Finals are around the corner, so now’s the best time to prepare for them. These study tips for finals will help you remember a ton of information, without taking up a million hours of your life.
Although they can be stressful, finals don’t have to be impossible to study for. With easy study strategies and tips, you can become a pro at studying and acing all your finals.
With my own finals quickly approaching, I am starting to make my study schedules and choose my study methods now. Getting ahead of the information earlier is my best way to prevent myself from getting stressed and overwhelmed with all the information.
This post is all about study tips for finals!
create a review guide of the info
As a good base to start your studying, make a review guide of ALL the info that will be on the final. I know that may sound like a lot, but work through the course unit by unit until you get through it all.
Having 5-10 review guides is so much easier to study from than dozens of pages of notes.
Plus, as you make the reviews, you are reminding yourself of all the information and studying in the process.
attend review sessions
If your teacher/professor is holding any review or study sessions prior to the final, attend every single one that you can.
Not only is it another good study tool, but if it is being held by the teacher, it is even more helpful! Most times, they are the person making the final, so they know exactly what topics are on it and will therefore emphasize those in a review session.
start at the right time
With finals, you want to make sure you are starting your studying process at the right time. Starting too early will cause you to forget a lot of the information you studied. However, starting too late will cause you to cram and not understand the information as well.
Finding the perfect middle is so important to learning all the information you have to for the final. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you a set amount of time you need to study. This is going to depend on the student and the class.
Think through the amount of content you need to review and try to work from there to figure out when you should start.
make yourself a schedule
Jumping off that last tip, once you know how early you have to start studying, make a study schedule. These are soooo important for making sure you have time for everything and holding yourself accountable for the studying.
Write down (as specific as possible) when and what you want to study each day leading up to the final.
Of all the study tips for finals, this one is probably the most important and will set you up for a successful studying season.
factor in rest time
While making your schedule, you also want to remember to account for some rest time.
If you were making a plan for the gym, you would include at least one day during the week to rest. The same should be done for a study schedule. Just like your body needs rest, your mind does too.
Whether it’s a whole day of no studying or just a shortened study period, any rest is better than no rest.
prioritize your studying
Especially when studying for multiple finals at one time, you are going to have to prioritize certain topics and classes over others. It is just not feasible and honestly not possible to study every topic for every class at the same time and still have time to eat and sleep.
Instead, pick and choose what’s the most important. Maybe you are naturally better at one subject compared to another. In that case, study more for the class you need more help in and study less for the other. You are still studying for both, just prioritizing your time for what needs more help.
The same can be done for specific units/topics within a class. If you struggle more with one topic, or know it is going to be on the final more, designate more time for that topic.
look after the rest of your life
Studying for finals can feel overwhelming and all-consuming, but you have to remember to take care of the other parts of your life.
Make sure you are still eating regularly, drinking water, and getting as much sleep as you can. In addition to this, do the things that you enjoy as well, whether that’s hanging out with friends, going on your phone, reading, or anything in between.
If you fail to maintain the rest of your life, your studying is going to suffer as a result.
use practice tests
Depending on the class and teacher, there may be practice tests available to you. Whether the teacher gave you practice or you find it online, use whatever you can get your hands on.
The most practice you do, the more prepared you are going to be, the better you are going to do on the final.
rewrite your notes
As another method to relearn some information that you may have forgotten (if it was taught at the beginning of the year/semester), try rewriting your notes. This is similar to making review guides in that it will help refresh your memory of all the information.
study in a study group/pair
Find a group of classmates, or even just one other person, and plan to do some of the studying with them. You don’t have to do everything together, but instead once in a while.
Doing this is not only going to hold yourself accountable for studying, but it will help you learn all the info better as well. Studying with other people will make sure you don’t miss any topics and ensure you understand everything properly.
Plus, it makes studying a million times more fun when you are with some other classmates.
know the right study style
Depending on the student and the information, there are different study methods that might be better or worse. For example, in a math class, practice problems may be the best study method for the final. However, for a history class, you might be better off teaching all of the information to another person to remember it better.
Adapt your study methods and habits to the information you are trying to learn to best remember everything.
Also take into account the format of the final (if you know it) when picking the best study method. Matching your study method to the style of questions you are going to get on the final will help prepare you better.
make it fun
Studying for hours on end is going to cause burnout if you don’t make it engaging in some way. Whether it’s studying with other people, listening to fun music, or rewarding yourself with candy, do something to make it a little more entertaining.
create flashcards
Flashcards are a super easy and useful study tool to memorize a lot of information at once. Not only do you learn and remember the information better when you write it out on a flashcard, but then you are left with a really great study tool to use over and over when studying.
have a good study spot
Just as important as your study method is the location. A solid study spot is so important to actually getting productive work done during your study time.
To learn how to set up the perfect study location, check out this article: My Life-Changing Study Tactics for a Successful Year.
understand, then memorize
With so much information, trying to simply memorize everything is nearly impossible. Instead, aim to understand the information first. Once you got that down, the memorizing is so much easier, and many times just comes naturally.
reward yourself
Like I said earlier, reward yourself for all your hard work studying. You can use little rewards like snacks and candy while you are studying, and bigger things for when you finish.
These shouldn’t be anything crazy or expensive, just little things to motivate you. For example, if you study X amount of minutes/hours, maybe you can reward yourself with tv or phone time.
have a study playlist
Study music is super important for productive work. Every person will have different preferences. Therefore, create a study playlist at the beginning of your studying and use it throughout the study season.
My best tip for choosing music is to pick either calm songs or songs with no lyrics (study-specific music or instrumental music). That way, it will help you work more productively, not hinder your learning.
get rid of as many distractions as possible
Distractions are everywhere when you are studying. And while you can’t get rid of everything, try your best to get rid of as many as you can.
If people distract you, find somewhere private to work. If it’s your phone, stick it in a drawer or leave it in another room. Whatever it is that distracts you, find some way to get rid of it or limit it.
don’t overstudy
Yes, there’s a such thing as overstudying. While it might not hurt your grade, it is only going to waste your time and cause you more stress.
At some point, you are going to know the information if you study the right way. At that time, constantly rereading notes and relearning everything isn’t actually doing anything for you except wasting all your time.
Be able to recognize when you are at your max with the information and then take a step back from the intense studying.
use all the resources you got
Like I’ve mentioned, use any and all resources you are given to study. Whether it’s teacher’s review sessions, practice exams, outlines, or something else, take advantage of it all.
don’t procrastinate
Above all, try your best not to procrastinate your studying. For multiple finals, it is a significant amount of information you are going to need to know.
Cramming it all a few days before the final is going to stress you out and cause you to not know the information. Plan it out, take your time, and do your best to study! These study tips for finals are just a guide to get you going, but it’s up to you to do the actual studying.
This post was all about study tips for finals!
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