Five study tips to help you succeed during finals next week

Finals week can be the most stressful time for students and, as we all know, finals week is fast approaching for students of Minnesota State University, Mankato.

This is the time when student’s start to become overwhelmed with last minute studying, finishing up deadlines, and turning in assignments and projects. With all these, it’s very easy for college students to get frustrated or even depressed.

Not to worry, however. There are few tips that might help you overcome the rush and help you get through finals week successfully:

1. Start early. With all the available workload, it’s very easy for students to procrastinate a lot of things and then you are forced to rush things up hours to the deadline. Starting early means you don’t have to start cramming things up the day before the exam. When you start early, you have better chances of getting a high score on the exam.
2. Create a study guide/schedule and follow it. Creating a guide or schedule helps you cover the materials in chunks and follow through with studying it. It’s much easier and manageable to get through all the material when you split it up bit by bit.
3. Attend review sessions and ask questions. Most professors will be rounding up the syllabus around this period and they will also usually organize review sections for students. Endeavor to go to these and to also ask questions on the areas that seem confusing. A lot of professors slip in essential information during review sessions that are helpful for what you should be studying and what will be on the exams.
4. Quiz yourself. It is important that, as you study, you also quiz yourself. This helps reinforce your knowledge of the material and allows for better understanding. Get together with a classmate and quiz one another, or try teaching the material to your roommates or friends. By teaching or explaining to someone else, you are reinforcing the knowledge and will have a better understanding of it.
5. Get adequate rest. The brain can only function properly when it is well rested. Therefore, it is advisable to get enough rest during this upcoming week and next week. Eat healthy and get enough sleep. Pulling an “all-nighter” is not advisable as you will end up exhausted and not able to fully retain the information.

Other tips to take note of are to avoid every form of distraction that might detract from your studying and, most importantly, learn how to manage time effectively.

Good luck on the finals and happy holidays!