I'm super, ridiculously organized. I don't know how people function without lists, agendas, etc. — but, to each his own. Sometimes it helps me with my grades like I'd hope. Sometimes it doesn't. (Having a Spanish minor is hard...) But, either way, it helps keep me sane when I know what is going on and when. But, let's face it: when we return to campus after Thanksgiving, we have one week and then it's full force toward our dreaded final exams. I'm going to share how I prep for my final exams, and hopefully it'll help take some stress off your shoulders.
1. Find out when and where all of your exams are. It seems like an easy task, but it's pretty imperative to do this first before the rest of your preparing. Most professors will include where and when the final is on their syllabuses, but if not, it'll show somewhere on the university website. Don't forget — if your school is like mine, you can have a final on a Saturday (ugh).
2. Write these dates, times and locations in your calendar. Whether it's a calendar on the wall, a dry-erase board or an agenda (or all three), be sure to write these dates down now so you can have more study time. Take note of the exams you may have on the same day — some universities will allow you to reschedule an exam if you have more than two on one day.
3. During the last week of real class, pay attention to your professor's reviews and comments about the upcoming exam. Your professor is most likely to hold an in-class review, or at least a discussion about the layout of the exam. Note whether each exam is cumulative or new material (or both).
4. Start organizing your notes for each test. For those cumulative tests, go ahead and gather your notes and highlight the important parts of them. Be sure to look at old tests from the semester, too, if you can. Once you've highlighted the important parts of your notes, type (or write) them up in a clean, fresh review. Do the same for your tests that aren't cumulative, it just won't take as much time. If making flash cards or Quizlets helps you retain more information, go for it.
5. Make a study schedule. Make use of your dead days to study. Prior to these, create a study schedule and block out times when you're going to study what topic so that you don't have to cram. Be sure to include breaks to watch one episode of Netflix, make dinner, go to the gym, etc.
6. Make sure you sleep. Don't pull all-nighters — especially during finals week. It's proven that when you don't sleep, your brain won't work as well during your test — even if you have been studying all night. There comes a point where you stop retaining information. I know you've heard this ever since you began taking standardized tests in elementary school, but go to bed early (try to get more than six hours is what my yoga teacher told us), wake up at a decent time, make a healthy breakfast and review your notes for 30 minutes or so. Then, be confident for the final and you're good to go.
Hope these help reduce the stress you're bound to have during finals week (because we're all college students who stress out over these things, right?).
