I’m back with another guide to acing your finals! As an Ivy League student at a pretty competitive university, I know that studying for finals can be a daunting and stress-inducing task. This is why planning for your finals is VERY important. It reduces stress and keeps you on track for wrecking the finals curve. This type of planning has worked for me so far and gotten me some bomb-ass As on my finals. I really hope it works for you guys too!
Part 1: Figuring out your time frame
First, make a list of all your exam dates. Do this by going through your syllabi. While you do so, make a mental or physical note on what the final will test. Is it cumulative? Is it mostly material from the last part of the semester?
After you do so, open up your calendar. Or, print one out or make your own. You can see mine below.
Part Two: When are you going to study?
On the top write the dates for the midterm/final in question. Personally, I have a Bio final and midterm within a week of each other so I decided to combine my study plans. Then write the exams at the appropriate date on your calendar. I wrote mine in dark blue ink.
Go through the syllabi and break down your studying into parts. I broke mine down by lecture. My bio class has three units and I wrote the number of lectures for each unit on the top right.
Figure out what days you can realistically study. I have fewer classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and the weekends. Highlight these days on the top. (I have done this in blue)
Now allot each part of your material (for me, each lecture) to a certain day. For me, you can see that I denoted each lecture by the Unit and the lecture number (U_L_) Notice that I put more lectures to go over on the days when I am most free (i.e weekends). Make sure you take into account the date of the lectures. Some Unit 3 material has not been taught yet so I had to allot review times for this material at later dates.
When you allot your review times, make sure you try to finish all your material a couple days before your exam. This way, you can give yourself some extra time to go over things you missed, ask your professor questions, or even make up for missing a review day. I have given myself two days before my Bio final and one day before my Bio midterm.
The last day before the exam should be for a final review. THIS SHOULD NOT BE A DAY WHERE YOU ACTUALLY LEARN A LOT OF THINGS. The aforementioned leads to cramming, which tends to be NOT good. On this day, you need to refresh your memory rather than learn things for the first or second time.
If you want to put multiple study plans on the same calendar, go for it. I have attached my final version for Bio and my neuroscience class below. Color code your different subjects with different highlighters. I highlighted everything bio related in blue.
Part Three: What are you actually going to do on these days?
You can also repeat these steps for the rest of your classes. You can even use multiple calendars for each class if it helps you visualize better. For me, I would like to know everything I have to study on a certain day so I just put everything on one calendar. You can see my final product below.
Yay! By now you should have finished planning! Now onto the real part, studying. On the back of your calendar, write down how you plan to study. What will you do on the days you allotted for review? What will you do on the days you allotted for learning material? How will you test yourself? For example, I generally like to make flashcards based on the powerpoint and the accompanying spoken lecture material on Anki. Then I review them as much as I can. Before I learn another lecture’s worth of material, I plan to go through the already made Anki flashcards to keep everything in my memory.
Double Yay! Now you’re ready to study! Remember to stay on track, do your best, and you should be well on your way to acing your exams!
Good luck! I hope you all have a wonderful end to your semesters!
1. Get your electronics out of the way. I’m a huge advocator of technology in the classroom. But no so when you’re in your bedroom. I remember I had a chemistry exam the next day and I slept at midnight reading a novel. Even though I knew the material and the answers, I couldn’t finish the test on time because I was slower than usual and couldn’t concentrate. SLEEP IS IMPORTANT. So get your phone, tablet, laptop all out and just sleep. Learn from my mistakes people.
2. Take a day off and meal prep the shit out of your week. When I’m in exam week, I forget to eat. My bodily needs go on vacation to a dark corner of my mind and I simply forget about them until I’m at the verge of collapse from hunger and dehydration. What I did last year to avoid this is to have healthy food at hand all times by meal prepping inexpensive, light and nutritious snacks that can survive in the fridge.
3. Have your professor’s email or phone number. We are not perfect so from time to time, we are bound to cram everything in a day. In these days, it’s very beneficial to have your professor’s contact info to ask relevant questions. Be bold and ask right away if they have past tests so you can train with them in those lasts couple of hours. When cramming, it’s best to practice instead of reading. Your professor can make a huge difference in this game.
4. Make an efficient summary. If your professor isn’t willing to help (I see you Law Prof), then I recommend you to take notes using the chapter outline. You know that one page where they outline the chapters paragraph and give it numbers? It’s been extremely useful to me. Why? Because the paragraphs are usually named after the main ideas of the subject. Let me give you an example. One of my introductory classes was Marketing. The first chapter is named Wat is Marketing? The first paragraph is The definition of marketing, the second The marketing concept and the last one The role of marketing in a corporation. So knowing the answer to these 3 paragraphs should give you a strong idea of what marketing really is. A 20-page chapter was easily summarized in only 3 paragraphs. This saves me lots of time and I’m able to identify the most important info right away.
5. Organise a study session with your classmates. I have saved and have been saved by these. Just gather around 4-6 people from your class. Then make sure each one of you has mastered a part of the study material. Then teach what you’ve learned from the others. At the same time, you get to learn too without doing a lot of research.
6. Search it up. If you understand something, the esier it is for you to remember. So if you don’t understand the explanation the professor gave you, ditch him and go look on the internet for a video or article that explains it easier (or slower) for you.
