Nobody likes studying. Even with music and snacks, it’s boring and easy to get distracted. Plus, it’s hard to know what to study, how much to study, and how to effectively study. With finals right around the corner, I put together a list of different ways to prepare for them. Not every method works for every type of test or for every person, but if you find yourself falling asleep on your textbook, try out one of these alternate methods.
1. Study with your classmates.
This is especially useful if the class is really hard. Find a spot in the library or in a study lounge and quiz each other or work problems together. By studying with other people, you guys can hold each other accountable.
2. Study with your friends.
This can easily backfire. However, if you’re better at studying the material by yourself, then inviting your friends over and everyone studying for different tests is a good way to still find time with your friends even when you’re all really busy. Plus, taking study breaks with friends is more fun than study breaks by yourself. This is actually one of my preferred methods because most of my tests involve memorization, which makes studying very boring.
3. Try flash cards (physical or digital).
This method is really good for memorizing vocabulary and concepts. The only drawback is that it’s time-consuming, but studying in general is time-consuming, and this is a great way to make good use of your time.
4. Reread or skim through the textbook.
I’ve found that skimming through the textbook looking at charts or key quotes can be very useful. It can help you remember the big ideas of the chapter and catch things that you may not have put in your notes.
5. Highlight, rewrite, or reformat your notes.
Sometimes your notes can get jumbled up. It can be frustrating to try to decipher the important information from the other stuff that you wrote down. If you don’t want to sort through the mess every time you study or you’re bored reading through your notes, reformat them. I do this for most of my English literature classes. On a fresh sheet of paper I’ll write the author and their work with a few key ideas about it and a few key quotes, and I’ll repeat this for everything that we’ve read. Once I’m done, I have everything that I need to know condensed to a few pages and I don’t have to flip through all of my notes.
6. Explain important concepts to your friends.
If you have a concept-heavy course, find a friend that hasn’t taken the class and try to explain the important concepts that will be on your test to them. By explaining the ideas out loud, you’ll understand them better and be prepared if you have to explain them on the test.
7. Practice equations or redo your homework.
Nobody wants to redo their homework. It sounds boring, frustrating, and nerdy, but it could help you, especially with math. One of the best ways to study math is to practice it. This will increase your confidence with working the problems and should help you realize what you still need to work on.
Whatever your study method, the end of the semester is almost here. Study hard and good luck on your finals!