Preparation for finals: Share your Pro-tips!

[Wires]

Unreallystic had a thread about this a couple of years ago, and I remember everyone contributed a lot of useful information about how to prepare, not fall asleep, etc. Outside of the finals themselves, I have a lot of other end-of-semester assignments due shortly that are going to be extremely time-consuming (In-class presentations, final drafts of lab reports and thesis papers, and other lame projects).

*This assumes that you have been responsible and aren't skipping all of your classes. This is focused on trying to excel in your classes and not let the stress overwhelm you (Don't let this offend you if you are able to skip class and maintain excellent marks. Cross your arms and laugh at those of us who need to study instread).
I figure some of you must be struggling with this as well. Let's RTSD and make good grades.

Here is a quick one, as I need to finish some aforementioned work :mad:
--Since ADD/ADHD medicine is almost pure amphetamine, try and bum a few to prepare for the stressful days. If you don't take this, NEVER take more than one at a time. Expect to feel the effects of this for the next 10-12 hours (HINT: TAKE IT IN THE AFTERNOON IF YOU NEED SLEEP) If you're going to be pulling an all-nighter, don't worry.
**Some people recommend Stackers and Yellow-jackets, but I get heart palpatations from those.


Post your anti-failing strats, ask some questions, or share your academic workload so others can identify with your misery. :sweat:

Take care!

[R | C]

This was my strategy.

Cram like a bitch last minute.

Especially if it's essay final.

Immediately when the exam begins, write down important notes that you just crammed like 2 minutes prior. Especially dates, names, other key words.

[Yumi Saotome]

Recognize that there's a point where further study is pointless and a good night's sleep is worth a lot more.

I failed an exam before by overstudying and not getting any sleep.

[El Maniatico]

Bank sleep and take a pre-game dump.

[ckrazy]

Yea people always stress to get enough sleep but I never listen to it till I got into college. I usually just cram everything last second. Now I study less sleep more and do better. I just study prior and not last minute like a little bit each day a week before the test.

[Figcoinc]

Study a lot, then go to bed early the day before. Rest is half the battle. If your tired you are not going to remember/learn shit when studying/taking the test.

[R | C]

Ernest

where the hell are you?

and how have you been?

[goodm0urning]

Don't assume you know which material will be covered and which material won't unless the teacher has expressly told you the things that will not be on the test.

[Night]

It's been a while, but from what I remember in my college days was that I used my laptop to take notes. I was able to type close to the rate at which the prof was talking, and I bolded and underlined the important stuff. During lectures whenever the prof was referring something in the past, I just used ctrl-f to search my notes while everyone else was flipping pages. The gradual looking at the better organized notes on the screen each time helped gradually absorb everything and around midterms/finals, I print out a hardcopy of everything that's going to be on the test and use that to read over. All the important definitions and concepts in the book I also typed out in my notes so during study time, I didn't have to flip through the book either.

For some reason, just having organized notes on Word (and equational stuff in Excel) as opposed to written down chicken scratch in a notebook was infinitely better.

[Tito Mel]

Sleep is extremely important to memory retention.

It may behoove you to catch a couple of hours of sleep during your all nighter to help your brain integrate what you are reading, rather than spending that time re reading your notes.

If somebody knows anything about REM cycle, could they post the ideal time to wake up so that you are reenergized and gave your brain enough time to process things read?

[DropOff]

Umm. Study?

Alot. Like you know, learning the material.

Drink green tea. That's not really related to your final, but it is a pro-tip.

Oh yeah and go for the medic.

[Rooks4]

1: Study
2: Pass
3: ??????
4: Profit!!!!!

[Monte]

bring a karate kid headband to midterms and finals.

[tindiamond]

Try not to get stressed. When you are stress you do worse on tests, well at leasts its like that for me.

[Angelic Diablo]

Study in small pieces well in advance. When I was going through college I'd start studying for finals probably a week in advance and go into lockdown. Take the material needed, divide it by the days you have to study and cover it in that many sections. Each successive day review the previous day. By the end it's fucking cake.

[EvilSamurai]

Shit, Shower, and Shave.

[Dj-DarK]

Type all your major notes that you know are going to be on the exam in short form in MS Word.

Example:

Clements Nakayama Method - Lateral view of acetabulum and femoral head.
Method most commonly used for Bi-Lateral Hip Fractures.

-->

ClmntsNaka-Lat.VW.Actblum+FemHead4BiLatHipFX

Now change this to a font of 4 and print. If you have a ton of notes make 2 sets and paste them back to back.
Where you hold this during the test is up to you. A really good trick I used in college was pasting this on the back of a whiteout bottle.

[Grits'N'Gravy]

Back in College I used to use a lot of drugs to get studying/papers done. That's because I worried nearly all the time during tests/studying.

