Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall - no matter what season it is, at Cornell it is ALWAYS Prelim SZN.
A major conversation starter at Cornell is Prelims. "Hey how are you?" "Busy, you?" "Good. Do you have a lot of prelims coming up?" "Yeah I have..."
Everywhere you go on campus you will either see someone studying for a prelim or hear people talking about them. They are never ending. To help you get through the brutality, I have created a guide to help you survive Prelims.
1. Explain to your non-Cornell friends what Prelims are.
When venting to your home friends about your stress level for a prelim, each one of them will question you and ask: "What's a prelim?" "Is it like a midterm?" "Why can't you just call it a midterm?"
2. Plan out your studying.
On top of your hours upon hours of Prelim studying, you will have other work in all of your other classes including that class as well. It's Cornell, what else did you expect?
3. Study. Study. Study.
As annoying it is, as easy it is to get distracted, you need to study. You are competing against everyone else in your class. If they are studying hard, you need to be studying hard too.
4. Find "your spot" in the library.
Cornell's libraries are the social hubs of the school. As ironic as this may sound, the library may just be the hardest place to do work - unless you find the perfect spot. There are the "stacks" and many other hidden places in each library. Find yours!
5. SLEEP
With libraries like Olin and Uris that are open until 2 AM, it is enticing to work there until you get kicked out. Everybody needs sleep. There is ALWAYS that certain point where you read and read and the information goes everywhere besides your brain. If you are tired, sleep. Overworking is counterproductive.
6. When your prelim is done, it is done.
There is a HUGE chance that you are going to walk out of your test saying, "I failed". Do not stress about a test that is finished and that you have no more control over. Instead, celebrate that it is done!
7. Lastly and most importantly: ignore everything that you just read.
Prelims are annoying and hard. Everyone handles them their own way. No one knows what they are doing, so don't listen to other people's "tips". Do what you think is best!