This post is all about how to get through finals week.
If you’re on the edge of getting the grade you want in a class and your finals are next week, then I’ve got bad news for you. You messed up, you goof.
I don’t mean to attack you if this is your first time on Lily-Anne’s Way but waiting until the last minute to decide on doing well was a bad idea.
This week is my finals week of college. Since I am currently spending almost all of my time studying for my finals, I thought it would be a good idea for me to give you tips on how to prepare for your finals for your future semesters. I can confidently say that I followed about 85% of my tips that are listed below.
My highest grade this semester so far is an A+ and my lowest grade a B+ so far. Hopefully, after I take these finals and study as hard as I possibly can (despite me spending my time writing this post), I’ll have all A’s across all my classes this semester. But if I end up with a B+ in one of them, no big deal. I still passed, right?
Unfortunately, my tips for how to get through finals week will only work if you started preparing for your finals from the very beginning of the semester. But since you’re already here, you might as well take my tips and make use of them for your future semesters.
If you’re in your last semester of college/ university…. Good luck buddy.
This post is all about how to get through finals week.
Disclaimer
I am not an expert studier and only speak from my personal experience as a college student. I cannot guarantee that you will get the grades or success that you want from my study tips; however, I can guarantee that you will be better off than you were before you had my tips. I will not be held responsible for any decisions that you decide to make based on these tips below. You, the reader, must-read at your own risk and use the contents of this post for informational purposes only.
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Let’s begin.
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How To Get Through Finals Week
1. Save All Your Notes From Previous Semesters
You’ll be surprised how much good information is in those past notes.
I recently used a powerpoint from a couple of semesters ago to do some of my assignments and it was a significant help. My notes provided me with the content that I knew existed but didn’t remember the concepts of. I only answered some of my questions correctly because I had saved previous notes.
Besides the benefit of using past notes on current assignments, there are other benefits to using them too. A lot of classes in college or university require you to remember your previous knowledge to get through future classes.
For example, math class. You won’t be able to do calculus if you can’t do algebra problems. All of the content builds on each other.
So, if you plan on unintentionally forgetting details from your past semesters, I highly recommend you keep your past notes to refresh your memory when you need to know the content later on. If you don’t save your notes, there is a less preferred alternative option.
2. Go To Office Hours Throughout The Semester
If you don’t want to keep your past notes out of laziness, you could try and ask your new professors to refresh your memory. But let me warn you that they may dislike you very quickly if they figure out that you didn’t bother trying to help yourself before you asked them for their help.
When students go to professors not knowing any previous content, they will get the impression that you are one of the lazy students that are deciding to learn on your own time (or if they’re nice, they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt). This behavior shows that you don’t respect the professor’s time and expect the professor to drop everything to teach you the material again.
Besides getting content refreshers from your professors, you can see them as people too and appreciate their time. If you form relationships with your professors, show them that you care about school, and show how hard of a working student you are, they will be more willing to help you out. At the end of the semester, they might even bump you up a letter grade if you’re only a few points away. (Don’t rely on this tactic though).
For the best benefits, make sure you are forming genuine relationships with your professors.
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3. Get As Many Points As You Can On All Assignments Leading Up To Finals Week
I always go into every semester with the intention of getting as many points as I possibly can. You may think I am a try-hard student and I probably am, but because I work so hard in the beginning, it gives me a larger cushion to mess up later.
The more points you get throughout the semester, the more cushion you have in the event that you somehow mess up on your finals (redundant, I know).
At the beginning of the semester, your brain is pretty fresh. You’re not too overwhelmed and have the energy to put your all into all the assignments.
Do all the homework assignments and quizzes as close to perfection as possible. Do every extra credit assignment that is offered. I’m even that student that bothers the teacher to give me some points back because of some grading errors. Sometimes they miss count or they input the wrong grade into the grade book. Every point counts because they all add up in the end.
Even if you don’t think you need it, you should do your best and take all the possible points that are given because you never know when you’ll end up pulling an all-nighter and bomb an exam the next day. I warned you.
Set yourself up for success from the very beginning.
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4. Form Study Groups
When you form study groups, you can get a piece of everyone’s brain and create a giant knowledge bank of all the information right before the exam that you wouldn’t have had if you were alone.
But the biggest benefit of all from forming study groups is that you are with other like-minded people that you can relate to. You are all stressing about your finals. You are all partially confused on certain topics. But most importantly, you are all facing your struggles and concerns together.
There is something about doing stressful things with other people that makes the entire process much easier.
Studying with a group of people also makes you have less stress overall too. Instead of you carrying all the stress and weight, the emotions are distributed between every single one of you.
Maybe I said the same thing twice, but I’ll leave both sentences in case only one or the other makes sense to you.
So, form study groups, make friends and help each other pass the final exams with your different areas of knowledge.
5. Review Your Notes Constantly
Review your notes constantly especially if all your assignments and exams are cumulative. This study habit can be applied to any class but it wasn’t until I took organic chemistry II that it is very important for me to review my notes constantly.
I don’t know if you’ve taken organic chemistry II yet or ever have to but to pass the class, you need to remember every reaction you ever learned in both organic chemistry I and II. Trust me, there is a lot.
If I had not been reviewing my notes and making sure I remember each reaction throughout the entire semester, I would not be doing as well as I am in this class. There are too many reactions to cramming and studying the night before an exam.
It is recommended that you review your notes after every lecture because the human attention span is small. Most of what you had written down in the class is most likely forgotten. Reviewing your notes right after gives you that memory boost.
So, if you want to pass your cumulative finals, you need to make sure you are constantly reviewing your notes for every chapter throughout the entire semester to make sure you don’t forget any details.
Ending Note
Those are all the tips and tricks that I have for how to get through finals week. Hopefully, you’re reading this so that you can prepare for your next semester’s success and not when you’re about to take a final exam tomorrow.
I wasn’t lying when I said my tips would only help you if you started preparing for your finals from the very beginning. Maybe you’re a smarty and don’t need my tips.
Let me know in the comments about how you approach your finals. Are you a preparer like me? Or do you deal with it when it comes around and adjust to what you see fit last minute?
Doing whatever works for you and helps you pass is all that matters, really.
Have a good day and good luck with your final exams!
This post was all about how to get through finals week.
P.S.
Please take care of your health. Don’t forget to eat. Don’t forget to drink water. Give yourself a break. Hurting yourself from this one week is not worth the long-term health issues you’ll have for years into the future. Trade the candy for some fruit instead.
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