The beginning of October marks the official start of the Fall season, the perfect time to start planning out those Halloween costumes, and thinking ahead to the trip back home for Thanksgiving. In the midst of all the festivities, lies another important event, midterms. These fall midterms are the first college exam for numerous freshmen and a load of stress for upperclassmen needing to add some good grades to their transcripts. Done incorrectly and midterms can squash your grades as well as your motivation for the rest of the school year. Yet, by implementing some simple planning and, of course, studying, you can crush those midterms and set the tone for the rest of your semester.
Determine your ideal study space:
Everyone has a preferred way of studying. Whether that is in your dorm with your favorite twinkle lights on, at the Den sipping a green tea freeze, or in a study room at the library, figure out where you can focus best. Some factors to keep in mind are: quiet level (complete silence, some background noise, music, etc.), people (studying alone, with a partner, in a study group), and location (dorm, coffee shop, outside, library).
Study according to your learning type:
Everyone has a different learning type (visual, auditory, or kinesthetic) that they learn best by. If you are a visual learner, flashcards, looking over your notes, and drawing out visual pictures and graphs are your best learning tool. For auditory learners, try recording and listening to yourself reading your notes, finding YouTube or Khan Academy videos explaining concepts, or pretend you are the teacher and explaining test concepts to someone else. For my kinesthetic friends, do a lap around the bluff while reading your notes or write out your study guides on a white.
Write out a study schedule:
The worst thing you can do to yourself is study the night before multiple midterms and mix up different study guides from different subjects. This week, I have midterms for Econ and a business diversity class that took place on the same day. Fortunately, I had prepared the week before by studying for econ for two hours Monday, Wednesday, and Friday last week and for business diversity Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Then Sunday, I reviewed each subject for an hour. I blocked out these two hours last week and set multiple reminders holding myself accountable to get this studying done.
I hope you all have a wonderful midterm season filled with colorful study guides, flashcards, and most importantly, ZERO procrastination. Happy studying!