Final exams, yes the word every student has to face every year once or twice, and they cannot move forward in their academic career without passing it. The word “exam” sounds so intimidating. Especially if you are a fresher then the final exam could really be daunting for you.
You have vigilantly studied during the whole semester or term, burning your midnight oil to prepare for those daunting assignments and quizzes, trying hard to manage the attendance in the morning classes. Now that’s the concluding time but unfortunately, the last week is a roller coaster week before the start of exams.
But boosting up the motivation level to give the term a decent ending is the rightful approach.
Get yourself comfy in your sweatpants, reserve a solaced study corner for your studies, give this article a read and let’s get started implementing the pro tips to ace your final exams.
Kill the actual culprit:
The most common problem shared by a number of students around the globe is “procrastination”. This is the actual reason behind the poor performance in the finals.
Do you know what is procrastination?
It is probable that you procrastinate occasionally but isn’t familiar with the term so:
Procrastination is putting off the task a while later, although you could proficiently utilize that contemporary time to carry out the task.
The delaying habit is the real culprit. As it’s almost time for the exams again so deal with this bad habit first. Just kill the culprit before it destroys your grade. Gather the motivation (use any source you can get motivated from), set the goal, stop procrastinating and give it a start.
Turning off the social media accounts:
YES, just mute your accounts for a week or two. Believe me, it’s not as daunting as it seems. Some students will really get offended by this tip, but just relax and observe, you will definitely find your accounts as your “time-eaters”. When you will set your timetable and will allocate time for study hours then keep your mobile phone away really far away from you. Mute all the notifications because you can easily be distracted by them. When you meet the required goal you are free to use your mobile, hang out or watch a movie or anything that you want to get yourself relaxed.
But prioritise studies in the studying hours of your plan.
Get to what’s on this semester’s stake:
This is really a good approach to knowing what syllabus you have to cover for the exams before hitting a plan. As you get to know the details of the exam content or syllabus, you can estimate the burden you have to bear. So you can gear yourself up according to your need. This can either relax you give you goosebumps but don’t panic you can still ace the result.
Find a suitable learning style:
It’s only you who knows yourself well. When you get to know the syllabus you will definitely have a vivid idea about the content (whether it is conceptual, theoretical, or statistical) and the CLOs your professor wants you to meet. Observe them vigilantly and come up with a method you can easily cover them. There are 7 learning styles most commonly used in the world. Have a look at these and decide the learning style.
Get yourself comfortable:
Choose a comfortable studying spot for you. It could either be your room, study, a park, a café or a library. According to recent studies on better memory and learning scientists now suggest switching your locations rather than studying at a single place. The atmosphere change really helps you to bitterly memorise.
Time for planning:
After you get yourself done with all the above-mentioned stuff then this is the time for planning. Grab a cup of coffee to enlighten the “idea section” of your brain. Be realistic in making our plan. Don’t overburden yourself. Select a pace for yourself to accomplish all the tasks. Try to cover the intimidating parts of courses earlier to give yourself some mental peace. Also, try to cover more things in the starting days of the week, so you can have some relaxing time before the exam night.
Reschedule the deadline:
Give yourself a deadline a day or two earlier than the actual deadline. Stick to it and completely forget about the actual deadline. This will really help you in achieving the task earlier, and you have already spared the room for inevitable unwanted issues, if you may confront them.
Study buddies:
Are you okay with group studies?
If you find yourself compatible with group study, then look for a group of study buddies who are actually serious about studies. Believe me, if you combine study works on you, and you are fortunate enough to find some nerdy friends, then this has reduced your task to half. You can divide the courses or topics among each other and can discuss the assigned topics the next day. This will not only be time-saving, but you will also achieve the aggregation of ideas over a single topic.
You may take assessments or mock exams from each other for reducing exam fear.
Start revising and taking notes:
When you are all done with the planning and learning strategies. Start revising the course. Take revision notes. If you are having trouble finding an appropriate note-taking method then have a look at our article on how to master your notes taking skills.
Have a detailed revision with elaborative revision notes.
Carve out the detective skills:
Why only watch Sherlock? Carve out your detective skills to acquire past papers from seniors or any other source. This will not only give an idea about the professor’s assessment methodology but also will tell you whether your preparation is on the right track or not.
Don’t be a night owl:
Give proper care to your sleep and relaxation cycle. Don’t get yourself overburdened and eventually ill. Do not stay up all night. Take a sound sleep to try to wake up early with a fresh mind.
