4 Tips on Studying for Finals

By Tiffany Sy on December 1, 2016

How was everyone’s Thanksgiving break?  Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time to head into the last two or three weeks left of school, which means finals are coming up.

Really, who likes finals? I know I don’t (except if they aren’t cumulative). Anyway, finals can be dreadful. You may be cramming or you may also be winging it. I don’t recommend winging it and I certainly don’t recommend cramming (although I have done it once or twice). It’s just not healthy for your brain and it really doesn’t show who you are as a person.

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Since you have worked so hard to get to this point, why not go hard at it with your finals with these tips that I have used in the past to make studying for finals a little less intimidating?

1. Start studying weeks in advance.

Whether it be one week or two weeks, I recommend it. Even though you don’t know what may be on the final, at least plan. What I did two weeks in advance of the day of the final, I would write on my calendar what I would do on what day; this method makes studying for your class a lot more manageable instead of studying for 10 chapters two days in advance.

If keeping to-do lists is hard, I always like crossing the task off once it’s done. For example, on each day, I would do one chapter, which may consist of looking at the chapter in the textbook and in my notes. Closer, I would do the quizzes and tests. On the day before, I would go over the study guide and on the day of, I wouldn’t usually do anything because to me, that’s cramming.

2. Go to review sessions.

Some teachers may have review sessions that they schedule outside of class, and I really liked this when I attended UC Davis. It was really helpful because the professor would answer any questions and would go over problems in class that I would not know the solution to. If the professor schedules this, then go. If not, then possibly suggest the idea in class or outside of class. If space permits, then feel free to ask around and see if other professors have review sessions and drop by.

3. Go to office hours.

This concept ties in really well with the above. Not only should you go to office hours when finals are nearing, go to office hours in general. I did not recognize the importance of this until later in my education but it’s really helpful. In some cases, the professor might not be so nice in his or her office hours (which happened to me, which is why I am not a big fan of office hours), but if the professor is nice and willing to help you, then take the time out of your day to visit.

If it’s hard with your schedule, then see if he or she can help you over email or at a different time.

4. Relax.

As I said above, you’ve worked hard and come this far in the semester or quarter so why not go out with a bang? I also mentioned that on the day of, I do not usually study or review. That messes with my brain and makes me forget/blank out when I get the exam.

What I like to do on the day of the exam is to listen to music — particularly classical music. I don’t know if the saying is true with classical music but I mean, why not? Classical music is a nice melody that helps you keep the nerves down and makes you feel at ease if your tenses are really high if it’s a big exam. So just relax, make smart, educated guesses if need be, and don’t leave anything blank — at least try.

There you have my four tips on studying for finals. Do you have any studying tips that you use that I did not cover here? If you do, I would love to know. Anyway, keep up the good work everyone.

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