The week we all dread is coming up soon: finals week. Whether you’re a freshman or senior, we all despise finals week.
My name is Nick Dill, and I’m a senior mass communication major at Northwestern. My time at Northwestern will be coming to an end, as I will be graduating with a bachelor of science degree in mass communication on Sunday.
Because I have been through three finals weeks, I would like to share some effective and helpful tips that have helped me succeed during some of the most stressful weeks in my college journey.
To start off, the finals schedule will look really overwhelming. You will see so many dates and times, but all you need to do is create a finals schedule based off of your classes on another document, such as a Word document or Google document. This document you create will be much easier to understand, rather than trying to reference the finals schedule the school gives you that has every single final date and time.
When creating this schedule, organize your finals for each class in the order of the day your exams will take place, and then put in order by what time each final exam is. It is important to do this because you will most likely have more than one final exam in one day. Sometimes, finals will occur on a day and time that is not your regularly scheduled time for that class, which is why it’s critical to have an easy-to-read, organized schedule.
Next, communicate with your professors regarding what are the best resources to study for the final exam. Many professors will have review days and will tell you what you need to do and study to succeed on the final. The professors don’t want to see you fail or see you take their class again; they want to see you succeed.
If there is no review day, simply go up to the professor before or after class and ask them what you need to look over and study to be prepared for anything that will pop up on the final exam. This will also help because the professor will notice that you’re putting in the effort to excel in the class. You will be surprised what professors will do if you put in the effort and take the time to reach out to them.
Now that you have your schedule planned, and you have the content to study, start studying as soon as possible. The best way to study is to focus on each final one by one.
When you study, try to study for about 30 minutes and then take a break. If you try to study too much at once, you will get burned out quickly. Studying in increments can help you feel refreshed, which will cause you to study longer and grasp more information.
Expect to be up late during finals week. Finals week is all about staying up late with your classmates and constantly studying to review for the test. Coffee or any drink with caffeine that will keep you up will be your best friend.
Quality sleep is important to succeed. The best option is to study to a certain point and then head to bed and try to get seven to eight hours of sleep so you’re well-rested for the final. It is so crucial for you to feel awake and at your best when you take your final.
This concludes all of my tips to have a successful finals week. The best advice I could give you for finals in the future is to study your hardest all the time because you will be better prepared for the final exam through all of the information you have retained. Good luck with your finals.
I will end my last ever story for the Northwestern News with this: Ride, Rangers, Ride, and beat Southwestern.
Nick Dill is a former reporter for the Northwestern News. Best of luck and hats off to you, Nick.