ACADEMIC SUCCESS GUIDE RESIDENT LIFE | Fall 2021
Dear Terps, This fall has been an adjustment back to in-person classes and a full return to campus. We are proud of the progress you have made this semester despite the continuous challenges throughout the pandemic. For this final stretch, we’ve compiled helpful tips, strategies, and resources to help you be successful in your final exams and projects. We are always here to help you succeed!
Wishing you success in your final exams and a restful break!
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Tips for Success
EXAM PREPARATION Preparing for final exams is a process that happens over time. You should be preparing for exams every day. Space out your studying and utilize different preparation techniques to achieve success. Try out the following techniques to improve your study and exam preparation game this semester. •
Create an exam season preparation plan. Include dates, times, and locations of exams along with the type of final (take-home, paper, multiple choice, essay, short answer, etc.). Note how much time and what materials you will need to successfully prepare for each final exam or assignment. Read about the course content to be covered before class.
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Spaced repetition is the practice of studying the same information, repeatedly, over time. The more times your brain sees specific information, especially if there is time in between touchpoints, the more likely you are to retain the information.
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Do you procrastinate? Challenge yourself to do one small thing at a time. Start by putting your book on the desk, then challenge yourself to get your syllabus out of your bag. It might be overwhelming to think about your task as a whole, but give yourself little challenges to complete and you will always be moving forward.
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Outline your papers early. Make sure that your outline includes your research and sources, not just topics and ideas. The more thorough you make your outline, the easier your paper will be to write and finish.
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Quiz yourself! Use paper flashcards, quizlet, a friend, practice tests, and whatever/whoever else you can find to quiz yourself on information. Quizzing is one of the most effective forms of studying. Avoid re-reading as a study strategy. Your brain is not learning information when re-reading. You are simply recognizing information and likely not committing it to memory for later recall. Pro Tip: Use a flashcard application on your phone to build a personal deck of flashcards. You can create them by course or you can create a random assortment of all of your courses. Flip through flashcards instead of Instagram while waiting for class or the bus. Also, always build your own deck instead of relying on pre-made decks.
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Create a study group for your most difficult courses. Use these groups to review content that you are not feeling confident about and also to cement your own learning by teaching content to others. Study groups should be made up of people in your class that represent those who are comfortable with the information presented as well as those who may struggle. Study groups should not be formed solely from your social circle. Visit go.umd.edu/caltoolkit for detailed information about how to form an effective study group.
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Between now and finals, you will need to carefully schedule your days to ensure that you have adequate time to prepare for exams. Set the expectation with family and friends that you will need to study hard and that you might not be able to come home on the weekends, chat on the phone for hours, or play host during a surprise visit. Pro Tip: Schedule time in your exam preparation to socialize with friends and to practice self-care. Knowing that you will have a break will keep you motivated during periods of studying.
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Set up personal accountability measures for yourself. Will you spend 90 minutes in the library each day? Will you complete non-final exam assignments by a certain date so you can get a jump-start on preparing for finals? Will you set up study dates with friends to ensure you get work done? Decide what will work best for you and make a commitment.
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TIPS FOR COPING WITH TEST ANXIETY •
Begin preparing for your exams two to three weeks in advance.
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Simulate taking an exam by working through a practice test under similar environmental and time constraints to your actual exam.
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Read the instructions thoroughly and look over the entire exam before beginning.
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Answer the test questions that you know first and then go back to the harder questions.
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Take time to outline essays before you begin writing. Read the prompt twice!
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Stay focused on your test. Don’t look at other students. If possible, seat yourself
SLEEP HYGIENE Practicing healthful habits leading up to and during final exams is a key to academic success. There is a strong correlation between academic success and sleep. You have probably heard that the average person needs 8 hours of sleep, but did you know this means productive sleep? Things like stress and blue light can interrupt sleep and prevent us from getting productive sleep. Here are some tips you can utilize to practice good sleep hygiene.
somewhere you will not be distracted. •
If you think you are beginning to feel anxious, stop and give yourself one minute to simply breathe. Consciously relax your muscles one at a time. Then, resume taking
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Stick to a sleep schedule and create a bedtime routine for yourself.
