Campus Life | Helpful things I do to prepare for finals

As the semester comes to an end, that can only mean one thing — finals are slowly approaching us. To help you navigate this important time in the semester, I have gathered a few tips I have learned over the years that will hopefully help you prepare for them!

The most obvious one, but also the most important, is to properly plan out your time and focus on each class you have a final exam or paper in. The last thing you want to do is rush your studying and not feel confident about your exam or paper for the class. You have to make sure to prioritize your classes based on the dates you have a final on or a project due and how much you already know in the class. Always focus on the most challenging topics or classes first so that you have time to go to office hours and ask your professors or teaching assistants questions. By doing this, you can get more study material from the professors and utilize your final prep time more effectively. 

Another great study tip I recently started doing is creating Quizlets. I find this helpful when you have definitions to memorize rather than actual material to study. Quizlet allows you to create flashcards with terms on one side and definitions on the other, which is very useful. By making and constantly reviewing these terms, it helps the memorization process go by a lot faster. Also, you should always check if another person already made a study set for your course so that you don’t waste your time making your own! To make studying more fun, you could always quiz another friend in the class and memorize together. 

A big tip that not a lot of students take advantage of is finding and reviewing old exams from the class that are posted online. Your professor may not give you a study guide or a past exam to help you prepare, but most of the time I am able to find a past exam from the same class. Obviously, it is never going to be the same exam, but it is an excellent studying tool because the questions are likely going to be very similar. If your professor is generous enough to provide you with a study guide or a cheat sheet for the exam, you should always take advantage of it. If my professor ever allows me a page of notes for the exam, I always like to write down past homework problems or past exam questions that I might have gotten wrong and notes that I found to be important. 

People study and understand material in different ways. I need the room to be quiet so I can properly study, while my roommate likes to listen to music while she studies. Whichever way you prefer, make sure that there are no other distractions. A popular technique is setting a timer for 30-45 minutes and studying without any distractions, then taking a 5-10 minute break. This has been effective for a lot of people because you are rewarding yourself with a break after a continuous amount of time studying. After a few rounds of utilizing this technique, you will be more prepared for your exam! Another technique is the “1-2-4-7” method where on the first day of studying, you try to gather all of the information you know. On the second day, you refine what concepts you still need to understand. The fourth day is revision of more material, and the seventh day is an overall recall of all of the concepts you need to understand for your exam. I have never tried this way, but some of my friends have found it to be very helpful. 

I hope that some of these tips and techniques will get you through your finals and can help prepare you in the best way possible. Remember to eat proper meals while studying and drink plenty of water to keep up with your physical health during this stressful week. And remember, It is okay to take breaks while studying and to focus on your mental well-being as well. Good luck studying! 

Shriya writes primarily about her everyday experiences on Pitt’s campus. Talk to them at shy76@pitt.edu.