7. Don’t cram it at the last minute. Yes, don’t do it. It’s likely not going to stay in your mind and it will only give you more stress. I would rec to stop learning all together some 5 hours before the exam and take a nap instead so you feel more fresh and relaxed.
8. Once you get your test, write all formulas, mnemonics and models. I like to do this before even reading the first question. This way I get all the tools I need out of my mind right away. Therefore I’ll have more space in my mind to think about the actual questions instead of thinking “what was the formula for that again?” and enter in panic.
The exam is coming really soon. Be organize your exam dates (Time & location) and keep motivated! YES! WE CAN DO IT!!!!! (ﾉ｀△´)ﾉ
Click HERE to download the printable (PDF). Please save the file to your computer and open with Adobe Acrobat Reader. Otherwise, it will not work correctly and colors may display completely different. Please let me know if you are having trouble downloading the file.
Please note, I am creating my own website now and will move all printable there. Don’t worry, I will provide them for free even though I move to my site. Until then, please download it from my Google doc.
* Important note: This file is copyrighted and Personal Use (non-commercial) ONLY! Please Do NOT Copy and Edit. Please Do No distribute and sell these files or upload them to other websites.
Hello, people! The time has come: I will teach you the secret to study for three days and remember everything for your test. This is a hardcore studying session so I would recommend to only do it when you are truly freaking the fuck out. Now, I must tell you: It’s gonna involve some hard work, so sit comfortably because we’re about to start:
REMINDER: YOU DON’T NEED TO DO THIS IN A ROLL. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE DONE DURING THE COURSE OF THE DAY.
REMINDER 2: REMEMBER TO EAT, DRINK WATER AND GET ENOUGH REST. YOU DON’T NEED TO FORGET ABOUT YOUR HEALTH IN ORDER TO GET BETTER GRADES.
DAY 1
First reading of your main textbook
Second reading + highlighting
Research more about the topic (internet, other books, talk to your friends, etc)
Resume everything (notes)
Do a mind map of main points
If what you’re studying needs something to be memorized “word by word” (such as: meanings, processes, references, chemical reactions, etc), write it down and put it on your wall. You’re gonna read it several times during the day.
Write down the topics and key words on a reference paper (you’re gonna take this paper everywhere, forcing your memory to expand from those simple key words)
Review your notes
Do ten exercises (questions)
Review your notes + exercises
Watch a video class
You’re done for today. Good job. Now rest, tomorrow is a new day.
DAY 2
Review your notes
Read them out loud
Read them again, but this time record yourself
Listen to it. Twice.
Review your notes before bed
DAY 3
Review your notes + listen to your recordings from yesterday
Do 30 exercises (questions)
Review notes + exercises
Listen to your recordings again
Review your notes one more time.
FANTASTIC JOB! Now it’s your time to rest. If you’re feeling like it, read your notes one more time before bed.
One more time,this is a heavy studying session, and not supposed to be done all the time. Remember to take care of your health and take several breaks during the day. If you don’t need, there is no need to do everything listed here.
How comprehensive are those topics? Add that to your topics e.g. with +/o/- (- -> not comprehensive, + ->
very comprehensive)
How many days do you have till you
exam? You might consider about a week as balance for the things you don’t get
done in time
How much time do you have on which
days? Write down the days of the week and mark (e.g. with +/o/-) whether you
have much time to study on this day, a little bit of time or no time at all.
Also keep in mind that you have to do other stuff for school/university at the
same time.
Make a time table from the day you
start studying to the day of the exam.
Now you fill in what to study on
which day. Consider your notes. Maybe on Monday you have much time so you fill
in a topic which is more comprehensive. On Wednesday you have no time at all so
you don’t fill anything in. On Friday you have a little bit of time so you fill
in a topic, which is less comprehensive. You can split very comprehensive topics on different days of course. Try
to be realistic.
![techblur:
“ ↳ 26 april 2018 – 47/100 days of productivity
“ IT security and management notes!
currently studying: types of malware and their characteristics
[follow my studygram]
” ”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/3594ecee7f737c7f48573f888aa2cfce/tumblr_p7qd19VKHq1uhhfz1o1_500.jpg)
![techblur:
“ ↳ 26 april 2018 – 47/100 days of productivity
“ IT security and management notes!
currently studying: types of malware and their characteristics
[follow my studygram]
” ”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/a8db8c1d2580e9fdb3f802fd190d9d3c/tumblr_p7qd19VKHq1uhhfz1o2_500.jpg)
![techblur:
“ ↳ 26 april 2018 – 47/100 days of productivity
“ IT security and management notes!
currently studying: types of malware and their characteristics
[follow my studygram]
” ”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/6a0089ad947b14fc3bc33408f1a0cc64/tumblr_p7qd19VKHq1uhhfz1o3_500.jpg)
![techblur:
“ ↳ 26 april 2018 – 47/100 days of productivity
“ IT security and management notes!
currently studying: types of malware and their characteristics
[follow my studygram]
” ”](https://64.media.tumblr.com/fed3897053926a5cce0812bfb7ee9ec5/tumblr_p7qd19VKHq1uhhfz1o4_500.jpg)