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Only use your bed for sleeping. If your brain only associates your bed with sleep, it will be easier to fall asleep.
your test with a more relaxed body and mind. •
Get sleep, eat healthful meals, and exercise. Opt for vegetables, whole grains,
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meals or food that is high in fat, spice, or carbonation later in the day.
and non-processed/non-sugary foods. Handling stress and anxiety is easier if your body is healthy. Try to go on a walk and/or utilize RecWell for a fitness class to help
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alleviate stress. •
Slowly prepare for finals and start now. A last minute rush will cause stress.
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Visit the UMD Counseling Center for assistance in coping with test related anxiety.
Limit caffeine and sugar for 6 hours before bedtime. Also, avoid heavy
Write down a to-do list for the next day to prevent your mind from worrying.
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Avoid screens for 1-2 hours before bedtime! Blue light suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that affects your circadian rhythm. •
ENVIRONMENTAL PREPARATION FOR SUCCESS •
Clean and declutter your study space.
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Create a space plan with your roommates. Include items like when the room will be quiet, when the lights will go out, and an exam preparation guest policy.
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Begin packing now for Winter Break so you are not tempted to procrastinate later.
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If your room tends to be more social, begin letting your friends know now that during
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Avoiding screens before bed will allow you to fall asleep and stay in deep sleep. Deep sleep is necessary for information retention and you will wake up without the feeling of drowsiness. There can be a withdrawal period when limiting screen time. Your brain is used to getting hits of serotonin (the feel-good drug) with every scroll. Giving up screens before bed can be tough but give it 2 weeks to get your brain acclimated. You will need to set up your study schedule in a way that has you working on non-digital assignments last.
Think about your sleep environment. Keeping your room cool and free from light and noise are key to getting a good night’s sleep.
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Identify 1-2 spaces outside of your residence hall to study. Visit the Quiet Study Spaces website to find a comprehensive list of alternative study locations throughout campus.
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If your room tends to be more social, begin letting your friends know now that during finals week, it will be a more private area.
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IMPOSTOR SYNDROME
STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESSFUL STUDY
Have you ever felt like you are just faking your way through a course or that you are not smart enough to be a student at the University of Maryland? A lot of high performing people feel similarly. Impostor Syndrome is a “state of mind where a person does not feel deserving of their accomplishments and credentials and consistently worries about being exposed as a fraud.” While this can encourage a person to work harder, it can also increase a person’s stress levels, and during final exams, it can lead a person to self-sabotage. Did you know that studies have shown that 70% of people report having experienced Impostor Syndrome during their life?
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teach the content to a friend, pet, or stuffed animal. •
Utilize your time effectively by not letting your mind wander while reading. Skim a section or read the first sentence of each paragraph before reading all the way through. You should also take notes while reading.
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Do not skip over charts or practice problems in your textbooks. Always review the data and practice as you go along. This will help your brain learn incrementally, save time, and eliminate the need to review multiple times when completing problems at the end of a chapter.
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When writing a paper, determine the flow of your paper ahead of time. Outlines can be as simple as writing down the topic for each paragraph or can go deeper and include specific points, quotes, and citations. The better and more thorough your outline, the easier it will be to write your paper.
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If you are starting on a project, break it down into manageable pieces and assign due dates to each. Treat the pieces as individual assignments and hold yourself accountable to finishing on time.
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Group projects can be difficult. Try to move away from assigning pieces of the project to group members and then working separately. Work together to determine which points should be covered in each person’s piece of the project, effectively leaving the simple, non-content development pieces to be done independently.
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Study to learn and understand content, not to get a certain grade. Many of your classes are helping you to build foundational knowledge that will be needed in coursework down the road. Studying to understand now will help you in classes and on finals in your future classes.
