Strategize to Ace Your Exams

Study habits are like anything else, a matter of practice. Finals are your time to shine, to show what you've learned all semester. With some preparation, you'll avoid some pretty awful stress, and you just might get a top score. Always remember that YOU are responsible for your grade.

1. Don't Freak Out: Yes, this is the culmination of your studies for the semester and deserves the concentration you'll be giving it, but if you've done a good job all semester, the final is no big thing. Start preparing now.

2. Organize: Gather together all the materials that will be covered on the exam: papers you wrote in that period, research you performed, assigned readings, and most important, class and/or lab notes. Revisit your syllabus (remember that paper your prof handed out in the beginning of the semester?) and put all related materials together.

3. Outline: While reviewing, highlight, or better yet, get out your laptop and type an outline of the material. This will reduce a lot of information into a very manageable size. The very process of outlining will remind and reinforce the ideas and information. Study from the outline as you get closer to the test.

4. Review, Don't Cram: Cramming only wears you out physically, mentally, and psychologically. Go over your gathered materials and refamiliarize yourself with everything. Then read it all over carefully. Cramming will only fill up your short-term memory and will guarantee that you'll miss something.

5. Exercise: Ingesting mass quantities of caffeine might be a good way to stay awake, but eventually you'll get diminishing returns, and if you do decide to take a rest, you won't be able to sleep. If you feel drowsy and have more good study hours in you, get up and take a walk, kick a football, work out, whatever you need to get the adrenaline flowing.

6. Eat Well: Your brain needs fuel even if you are sitting front of a computer all day. Take a multivitamin everyday (which will help guard against illness) and eat plenty of brain food. Lean protein, green vegetables (fresh, if can get them), fruit, and nuts are best. Skip Burger King and avoid sugary snacks. Your blood sugar will skyrocket and then plummet, leaving you without energy. High fat foods will just make you tired and sluggish. Try green tea instead of coffee. Mix hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, shelled sunflower seeds, and chopped figs in an airtight bag. Keep it nearby for snacking.

7. Ask For Help: If you just aren't getting something, try joining a study group. Study groups help make sure you aren't missing anything in your outline and give you a sense of camaraderie and support. Ask your prof a question. He or she (or your TA) would rather see you before the exam with a question than after with a complaint about your grade.

8. Turn Off Your Mobile: If you need a distraction, get out of the dorm or the library and say hi to friends, but don't let your concentration be interrupted by your cep phone. Once you're in the zone, you want to stay there. Cancel your social life the week before finals.

9. Sleep: Schedule in sleeping time during study. Everyone hits a wall, and your brain keeps working even when you're asleep. Get a good night's sleep before the test. What you will gain in clarity and efficiency will far outweigh any unlikely benefit from a few hours of cramming. Arrive at the exam on time and fresh. Go over your outline once, but don't study before the test.

10. Learn From The Experience: If you find yourself cramming or needing to pull all-nighters, you might not have worked as hard as you should have all semester. Also, if you're sweating a final exam to save your grade, chances are you haven't been the best student you could have been. Prioritize, triage the worst, and make a deal with yourself to organize better in the spring.