Good luck on finals
Congratulations, you have made it to the end of the semester! The only thing standing between you and Christmas break, are your final exams. Final exam time is when you get to show how much information you have learned throughout these past 16 weeks of school. Although it can be stressful, it is important that you take time for yourself and figure out what study methods work best for you. Remember, what might work for your friend, might not work for you. You want to study in the right environment that makes you feel comfortable and one that helps you best focus. To give you some tips on how to prepare for finals week, some of Illinois’ professors and instructors have given us some key points they want their students to focus on while preparing for their exams.
Department of Chemistry: Dr. Christian Ray, Teaching Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Director of General Chemistry
1. Have a plan! You probably have more than one final to prepare for, so map out how you'll spend your time and start early! It can be helpful to make a schedule of when you'll be studying (and for what). Block out two-hour study sessions, and make sure to give yourself lots of breaks (studying for six hours in a row just doesn't work!). Cramming the night before won't cut it for most final exams, so plan to start studying for finals as soon as reasonable.
2. Take care of yourself! Final exams are stressful, so make sure you're getting plenty of sleep, you're eating good food, and that you're taking time to exercise or do things you enjoy. Pulling an "all-nighter" can feel like the right thing to do, but when you're exhausted you can't think clearly. This means you probably won't perform well on an exam that requires you to think through problems, which will be most of your finals. (Trust me, I once fell asleep during a final due to not getting enough sleep. It's hard to do well on a challenging exam when you're having a tough time staying awake to read the questions.)
3. Prepare to the best of your ability, do the best you can on the final, and then see how things turn out. Final exams can be worth a big part of your semester grade, but no one exam/assignment determines your grade in the class. If you're happy with your grade so far, keep doing what you're doing! If you're not happy with your grade do the best you can and use this as a lesson for next semester. What do you need to do differently during the ENTIRE semester so you're not in this spot next time around?
4. Feeling overwhelmed? Take a break! Go outside and take a walk, go to the gym and exercise, or go grab some food with a friend. Taking an hour or so to relax and recharge will pay dividends later. When you come back from your break, you'll find your studying much more effective.
Department of Statistics: Karle Flanagan, instructor
1. Start studying early! Especially for cumulative finals
2. Go to office hours if you need help! Professors want to help you and office hours are a great place to get one-on-one help, especially in large classes. Don't be afraid of going!
3. This is specific to Stat 100, but can be applied to other classes as well: Take the practice exams or do any practice as if it's an actual exam! Taking a practice exam with the answer key in front of you will make you dependent on an answer key that you won't have in the actual final.
4. Make a schedule for when you are going to study. If you set aside a little bit of time each day, it makes it much less overwhelming.
School of Molecular & Cellular Biology: Professor Brad Mehrtens
My biggest suggestion touches on these three areas, content preparation, time management, and stress relief. Instead of attempting to study for one thing for hours at a time, divide your time into more productive sessions. Study one class for an hour, then take a 10-minute break. Then move to another class for an hour, then another 10-minute break. Then a third class for an hour, and a 10-minute break. You'll be more focused knowing you only have to work on one subject for an hour, you don't fall behind in any of your classes, and the little breaks are good stress relievers where you can get up and walk around, get a snack, check social media, etc. In this scenario, you're actually preparing effectively for three classes instead of pretending to study 3 1/2 hours on one class!
Again, Good Luck on Finals and remember that all your hard work throughout the semester will pay off!
Here is a quote that I found that you may enjoy:
“Don’t study because you need to. Study because knowledge is power. Study because they can never take it away from you. Study because you want to know more. Study because it enhances you. Study because it grows you.” - Anonymous