I've been preparing for two months and I feel like I'm not making any progress. I'm using apps like Khan Academy and watching videos on YouTube, but I don't know if I'm actually studying or just wasting time. Does anyone have a plan that actually works?
Are you measuring in some way which topics are sticking with you and which aren't, or are you just moving forward for the sake of it? The thing is, after two months without feeling any progress you're probably studying without real feedback: you need to do full practice tests, timed and graded, to figure out where your actual gaps are. Khan Academy and videos are fine for spot review, but they don't replace practice under pressure, which is what's actually going to happen on the exam.
Watch out for something nobody mentioned: a lot of people waste energy perfecting topics they already know while ignoring what's hard for them. Prioritize based on results, not on what seems easiest to study. Do a practice test, identify which areas have frequent mistakes, focus there for a week or two, and then take another practice test to check that you've improved.
What works for you depends a lot on how you learn, but after two months feeling stuck, the problem is probably that you're consuming content without actually practicing. Khan Academy and YouTube are fine for understanding topics, but you need to do full practice tests regularly and go over the ones you miss by figuring out exactly where you get stuck. A plan that usually works is: two or three hours of focused study daily (not spending all day watching videos), practice with past exams at least once a week in full, and spend more time on what's hard for you instead of reviewing what you already know. If after a week or two doing this you're still not feeling progress, consider switching resources or finding someone to help you review your wrong answers.
The problem is you're in passive mode: watching videos and doing random exercises isn't the same as actually studying. You need a plan that forces you to practice what you don't know, not repeat what's easy.
What works is studying in small thematic blocks (not all at once), doing exercises on that topic until you get them right, and then doing full practice tests to get used to the pace. If you've gone two months without feeling progress it's probably because you're watching too much and practicing too little, or only practicing what you already know. Dedicate an hour a day to explanatory videos max, the rest should be exercises and practice tests.
Also try working with a timer on your practice tests. The ICFES isn't just about knowing the answers, it's about being able to answer everything in the time they give you. There's a ton of people who know the stuff but don't finish because they don't train under that kind of pressure.
Here's the thing that almost nobody mentions: two months without progress almost always means you're studying random topics instead of doing full practice tests, and that's deadly for the ICFES because the exam is more about mental stamina and time management than knowing everything perfectly. Spend a week doing one complete practice test (without stopping, no distractions) to see where you're actually struggling, then focus only on those topics with exercises of that specific type, not general videos - videos are for understanding concepts, but real practice means solving problems like it's test day.
The ICFES measures how fast and accurate you are under pressure, not how much you know about each topic in the abstract. If you've spent two months watching content but never done a full 3-hour practice test straight through, that's your problem right there! The others are right that you need to practice, but what nobody mentions is that you have to do it exactly like the real exam: timer, no breaks, no going back. Spend a whole week just doing full practice tests (even if they're from free platforms) and you're going to see exactly where you're actually stuck, because that's information no YouTube video is going to give you.
Two months without seeing progress is almost never the fault of your tools but how you use them, and the people who say you need to do full practice tests are right, but they're leaving out the most important part: before doing a whole practice test, you need to figure out exactly which topics are killing you (math, critical reading, whatever) and focus only on those for a week. Videos and Khan Academy help, but they're just warm-up; real studying is solving hundreds of questions from past ICFES exams, writing down where you messed up, understanding why you messed up, and drilling those specific topics until it becomes automatic. If after two months you're still just watching content without actually solving real problems, of course you're not making progress - it's like training on a bike only on flat ground and expecting to win in the mountains.
Don't waste energy memorizing formulas or watching videos on topics you already know well; that's where your time disappears with nothing to show for it. What's probably holding you back is that you're not doing full practice tests under real conditions - actually timed and without breaks - because the exam isn't about knowing isolated things but about being able to solve 100+ questions in just a few hours without losing your mind. Set up a schedule where you do at least two complete practice tests each week (one on the weekend if possible) and then review only what you got wrong, not everything from scratch. You'll feel the difference in at most three weeks.
Two months without feeling any progress is a pretty clear sign that something in your method isn't working, but not necessarily because you're being lazy 😅 the thing is, Khan Academy and YouTube are passive tools if you don't use them right. What you should do is: pick one specific topic each day (don't jump between several), study the theory for 20-30 mins max, and then spend the rest of the time solving exercises on that topic until you do them automatically. If you keep making mistakes on a concept, write down exactly what the error was and go back to that part of the theory.
The most important thing a lot of people miss is that you need full practice tests every week, not random exercises. Do a complete practice exam (there are real ones online), time yourself like it's the actual test, no interruptions, and then thoroughly review what went wrong. That shows you where you actually stand and where the gaps are. From experience, after doing a practice test a lot of things that seemed fuzzy become clear because you see how the topics connect.
And hey, one tip that helps: download a file or use a spreadsheet with the topics you need and mark what you've mastered, what you almost have, what you don't. Update it every week 📋 that way you see real progress (even if it's small) instead of flying blind. Two months is enough to advance a lot if you do it strategically, but "studying" without knowing what you're trying to improve is like watering plants randomly hoping a tomato will grow 🌱
If you don't see progress after two months, you're probably just consuming content without actually measuring what's sticking and what isn't - and that's different from what they said above, because it's not just "studying without retention," it's that you never did a real diagnostic. Grab a full practice test, solve it under real conditions (time limit, no breaks), and then brutally analyze which topics destroyed you; only then focus hard on those, not on everything again.
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