How to Organize Notes Before Final Exams

The final exam period can be a very stressful time for students. They have to remember a semester's worth of learning in order to pass one test. As you study for your final exam, you are going to want to organize the course notes that you have taken during the semester.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Use the final exam outline to help you organize your notes. If you are given an outline by your professor, it makes note organization much easier. Delete the notes that are not going to be covered in the final and concentrate on the others.

2. Highlight the sections that are most important. You can use a three-color highlighter to label your notes. Use pink for the most important sections, green for the semi-important notes and yellow for everything else that is relevant to the exam.

3. Record any pertinent information from your notes onto flash cards. Arrange your notes into flash cards as a way to test your knowledge.

4. Find study software to help you organize your notes. Online note organizer software can help you study for your finals. Recall Plus is note software that many students rely on (see Resources below).

5. Use memorization study tactics as a way to organize your final exam notes. If certain subjects covered in your notes can be linked in some way, put them together.

Tips & Warnings

• You are also going to want to organize your class notes even if the final exam is open book. An organized notebook can help you find the answers to questions quicker.
• Recopying your notes is another way that students prepare for their final exams.

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