As the final four weeks of the Fall Semester loom closer, many college students begin to feel burnt out. Already convinced that their grades are final, students have a tendency to slack off during the final month. Sadly, giving up and laying low are the absolute last things you should do right before the end of the semester.
Final papers and exams are coming up soon. These last assignments are generally worth the most percentage points in most of your classes. Don’t give up now! Instead of following that age-old phrase, “You can sleep when you’re dead,” sleep when you’re alive – you’re likely to be a lot less grumpy and your professors will appreciate people actually doing well on the final exams.
Also, your grades will thank you. You could be doing fine all semester and fail during the final month.
Here are five ways to finish the semester strong:
- Stay healthy!
The final few weeks are when students are known to push themselves the hardest. Unfortunately, this often results in getting sick. If you are worried about getting sick, take some preventative measures! Invest in some cold pills and vitamin C! Drink plenty of water and juice and try not to walk around in the cold without a coat on. Basically, just use some common sense where your immune system is concerned.
- Plan Ahead.
Instead of frantically putting term papers together at the last minute, start planning now! If you have an essay due to two weeks, don’t wait until two days beforehand to come up with a topic. Do your research early: find credible sources, write out the citations now and save yourself a headache later, and write out your thesis statement as soon as you can to give yourself a head start.
- Start studying for exams now.
Alright, let’s be honest – we’ve all waited until the last minute to study for exams that should be easy. Of course, final exams are always harder than originally thought.
Don’t wait until the night before your final and try to cram fifteen weeks’ worth of information into your brain, it never works out well. Also, if your professor didn’t give you a study guide, make one yourself. As you create the guide, you’ll be surprised by how much you learn and remember.
- Get some sleep.
This one should be self-explanatory but I’ll expound anyway. Finals’ week is NOT a good time to stay up all night cramming; get as much of your work done before finals’ week and SLEEP. Your brain will thank you.
- Continue to do the class reading.
I’ve run into so many people – myself included – who quit doing the assigned reading right before finals’ week because you became bored with it. PLEASE do not fall into this trap. Most of the final exam questions deal with material covered in the past month, so you will definitely want to do the reading.
And if all else fails, remember: grades are not the most important thing in life.