Finals week at Northampton Community College begins on December 14 and ends on December 19.
That's right. Students only have one more week to cram in a semester's worth of knowledge into their brains just to pour it all back out onto a blue book or scantron sheet.
Finals week is the most dreaded week of the semester for most students, but luckily, most of them make it through unscathed.
All students study differently, but hopefully these few helpful tips can be of some service and help you cope with finals week.
For starters, you need to remember to BREATHE. There is no need to hyperventilate! Take a few deep breathes now and then and just relax. The more stressed out and panicked you are the worse you are going to do on your exams.
I always found a check list to be the best thing to help me get through the overwhelming amount of papers, projects and tests. Write down every single thing you need to accomplish in order to move on to the next semester or to graduate. Put the high priority (or high stress) things on the top of the list. Remember not to stare at the list and think, "How am I ever going to finish all of this!?"
Take one item at a time. When you're finished with something, proudly cross it off your list. You'll feel accomplished instead of swamped.
When it comes to studying for the big final exam, you probably shouldn't do it my way, but it can work. I'm the worst studier ever. I do not study ahead of time. Ever. I like to cram it all into my brain the night (and the few hours) before the exam. Psh, who am I kidding. Half the time I just winged the test. As wrong as that sounds, it has always worked for me. Oh, and just in case you're wondering, yes, I made good grades and even made the Dean's list a few times!
If that way of studying doesn't work for you, then try the more traditional way. Study a little bit every day until test day. Don't overload your brain all in one shot.
Pay close attention to your professor when they are going over what will be on the exam. You don't want to study a whole chapter when it won't even be on the exam!
When you finally complete the exam, do not go back over and recheck your answers. I mean, you can, but I don't recommend it. I am a firm believer that you should always go with your gut feeling. If you go back, you're more likely to start questioning yourself and stressing yourself out even more right in the middle of the test. And there is no worse feeling than knowing you chose the right answer the first time, but changed it at the last minute.
Students have been surviving finals week for a looooonnnnngggggg time. You'll be fine!
Happy studying!
Posted
Dec 07 2009, 02:10 PM
by
Mallory