Ten Tips for Finals Week 2012

Nontrad: Is this week YOUR finals week?










This week is finals week for my daughter, who is a nontraditional student. She has finals with varying percentages counted towards her finals grades. Some are very important.

So, I am gathering some tips for Finals Week from blog postings and new places too. Some tips are more personal than others. Have another? Please add it as a comment at the end of the posting, at the Comments section.

1.  Schedule study time for finals - but don't overdo it. I would write a longish bunch about how I stayed up WAY too late for finals week when I was younger. Nowadays, I could really hurt my health doing this. So allow time for sleep too.

2. By all means, form a Study Group for a final you don't feel that you are prepared for. This can make all the difference. It is never to late to form a study group. It can help ALL the members do better.

3. Share notes with fellow students, and borrow notes from class when you can or if you have missed a class. Offer to copy them. If you are a visual learner, these notes from class can help a lot. Use a highlighter to help you study. Copy notes by typing them up from handwriting.

4. Know what is going to be on the final. This is sometimes overlooked by students. If you are unsure, schedule a meeting with the teacher or professor to find out. OR stay after class to ask. Remember, there are NO stupid questions.

5. Consult your scheduler or calendar. Know exactly when each final is. You can do last-minute studying right by class if you want to. For final projects, make sure you know each deadline. You can be penalized (or worse) if you miss a deadline, or a due date.

6. If you have time, and your teacher permits it, complete all your Extra Credit assignments this week. You never know... you may need the extra points if you don't do as well as you want to do on your final or test.

7. Keep notes and papers from each class separate from each other. Be very organized. This will help save time when studying.

8. Make study cards to help you memorize important facts you may need to know for your finals. Other study helps: using mnemotics, word association, alphabetical memorization aids, poetry, and more.

9. Make sure to take care of yourself - eat right, and get plenty of sleep during Finals Week. It has been shown in studies that getting enough sleep can make a HUGE difference on test performance.

10. No matter what grade you get on your final, remember that it is NOT the end of the world if you don't get the grade you want. Even in a worst-case scenario, you can always re-take the class or take another class. It's important to put this into perspective, and treat yourself with kindness, no matter what your grade is.

Even if the worst happens, remember that things WILL get better, and there are many students who have this happen, and recover from it.

Have another tip you want to share? List it below. And thanks!

Betsyanne
former Nontraditional Student

You may also like these related postings:

10 Tips and Links to help you do GREAT on your Finals and Tests

Notetaking 101: How to Take Good Notes 

Clobber your Test Anxiety!

And here are some more of my Nontraditional Student links:

The Nontrad site and blog

Join Nontrads on Facebook

Nontrads on Yahoo

Nontrads on Twitter




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