Surviving Your First Finals Week 101

In college, finals week is also sweetly referred to as… hell week. The tests you face during this week hold a higher percentage than the rest of the tests you took during the semester. Your final grade in the class can come down to this last test, which is supposed to demonstrate everything you learned. While this sounds stressful and overwhelming, there are ways to survive your first finals week.

Take Care Of Yourself

Above everything else, take care of yourself the weeks leading up to and during finals week. Some students let their test anxieties get the best of them and make them sick, creating an even more stressful week. While you study and take your finals, make sure you:

  • Get enough sleep and go to bed early when you can
  • Fuel your body with adequate and nutritious food (keep the snacking to a minimum)
  • Stay hydrated with water
  • Move your body and take breaks

Managing the stress of finals weeks starts with self-care.

Create A Study Schedule

Avoid procrastinating and cramming for your tests the night before. Instead, create a study schedule. Breaking down what you need to study and when creates a more manageable schedule and allows your brain to actually absorb the information. To create a study schedule, you should do the following:

  • Determine your availability
  • Set realistic goals
  • Allocate time slots for specific subjects
  • Incorporate breaks
  • Plan for final review sessions before tests

Pace Yourself

The worst thing you can do is burn yourself out before finals week even starts. Treat finals preparation like a marathon, not a sprint. Cramming a whole semester’s worth of material into one night of studying will tire you out and make you forget most of it. Meanwhile, if you study in chunks a couple of weeks before the final, you are likely to retain more and do better on the exam.

Take Breaks

It is not the students who study for the longest amount of time that do the best on tests, it is the kids who study the most efficiently. When you take breaks while studying, you are giving your brain time to recharge and relax. Even if it is just a quick 15-minute break, you will be more energized to get back to work. On the other hand, you also need to be careful not to excessively extend your break, therefore not getting any more work done. It is important to find a middle ground between the two. One way you can do this is by scheduling your breaks and timing them.

Make sure to take advantage of these tips as you prepare for finals week, and you will be sure to crush your exams. Good luck and happy studying!