Finals week is slowly approaching and now is the time to start studying and preparing for those final exams. If you’re like me, then final exams can cause some serious stress and can overall make you feel like meh. Unfortunately, we can’t get rid of final exams, but what we can do is change how we study for them. In this post, I’m going to be sharing my best-kept secrets on how to study more effectively! These are my tried and true study tips for college that have worked for me throughout pharmacy school and years in undergrad.
Tip #1: Revisit course material
One of the best study tips for college is to revisit all of your course materials and revisit all of your notes for the semester! Depending on if your final is cumulative or not will ultimately decide on how much you need to study for your final exams. I like to organize my study notes on topics or sections to make a large task (such as studying material for an entire semester) more reasonable and tasteful. Keep an eye for any repeated notes or any highlight sections that seem important because if it looks important, it’ll probably be on your final exam!
Tip #2: Plan ahead of finals week
Planning ahead is an essential (and critical) part of preparing for your final exams! I personally like to write down my exams, assignments, and final tests in my agenda using the monthly view calendar. This way I can see ahead of time when my assignments are due and prepare for any upcoming exams. The worst thing that can happen to you in college is completely forgetting about an exam and going to class completely unaware about it (it’s happened I promise!).
Tip #3: Prioritize your studying based on difficulty level
Finals week is literally Hell Week for college students because you get a ton of exams and projects all due back to back. Which is why it’s so important to prioritize your studying based on the difficulty levels of each class. The good thing about taking a variety of classes in college is that some classes are going to come naturally to you while others are going to require a little more effort on your part. Whatever that may be for you is where you start to figure out how to prioritize your studying.
My favorite way to prioritize my studying is to set time blocks for each class, ranking them from the hardest to the easiest, throughout the weeks leading up to the dreaded finals week. By ranking your classes and setting up time blocks, it gives you a written guide of where you need to focus the majority of your time studying and how much. If you don’t already own a planner, then you definitely need to get one ASAP. The one that I really enjoy using when I was in college (I graduate in May!) is the Erin Condren Life Planner (read my full review here!).
Tip #4: Find a conductive study spot
Another study tips for college is finding a safe haven that sparks your studying stride! Whether it be a local coffee shop, your desk at home, or at the on-campus library, having some place to go to get into the study zone is going to make a huge difference in your grades.
The best place to study is somewhere where its quiet, calm, and makes you feel the most comfortable. I used to study in the campus library but seeing everyone in a panic the weeks leading up to finals week really made me stressed out. So now I study in my room or at a local coffee shop where nothing can bother me from the tasks at hand. Find what works for you and make it happen!
Tip #5: Get enough sleep
I feel like this tip is a given, but sleep is so important for your body, mental health, mood, and so much more. I can understand that during finals week, you’ll feel like you have to stay up late to cram in as much material as you possibly can. But let me tell you why you need to get more sleep, especially during finals.
While you sleep, your brain will compartmentalize the material that you studied into short-term and long-term memory, which is great for you in terms of passing your exams. Plus while you sleep, your brain and body hits the reset button and gets to fully relax so when you wake up the following morning, you feel rejuvenated and ready for the day! The best way to get more good-quality sleep is to create a night-time routine and participate in a good sleep habits.
Tip #6: Live a healthy lifestyle as best as you can
During final weeks, it’s more important than ever to eat healthy and to exercise daily. This study tip may sound a little crazy, but I promise it really does make a difference! When you eat crappy food and become a coach potato, you can start to have less energy and your mood may decline. It’s because junk food doesn’t give your body the vitamins and energy that it needs to keeping going.
The same goes with exercise. Exercise gives your brain a physical boost that it needs to remember everything you’ve been studying. Even just eating slightly better than normal and exercising daily during finals week will make a huge difference in the way that you feel and how you perform on your exams.
Tip #7: Make a practice exam (or two)
One of the best study tips for college is to make your own practice exams and test yourself on the material. After a big study session, take a few minutes to write down everything that you remember from a specific topic or section that you just studied. Whatever you don’t write is what you need to focus on. This little secret will help reinforce the material that you’re learning but also give you an idea of where you have gaps.
Don’t like that idea? Another way for you to quiz yourself is to make your own exams or quizzes online using a platform like Quizlet. I’ve been using Quizlet for years and it’s the easiest website to make your own quizzes. To make a good quiz/exam, go through your study notes and create your own questions based off your notes and what you think is important. I have to admit that sometimes when I used to make my own practice exams, it would be pretty darn close to the real one, which greatly improved my exam score!
Tip #8: Live a little
This may sound like a set up, but you have to live a little and give yourself a few breaks in between those long hours of studying. I promise you’ll end up going crazy if you don’t! You have to realize that there’s only so much that you can do to prepare for an exam and that your brain also needs a break from studying all day. You’ll end up being more productive by taking small increments breaks throughout your studying session. For an example, you can study for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break to do something else.
How do you prepare for finals week and your best kept secrets to acing an exam?
This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
