How to Ace Final Exams

Many college students find final exams to be rather stressful and difficult. Often times the more stressed a student gets about finals the worse they do. This is why it is important that if you stress about them, you learn how to ace final exams.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Go to class and study all semester. Learning is something that takes place over a long period of time rather than just a few short days. This is why people that spend all semester going to class and studying ace their final exams while others only manage to squeak by with a C.
2. Begin studying a few days before your final exams. While ideally it is important that you study as you progress throughout the semester, it is also important that you increase your studying and specifically focus on preparing for your final exams during the few days prior to when your exams will occur. During this time, review all of your notes from your classes, paying special attention to things your professor noted would be on the final exam if he provided this information.
3. Focus on classes that need your attention. When studying for final exams many students often make the mistake of studying for exams based on when they are set to occur. The best way to ace your final exams is to study for the classes and tests that need the most attention or you are most worried about messing up. This way you focus on what you need to rather than wasting your time studying for other classes in which you know most of the information and are better prepared.
4. Study throughout the day with lots of breaks. While it may seem like the best way to ace your final exams is to engage in a marathon study session, it is actually more beneficial if you study for small increments of time and provide yourself with lots of breaks. Information is only valuable to you if you retain it, and breaks provide time for your brain to process what it has learned and store it in your memory. Just make sure that you are using your breaks wisely by choosing to get sleep, exercise and eat healthy rather than having a beer or two with your buddies.
5. Consider unique ways to remember information. Some final exams require you to write essays regarding certain topics to show that you learned something throughout the semester and were able to engage in critical thinking about the subject matter. Others simply test exactly what you learned by forcing you to select the correct answer to a question through a standard, multiple-choice test. If you have the latter type of final exam, a great way to ace it is to remember the information for it in a unique way. For example if you need to remember when the United States was founded you can think of the number 21. That is the number that is ideal for you since it gives you the legal authority to join other students at the bar for a drink after final exams, and it is also the number you get when you add all the numbers in the year the United States was founded together. It’s much easier to remember 21 rather than 1776, and you can easily add the numbers of the multiple choice answers up to see which one equals 21 in order to select the right one.
6. Have a friend quiz you or join a study group. It can often be hard when studying for final exams to determine exactly how prepared you are and what you need to focus on learning. This is why it is important that you seek out the help of a friend or study group. A friend can quiz you over your notes or the questions that will be on the test, while a study group can engage you in discussion about what you learned throughout the semester. Both can be beneficial in not only helping you prepare for your test, but also giving you confidence in your ability to ace it.
7. Get enough sleep the night before. Cram sessions are very common at colleges and universities since many students take every extra minute possible and use it to prepare for their tests. Although this seems as though it would be the best way to ace a final exam, studies have proven that it is not. Your brain works better and is more likely to remember what you have learned if you have given it the opportunity to rest before taking your final exam.