Advising Tip | Avoid Panic over Finals by Preparing Early

Tetyana Dovbnya

By Tetyana Dovbnya
Academic Advisor and International Student Advising Specialist

In just a few short weeks (or sooner) your instructors will be handing out final exams, inducing a collective wave of panic. Now is the best time to sit down with your planner and organize a study schedule so you feel more prepared and retain more of what you learned.

Here are just a few tips to help you get started:

• Start now! Stop delaying and just get started.
• Collect all of your lecture and reading notes, quizzes, and tests used for each course and get them into order.
• Create a master to-do list for each final exam that you have.
• Break down course material into manageable units. This can be sections of a chapter, an entire chapter, or a couple of weeks’ worth of material.
• Block time on your calendar to study each unit for 1-2 hour sessions until exam time. Be sure to give yourself about a 10-minute break every hour and build in rewards for focusing without getting distracted.
• Utilize apps that block social media and other online distractions.
• Notify your friends and family that you’re prepping for finals and the latest drama will have to wait until after the end of April!

Now comes the hard part: actually following the plan that you create!