Managing Your College Finals As I finish up my undergraduate I look back and realize that I have taken dozens of finals throughout my time at college and I have gained a better understanding of what it takes to do well during finals week. These principles apply to both traditional schooling or online classes.
1. Your Goals and Priorities Time is a very valuable commodity and it is the once thing that we all share equally. Individuals vary in what they choose to do with their time and how much they can accomplish during the time they are given. Depending on who you are as an individual you may require more time when it comes to studying and you need to allocate your time according to your goals. Some classes are more important than others. Perhaps you need a good grade in a class as part of your program. Perhaps you need to spend some time on easier classes to get A’s to boost your GPA. Understand your priorities and list your classes in order.
2. Schedule Your Time The first part of this principle requires you to look through the material you need to study and about how long it will take you to master the material. You gain this skill through experience but it is still useful to estimate as a freshman. Now that you know how long it will take schedule your finals and the amount of time you will spend for each class. Most likely you will not be able to spend as much time as you would like. This is the part where your priorities are important. Spend more time with the valuable classes rather than spreading your time equally among them.
3. Live Healthily Just because it is final week does not mean you start treating yourself poorly. Continue with your normal sleeping hours, eat healthily, and exercise daily. With better health you will feel better, more motivated, and more capable. If you need to stay up to study do so until you notice that your ability has decreased significantly. At that point head to bed and if you still have studying left to do get up early to do it rather than staying up too late. Avoid stimulants like energy drinks which will give you a boost with a bunch of caffeine but will result in you feeling drowsy and sick after the effects wear off.
4. Day of the Test Make sure that you sleep well the night before and eat in the morning. You definitely do not want hunger cravings in the middle of your test. Plan to arrive early at the testing center, or get up early and on the computer for your online test. This helps you avoid any unseen problems in travel or software and avoids and pre-test stress. Spend twenty minutes skimming over the material you have been studying to make it top of mind. Memorize specific material you may forget (like equations) and write it down on your test the moment it starts. Relax you have studied hard and will do well. Photo Pin: photosteve 101, Jorge Elias, Alberto G.