It’s that time of the semester again, sadly. As the weather gets warmer and increasingly more enjoyable, finals propel our way full speed ahead. However, the good news is that Summer Break is right behind it. Finals Week is a stressful time for us all, but there are small steps that you can begin to take now, so that the dreaded week goes by as quickly and smoothly as possible.
Finals are officially a month away, so now is the time to plan. Planning is one of the easiest steps to take in preparing for finals. Not only is this helpful for determining when you should study and for what, it’s also helpful to know exactly when you can go home! To start planning the last month of the semester, look up the academic calendar and the final exam schedule so that you know when each of you final exams are. From this point, prioritize which exams are the most important to you. Once you’ve determined these things, you can start to devise a study schedule.
We’ve all done it, but science has proven that cramming last minute is not an efficient method of studying. Instead, it is much more effective and less stressful to chip away a the iceberg piece by piece. Once you know which exam is the most important to you, begin to plan backwards from the date of the exam. When dividing up your time, make sure you spend the most time preparing for the exam that you have deemed the highest priority. From there, continue to divide up by the priority of the exam or assignment. Conquering a little bit of an assignment or studying a section of the material is the best way to retain information and produce a quality product.
On the topic of studying, know what works best for you. If you have a lot of material to cover and retain for a cumulative final, perhaps making a study guide with a detailed outline of each chapter or section is the best way to go. If you can, try to write the study-guide by hand, as it’s been proven that writing notes is betterfor retaining information than typing or reading off of a screen. If study guides are not your thing, try working in a study group with your classmates and meet up once or twice a week to review and discuss material. While there are numerous study methods, it is all about finding what works best for you. The key factor is not procrastinating, no matter how tempting it is!
Long papers often accompany those horrid exams. When tackling a project of great magnitude, it is best to break it up by section. Considering that research papers are a compilation of multiple sections, try working on a section at a time rather than trying to take on the whole paper at once. Not only does attempting to complete a major assignment like this result in a massive amount of stress, it also results in a product of lesser quality than what you are truly capable of. Additionally, when you suffer from large amounts of stress, it impacts your performance in all fields. So, why not put your best foot forward and start early?
Finally, perhaps the most important part of preparing for finals is remembering to time for yourself. This is essential to keeping performance up and keeping a clear mind! This can be as simple as taking ten minutes for yourself each day, or setting up a goal-reward system for each week. This way, you can treat yo’ self every week up until finals and be confident that you earned it!
I hope that you found these tips helpful as you prepare to conquer those finals! If you find yourself in need of additional help, do not forget about the resources that AU has to offer. Our university provides services for exactly these reasons, from the Counseling Center to CLEAR there is always someone there to help. Good luck, you are going to do great!