The Steps To Finals

It was the night before my first semester Honors Biology final. Despite the fact that I had procrastinated, I completed my study guide and felt confident and prepared that I was going to ace the final.

But once I sat down and actually tried to study it, I realized that the night before wasn’t enough for me to remember all the material from the semester. The next morning, I failed my final exam, and my short term prep had done little to help.

After this debacle, I thought I would try to save others from a similar fate. It can be tough, after a long year, to focus on school this close to the break. It may be hard to circle back to the beginning, but here are some interesting tips I’ve discovered to help you get ready for finals.

While time management is always crucial, it is especially important to not procrastinate during finals week. Incorporating goals into your studying is a good way to prevent procrastination. Sometimes, the only way to keep yourself from dying of boredom is to incorporate incentives into your studying. If you promise yourself a heaping bowl of ice cream and a break for working on the English study guide for 45 minutes, then you can be more productive and avoid procrastination.

Most students try to memorize the study guides by reading it several times before finals, which does nothing for the long term.

To avoid memorization, make the curriculum more familiar to you by making little mnemonic devices or setting terms to songs. For a Spanish class, you could try setting the irregular “tu” commands to “Mary had a little lamb”, for a history class you could draw pictures of historical events to help you remember – anything that gets you thinking about the topic.

Another must for finals is making sure you have a plan. Final Grade Calculator+ is an app that helps you calculate how hard you have to study for finals based on the percentage in the class, weight of the final and desired grade in the class.  Knowing what grades you need in each class can help you prioritize what you need to study the most for.

In addition, if a teacher provides an extra credit opportunity, always take it. It may seem like a small effort, but that extra effort might be the difference between an “A” and a ‘B.”

In the days leading up to the final, quiz yourself during any free time. When you are studying alone it will become more productive and easier for you to stay focused because of fewer distractions – even turning off your phone and putting it on the other side of the room is a step in the right direction.

On the night before the exam, look over the study guide just a couple of times prior to bed. You have been studying in days leading up to the test so you don’t need to spend the night before the exam looking through the guide. You should look at it before you go to bed because you tend to remember the last thing you looked at at the end of the day.

When walking into the test, wear clothes that make you the most comfortable. It is also beneficial to walk into the room with a little snack and a bottle of water. By doing so, you are keeping yourself on task during the test and don’t run the risk of getting distracted by things like thirst or hunger.

Take it from someone who has been on both side of finals week – from failing it to acing it.

It was second semester and teachers had handed out the study guides, I was determined to do better this time around. I began to work on the study guides as soon we received them this time, as well as change my study habits.

I sacrificed a Friday to complete my study guide and was finished by the end of the week. I also made note cards for each study guide and began to go through them, reviewing one set of notecards for 20 minutes and then taking a break.

I saw a big improvement with my final exam grades and felt better about my approach to them in the future. And this year, after putting down my Physical Science study guide the night before the exam, I’ll sleep easier knowing my grade will be safe.

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