How to Study for Finals

It’s finals week! I know everyone loves to hear that. Yeah, not really, I know. But hey! At least that means the semester is coming to a painfully slow end, right?!

Fortunately, for me, finals started Monday. I aced my Ecology final and got a B on my Comp 1 final. Now, the only one I have left is my Pre-Human history final, which is going to kill me.

We all have that one (or maybe two) final(s) that we know are going to be rough. That’s why I’m here to tell you about the magic of studying. And I’m not talking about re-reading your extensive notes over and over again. I’m talking about studying that actually works! Too many people try to cram the night before a test by reading chapters in their books multiple times until their brain is fried. If you do that, all you’ll do the next day is fall asleep halfway through your test because you can’t concentrate.

TOP 3 STUDY TECHNIQUES:

Flash cards: We always used them in elementary through high school, but are you still using them? And if you are, are you using them for every subject? You shouldn’t be! Flash cards are fantastic tools for english, science and other courses with a lot of comprehension questions. English has tons of vocabulary words which work great with flash cards. This site has awesome flash card study games and even tests you can take with the words and definitions you enter.

Timeline:A timeline is probably the easiest way to study for a history final, which is the final I’m worried about. I have just constructed a timeline showing when Homo sapiens and their ancestors lived and what their characteristics were. I did my timeline on paper so I could make it pretty. 🙂 But here is a site that will generate your timeline for you!

Sample Quizzes: This works best for math and science. Although I mentioned science in the flash card section, it can also be used here. This is because most science classes are half vocab – half equations. This quiz creator site has tons of ready-made math quizzes on multiple topics and it also allows you to create your own worksheets/sample tests.

These techniques aren’t just for college students or just for the courses I mentioned. They can be a applied to any subject or grade level! Let me know if these tips helped you — or if you have more studying tips you’d like to share! 🙂