Study Tips

It’s TIME! Not for jingle bells or Mariah Carey, but for FINALS.
Tip #1: Start preparing RIGHT NOW! As soon as you get home, check your grades.
Tip #2: Prioritize. See which classes you’re in danger of not passing or not getting a good grade in. Beware classes in which your grade on the final will determine your grade in the class. Focus most (not all) of your attention on these classes.
Now that you’ve determined what classes to prioritize, it’s time to study. Here are some techniques that help keep your studying organized and efficient.
Tip #3: Use the stoplight technique: Go through study guides you may have been given or notes you’ve taken throughout the year. In green, mark the topics you already know well. In yellow, mark the topics you somewhat know and could use some practice with. In red, mark the topics you don’t remember anything about. Topics marked in red and yellow should be your main focus during your study sessions. (Thanks to Brenda for reminding me to write about this technique)
You could review by simply skimming through your notes and reading them but there’s BETTER ways to do that.
Tip #4: Create your OWN study guides and notes about the topics you previously marked in red and yellow. Taking the time to write out notes and explanations actually helps you retain the information. Furthermore, you will be able to come up with questions that you can then ask your teacher about.
Tip #5: Do practice problems, especially for math. Find past assignments or quizzes of specific units that you struggle with and solve the problems. Having the past assignment on hand is helpful to check your answers or to make sure you don’t commit the same mistakes as before. You can also find practice problems on Khan Academy, which has helpful videos and step-by-step instructions if you get stuck.
Bonus Focus Tip: Phones are very distracting, but you can actually use a phone to keep you focused. Apps like Forest, Focus To-Do, and Focus Keeper interactively help you stay off your phone during studying sessions while giving you phone breaks.
Now, I KNOW a lot of y’all will procrastinate and ignore the first most important step. Luckily for you, I have some Emergency Cramming Tips.
Disclaimer: Results may vary. Cramming is NOT recommended. I hope you do not have to come back to this article.
Tip #1: Once again, PRIORITIZE. I can’t tell you enough how important it is to prioritize your classes. (Revealed: the secret to my 4.0 GPA) Since you don’t have much time, focus on critical classes.
Tip #2: I also can’t tell you enough how important it is to sleep. Pull all nighters for a couple days if you must, but NOT the night before finals. Getting good sleep that night is critical to your focus during finals. (Revealed: the second most important secret to my 4.0)
Tip #3: Take notes of key points and big ideas. For example, take notes of important vocabulary, people, events, or formulas that are commonly used. In the case of math, don’t just memorize formulas. You may know the quadratic formula, but do you actually know when to use it? What to put in place of each variable? Simply memorizing the formula will only give you a big red zero. Actually try to know WHEN the formula should be used and what to plug in. The same concept applies to other subjects. Try not to memorize people or events word for word. Visualize what each event was, or what each vocabulary word actually means.
Tip #4: Ask classmates if they know what will be on the exam. Sometimes, teachers will drop hints of what you need to study. Another hint? If you spent a lot of time on a certain topic during the school year, it will most likely be on the test.
Tip #5: Record yourself reading out your notes so you can listen to the recording before class to refresh your memory. Maybe something in the recording will be on the test.
Whether you prepared well in advance, or crammed last minute, I wish you all the best! Sleep well, eat well, and please relax. Quizzes, tests, finals, and grades don’t define your intelligence or success, even though it often feels like it does. Finals are simply one very, very small part of your high school years, and an infinitely smaller part of your life. Don’t forget to focus on yourself!