I am sure the last thing we all want to think about right now is exams, but this semester has seemed to just fly! At this point, many of us may feel like there’s absolutely nothing that can be done to mend our GPA.
BUT it’s not too late because, with T-3 weeks, we can still manage our time to pull the best grades out of our classes!! Here are some very helpful tips I have learned over the last few years in college:
1. Prioritize
The first thing you’ll need to do to have a successful exam week is prioritize the classes that you need the most help in. Right now would be a good time to go ahead and calculate the grades you would like to have in each class and what grades you need on the exam to achieve those scores. This can help you in the next step to plan how much attention and time should be scheduled for each class in your study sessions!
2. Make a Schedule
This may be the most important part of preparing for exam week because your results boil down to how well you studied. Therefore, making a study schedule a week or so before can help to allot and set aside your time for each subject. This way you can plan ahead and not feel overwhelmed when the week comes near. A plus side to this is you can still plan to get 8 hours of sleep every day!
3. Organize Your Notes
Once you’ve figured out how much time and effort you will need for each class, go ahead pull out your notebooks and binders. Gather all of the notes that the exams will cover and organize them by hardest to least hardest concepts. This way, you can quickly review the easier topics and spend more time on the ones you struggle in.
4. Start Early
One thing that seems to get the best of everyone during exam week is the time crunch. Getting a head start on the notes can help relieve some of this stress leading up to the exam. The last thing we all need is stress acne so help yourself out and start lightly reviewing your notes a week or so before your exams!
5. Study with Friends
One thing you don’t want to do is isolate yourself from any human interaction at all. If you work well in study groups, reserve a room in the library and keep exam week fun! Studying seems to be a little more bearable if you have some friends around! If you don’t study well with others around you, then still make sure to give yourself a short break every now and then to get your mind off of exams.
6. Reward Yourself
During all of this chaos don’t forget to ‘treat yo self’ because that incentive alone may help you to focus! My go-to rule is to give myself a small break after each exam. This may be watching TV, going out to eat with your friends, or even just taking a nap! Trust me, it helps, and you definitely won’t regret it!