1) Get Ready
Buy or dig out your old highlights, pens, paper, memory sticks, notebooks and staplers – you’ll need them!
2) Make a Checklist
Nothing will make you feel more in control than a checklist of what you have to do. Put things in order of importance, use a colour coding system or put your tasks in date order – whatever feels right to you! This system is great because it means you’ll never accidentally forget to do something. It’s also important to know how much you have to get done in the time you’re given (it’s never enough!) And ticking things off feels great!
3) Using your Checklist – make a timetable
Give yourself an idea of how long you have to focus on each thing (e.g. revision task, essay or dissertation proposal) and try to stick to it. This way you’ll be able to avoid the dreaded last minute panic!
4) Make sure you’ve got everything before you go home
The most important thing you have to do before you go home is make sure you know exactly what you’re doing for each module. Do this by organising your notes and files; that way you’ll know exactly what you have to do and if you’re stuck on it! If you’re unsure or you don’t know how on earth you’re going to do it, now’s the time to email your lecturer and ask for help.
Make sure you’ve got all the books you want from the library and make a list of any online journals with the best articles you know you’ll want to access. Searching around for articles is way harder off campus and not worth the hassle – save yourself some time!
Take home your old marked essays – you’ll be grateful you did! They offer valuable advice on where you went wrong. You might have only glanced at them when you got them back but over the holidays you’ll be grateful to know what’s gonna push from a 2:1 to a 1.
5) Make a revision pack for each examMake a pack for each exam with the necessary seminar readings, Powerpoints, your notes and your current revision. This way you can review it all the time. You’ll feel like you’re really on top of things and it’ll be much easier to memorize quotes when they’re written out clearly. This is pretty much your revision insurance.
6) Relax!
Pack up your stuff. When you get home set yourself up at your desk, make yourself a cup of tea and ignore all distractions – you’ve got this. You will not be having a total meltdown.
Edited by Sam Carey