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Double check the time and location of all of your finals as well as the due dates and drop off locations for papers and assignments. Do not let yourself be caught off guard.
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Review course material weekly! When you review material on a regular basis, your brain will begin to deem the information important and commit it to memory. When material is not looked at regularly, your brain will deem it non-important and get rid of it. Remember, your brain also needs sleep to be able to retain information. If you pull an all-nighter to study, more likely than not, you will have a very hard time with information recall on your test. Try studying (outside of regular homework) for 30 minutes on each weekday that you do not have a particular class. This guarantees you daily touchpoints for each subject throughout the week.
Mechanisms to Cope with Impostor Syndrome:
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Identify and recognize that you are having these feelings.
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Find someone who agrees that you may be experiencing Impostor Syndrome and talk about it.
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Accept praise and say, “thank you.” Downplaying success to others will minimize accomplishments in your own mind.
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Call yourself out internally when you compare yourself to others. Compete with yourself, not those surrounding you.
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Do not allow yourself to breach the Code of Academic Integrity. It is important to relay information that you know to be true. If you do not know an answer, put in the proper work to find the answer and give proper credit to the source.
Study the test content like you will need to teach it, then actually
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HELPFUL RESOURCES
MATH SUCCESS PROGRAM
THE WRITING CENTER
TUTORING & ACADEMIC SUCCESS RESOURCES
QUIET STUDY SPACES
The Math Success Program offers free, drop-in math coaching and tutoring services for all UMD undergraduate students. The program is open Sunday Thursday from 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. in Oakland Hall. Visit the Math Success Program website to get more information and access the program.
The University is committed to academic excellence, and provides a variety of tutoring and other academic resources to support student success -- available on campus, from our peer institutions, and other non-university websites. To learn more about the available resources, visit tutoring.umd.edu.
GUIDED STUDY SESSIONS
The Guided Study Sessions (GSS) program offers FREE, regularly scheduled group review sessions for students in traditionally difficult courses. GSS Leaders have previously taken your course and earned an A, so they know what it takes to stay on track in lectures and prepare for exams. Go once, a few times, or attend every session—it’s never too late to start attending GSS. For the Fall 2021 semester, some Guided Study Sessions will be conducted in-person and others will be conducted virtually through Zoom. To access a specific virtual session, please contact your GSS Leader or email gss@umd.edu from a University email address. Visit the GSS Program Website to view the available sessions.
KEYSTONE CENTER
Located in Patterson, the Keystone Center is a place where you can go to work on homework or group projects, use the computer labs, or study for exams. It will be staffed with upper-level undergraduate and graduate students who can provide you with assistance in answering questions in fundamental engineering and STEM courses: CHEM135, MATH140, MATH141, MATH241, and MATH246.
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HELPFUL RESOURCES
The Writing Center provides opportunities for UMD’s diverse undergraduate student body to improve their writing, research, and critical thinking skills in preparation for successful academic, professional, and civic lives. In a supportive atmosphere, trained consultants from a variety of backgrounds and majors assist writers in-person and online throughout the writing process. Visit the Writing Center’s website to schedule an appointment.
These spaces offer some great opportunities to safely explore campus and find new places to get your work done. Please visit the Quiet Study Spaces list to view the spaces that are available, as well as the guidelines around using the spaces.
MATH TEST BANK
Google drive of past exams from the Math Department for tons of classes. Great practice material for studying for final exams.
OFFICE OF MULTI-ETHNIC STUDENT EDUCATION (OMSE)
OMSE offers free, walk-in tutorial program that covers most key courses in Writing, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, and Economics, among other courses. Individual and small group tutoring consisting of 2-4 students per group is available each semester in most undergraduate courses. Stop by or call today to see if help is available in your course.
*Some of this content has been adapted from various sources including but not limited to The Teaching and Learning Transformation Center, The Counseling Center, and The UMD Keep Learning website.
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Good luck on finals, Terps! Study hard, go to class, get enough sleep and ask for help when needed. You’ve got this!
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