You totally don’t want to think about it right now, but finals are just around the corner, which means preparing for them is added to your already vast to-do list.
Finals week is the most stressful and uneasy week other than the first day of school looking for your classes. During these times, college students wonder the best way to prepare for tough finals, but can never find that right strategy to succeed.
There are so many different ways that college students can prepare for finals, and here are a few tips to help you get through yours. Consult with your teacher on what you need to study.
Getting good study habits can be hard sometimes and trying to balance school, work, kids and whatever else life offers can make it an easy excuse to cram everything you need to prepare yourself.
“Half hour of one chapter, then going to the next chapter and the next,” Raymond Weaver of Solano College said.
Another way to prepare for your finals is making flashcards which is similar to outlining. It’s a really helpful technique for studying. By making flashcards of notes, students fight half the battle in studying the material.
Another tip that college students can use is forming a study group with fellow students. Studying in small groups can help compare notes with each other and share studying or learning strategies. Quizzing each other can be a fun way to cover course information.
One of the best things to do while you prepare is relax and try to manage time and schedule to give yourself some space to think about getting the most out of your preparation. “Using a reward system to treat you is best,” Professor Phyllis Taylor said about finals while she was in graduate school.
One of the main things to do when preparing for finals is to never rush and to stay calm, and if you do that, you’ll get the most out of what you are preparing for and won’t be nervous on finals week. “Every time I get to finals, I always cramp everything into one night and it never works out,” Andrew Hafield of CCSF said.
What makes Community Colleges great are the resources to help students, especially at Skyline College with tutors and the learning center. You don’t have to be failing or on academic probation to utilize campus resources. Take your final term paper or your math test to the learning center to have someone look it over before you submit it. After all, what do you have to lose other than a failing grade?
The final tip is don’t let panic overwhelm you. Even if you think you bombed the exam, worrying will never change your score. It may, however, affect your mindset for your next final. So zone out the last test, and stay focused on the next one and the next. Odds are it’s all in our head and you didn’t do as badly as you think.
For even more information about studying habits you can go here.
