Facing Finals
Whether you’re a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior, you’re final exams are incredibly important to your collegiate futures. Colleges pay close attention to your freshman – junior year grades when making admission and scholarship decisions and colleges can revoke admission or scholarship awards from seniors who let their grades slip. All of this just stresses the importance of final exams no matter your year in high school, so below, I’m sharing a few tips on how to do your best on these tests:
- Sleep: Make sure to get some sleep two nights prior to the exam. Not only does the night before matter, but so does the day before. You’ll want to make sure you’re rested and alert, so avoid pulling all-nighters.
- Eat: Make sure to eat before your test as you don’t want to be distracted by your growling stomach or the number of minutes until lunch.
- Maintain a Routine: Sitting in your normal seat and retaining your normal schedule before the exam can help you feel more at ease and might even help your memory.
- Ask Questions: Ask as many questions as possible about the test so you know what to expect. Make sure to clarify any uncertainties with exam content with your teachers before the test. This means you’ll have to study and review early enough in advance to figure out what you don’t know; then spend the rest of the time learning those items.
- Learn how to Study: Not everyone learns the same way, so figure out if study groups, re-reading the textbook, making note cards, writing outlines, etc. works best for you. It might even be more beneficial to study a couple different ways to make sure you’ll be ready to ace the test.
- Avoid Senioritis: Even though there is so much to be distracted and excited about, you need to maintain your focus and motivation to do well on finals. As listed above, there can be some very serious and expensive consequences if you let your distraction get the best of you!
GOOD LUCK!!