The most dreaded time of the year is closely approaching: professors are wrapping up the semester with students’ least favorite phrase, “finals week.”
As a college student, it can be pretty stressful battling the warm weather, studying consistently, and taking finals. Here are some tips and tricks to survive finals week at UConn, maintain your sanity, and end the semester on a good note!
Create your own study guide
Most professors give a brief outline of what will be on a final — but it is very rare to have an actual study guide, especially one that will be helpful. This is why is it a great idea to create your own study guide! Most professors if you ask will let you know what chapters will be on the final (ex: chapters 3-9), and with this information, it is best to start from the very beginning (content you may have forgotten throughout the semester). Outline and write it all down in a study guide — that way, while you are putting together a guide, you are also recalling the content which will help you remember the information as a new study technique!
utilize anki & quizlet
If you do not like to write out everything by hand, which I understand can be tedious and tiring especially in a time crunch, I suggest using an online format like Quizlet, the most common flashcard learning website. Quizlet has many options to study from: matching the flashcards, creating a test to study, and more. It is probably the most-used website as a college student I have found! Another flashcard application is “Anki,” which is commonly used for pre-med students to make studying easier, but that does not limit anyone else from using it. It can be difficult to use the application at first, but there are many tutorials to use on YouTube that can really help!
keep track of all your finals dates
Every student’s worst fear is missing their final or oversleeping and not waking up to make it on time. I personally create a widget on my iPhone of the reminders app and put it on my homepage where my social media apps are so that when I’m clicking away on social media, I get reminded of the important assignments and finals to remember. Another technique is to write a to-do list, however I feel like this is ineffective because unless the to-do list is constantly in your space where you will be SURE you will see and remember the dates, it’s just being put away, so it won’t help you.
Don’t procrastinate and get a proper night’s sleep!
Procrastination is a college student’s worst enemy. It seems like a good idea at first: “Oh I can get this done later, it’s not that long of an assignment,” or “Oh I can study later, right?” But when the “later” comes, we end up putting it off even more as the deadline gets closer and closer. This will cause you anxiety and will make you perform significantly worse than if you do get your work done on time and do not procrastinate. It’s hard at first, but think about how great you will feel once you get it over with.
Sleep is a huge topic around exam season as well. You may have heard of your friends pulling all-nighters to make time to study harder. However, studies have shown that sleep deprivation can cause additional stress and impaired thinking-logical skills, attention, and concentration. Why make your exam season even more stressful with no sleep? Sleep is essential to make you feel good — prioritize getting a good night rest of sleep. It doesn’t have to be a full eight hours of sleep, just what you think your body needs. You could sleep for five hours and your body may feel full and refreshed, which is great for you!
q center
Utilizing resources on campus can help you with whatever you are working on in class that you may not fully understand. If you already attended office hours or simply do not like your professor, there are additional ways to get help for your course. I can relate to not wanting to stay for office hours for a certain professor due to their vibe/attitude, but instead of having no help, I utilize the Q Center! The Q Center is a great resource located in the Homer Babbidge Library with student-peer tutors specializing in Physics, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Mathematics, Calculus, Economics and even more! They will also guide you through problems on homework assignments if you do not know how to do the problem. Personally, taking Math 1071Q online with the professor not being helpful at all, using the Q center helped my grade immensely and I cannot thank them enough for saving my grade!
To conclude
Exams are stressful on their own, but on top of that it is very stressful when there are four exams back to back. Finals season is no joke. Prioritize your due dates and try to stay organized to help make studying easier and to help relieve stress before more stress shows up. Utilizing these tips, you will do great on your finals! I have faith in you. And remember, it is not in the end of the world if you fail a final. Granted, if your class average during the semester is good, some professors may give you a curve to help your final grade if they feel like your performance met their expectations.