allows the sheet, practice with the same sheet so you know where things are without searching.
• If it does not, quiz yourself from the sheet: cover the right side, produce the formula, check.