Final exams are stressful for many students--and it's no wonder. Finals are designed to allow students to demonstrate how much information they have retained from an entire semester.
When it comes to preparing for finals, every subject is a little bit different, so you should specialize your study skills for each particular exam.
A General Strategy for Preparing for Finals
Studies show that certain methods are important when it comes to memorization.
- If you're studying for a topic that involves a lot of new terms and concepts, you must prepare for a test with a reusable practice test. Fill in the practice sheet and repeat until you get all the answers right.
- Believe it or not, students have reported that lots of points are lost because they get careless on bubble sheets! Review these common and very costly bubble sheet errors that can wreck your test performance. If you misalign by a single space, you can get every answer wrong!
- Review common instruction words that teachers use. Know the difference between contrast, analyze, and compare, for example. You may think these the same thing when it comes to writing your answer essay, but there are very specific expectations for each word.
- If finals week means lots of back-to-back exams for you, you should prepare yourself mentally and physically for the many consecutive hours you can spend writing. Don't make your essay answer too short because your hand is getting tired!
- Fill in the blank exams require special preparation. You start by reading over your class notes to underline new terms, important dates, noteworthy phrases, and the names of key people.
- If part of your final involves constructing a long essay outside of the classroom, you should become very familiar with all the behavior that constitutes plagiarism. You might be surprised to find out how easy it is to plagiarize. And plagiarism normally results in an immediate fail!
Preparing for Finals in English and Literature Classes
Literature professors are most likely to test you with long and short essay questions. First rule when preparing for a literature exam: read the material again!
Be prepared to compare two or more stories that you've read. Also, know the traits of every character.
Before going into any essay test session, you should review basic punctuation rules.
Preparing for Exams in Foreign Language Classes
If you're mainly concerned about memorizing a list of new words when learning a foreign language, you can use this color-coding method to memorize vocabulary words.
If you're preparing for a final exam in Spanish, you can review a list of common mistakes students make when composing Spanish essays. You may also need to insert Spanish symbols as you create your final essay.
Practice early and practice a lot to ace a Spanish test! That's the advice from readers.
Sometimes it's necessary to cram for a foreign language final. If you need to learn a lot of French in a little bit of time, try some practice techniques offered by our Guide to French Language.
Preparing for Science Finals
Many science teachers like to use multiple choice questions to test students. To prepare for this type of test, you should look closely at the concepts behind themes to make sure you are prepared for "all of the above" and "none of the above" answers. Look at any lists of components or traits.
When taking a chemistry final, be sure to "mind dump" every memorized equation at the start.
Join a study group and seek study advice from other students.
Use common sense when you prepare for test day. Eat right and get enough sleep!
Preparing for a Psychology Final
If your psychology teacher offers a test review, it is important to take smart and sensible notes. You can use your review notes to create a practice exam.
When preparing for a psychology test, it's particularly important to review psychological theories you've covered in class and apply them to real-life examples when you can.
Preparing for Math Finals
For many students, math finals are the most intimidating of all! Some of the best advice for preparing for math exams comes from our readers. Work slowly and review each problem at least ten times--that's the kind of wisdom readers share.
Review these problem-solving strategies to know how and when to use certain procedures.
It's critical to memorize the basic rules that are necessary for working on many problems:
- divisibility rules
- order of operations
- negative and positive rules
- geometry formulas
Final Exams in History
History exams will involve memorizing dates as well as memorizing new history terms for your exam. Be sure to brush up on techniques for preparing for a short answer test.
Many teachers in the social sciences prefer to use essay exam questions. To prepare for an essay exam, you should read over your notes and textbook chapters to search for hidden themes,
Your history final may involve writing a long history paper. Make sure your essay fits the assignment and is formatted correctly.
Our Guide to Ancient History provides excellent advice for last minute study tips for history class.
Finding a Study Partner
It is very helpful for many students to study with a good partner. Find a serious student and find a good study space to exchange practice questions and compare notes.
A great study partner will understand some methods or problems that you don't. You will be able to explain some problems with your partner in return. It's a trade-off.