I have some sleep anxiety, so I used to always take Unisom during test studying time. You will feel a lot better with 8 or more hours of sleep before a test, and you won't stay up ALL NIGHT worrying about the difficulty of the test. An illegal alternative would be smoking weed, but that might make you eat crap and feel awful the next day. Other types of relaxation are great as well.

Use some kind of stimulant. Coffee was my drug of choice, but I used to drink 12-16 cups a day... which, as you can assume, was pretty bad news. After trying it out a few times, I definitely recommend Adderall to get that boring studying done. One time on Adderall I worked a 12 hour shift at work, no sweat. Another time on adderall, I ev trained for 5 straight hours on Pokemon. It REALLY gives you that kick you need to get shit done. (Just don't become dependent on the shit)

Eat your normal breakfast. Eating a "Big healthy breakfast" when you normally don't will make you feel slow when you're taking your test. It will also make you sleepy.

Basically, try to feel healthy and do whatever it takes to pass these classes. Your health damages will be temporary, the money you can make with a degree will compensate.

[MAGUS1234]

just get really drunk, then take a dump on the final. Viola!

[Darkstalker]

I myself like writing important terms down just as I read them (or read them again). It helps me remember better.

[Anakron]

Taking older versions of the exam (like PSATs) is the only thing I do. I never go back to read the material to refresh my mind.

[GRITZ]

I am a PhD psychology student in Miami and we take all kinds of cognitive psych classes. Here are my honest tips that have some research to back them...

The two main premises are 1) encoding specificity and 2) context reinstatement

Encoding specificity just means the way in which you encoded the information will be the easiest way to retrieve it. This means:
a) Study for the type of test it is going to be. If you KNOW it's multiple choice, study for it as such. For MC exams you only need to study to the point of recognition, not recall. As soon as you see the right answer you can mark it; there is no need to be able to recall the info on your own. If you KNOW it's going to be an essay exam or fill in the blanks, you need to study a little harder, to the point of recalling the info when cued.
b) Try to remember the examples your prof gave when lecturing on the subject. If you encoded the info with a great example, take that example with you (mentally) when you study and to the test.
c) Make mnemonic devices if the material is too hard to remember. An example is FOIL when multiplying binomials: First Outer Inner Last.

Context reinstatement just means put yourself in the same situation when testing that you were in when you learned it. This means:
a) Sit in the exact same seat you always sit in.
b) Wear the same cologne on the day of the test you were wearing the day(s) you studied for it.
c) If you know the type of room your test will be in, try to study in a similar type of room, or the same room.
d) When studying, try to mimic the setting you will be in when testing. This might sound crazy but research has shown that if you study in a noisy room, you perform better if you test in a noisy room and the same goes for quiet rooms. If you KNOW the room will be DEAD SILENT when you're testing, study as much as possible in a quiet place.

That's all I can think of for now but all those tips should definitely help.

[ShinAkumax]

Don't jerk off, don't have sex.

[ObsidianZ]

Viola!

I'm assuming you failed both your french and music classes.

*ObZ

[shinjohnny]

1. Start early. Apply the 5 minute rule, get your roommates to beat you up, mother to nag and bitch at you, but start early. I am talking now.

2. Eat healthy and sleep well.

3. If step 2 is not achievable, sleep comfortably when you can, and when you can't avoid yellow jackets or stackers, because they may work, they are dangerous and not worth your time. Use monster, or red bull or rockstar or sobe.

4. Gather your notes, make sure you have it all.

5. Review past tests if possible.

6. Review past tests for the current semester.

7. Meditate. Look over your notes and try to predict questions.

8. Don't cram. Don't cram. Don't cram. If you absolutely must, don't waste time on little details. Learn the scope of the material. Learn major themes. Learn details only if you have time.

9. If step 8 is inevitable, and you have 3 hours before the final, find an isolated room, and read your notes aloud! verbally, orally pronounce the words, and read them allowed. Read each words clearly with your eyes. See them, and don't skim. But you still must READ quickly. 3 hours is enough to cram some serious damage. I have done it and pulled a 70-80%. Slack through the semester until test time, and crammed 3 hours. It is not a great mark, but not bad for 3 hours.

10. If you decide to nap, have multiple alarms. Have a buddy, or friend or family member wake you at a certain time if needed. Make sure they have alarms too, or have slept a lot. Don't rely on one alarm, and have a battery alarm if possible. Keep the alarm out of reach, and and ultra emergency alarm (loud, and will fire off at the last possible time you can sleep until).

11. If you pull an all-nighter, make sure you have a crowbar with you, and some sort of semi-automated pistol and food rations. You never know when a zombie might attack you. Cause severe blunt force trauma to its head, or get a headshot to kill it. :smile:

[shinjohnny]

bring a karate kid headband to midterms and finals.

just get really drunk, then take a dump on the final. Viola!

Nothing I wrote in post#25 can hold a candle to the teachings of these two Grand Masters.

[Rico!]

Ok kids, here's my share of tips:

1. Stay on top of the material throughout the semester. Cramming a whole semester of college work is the best way to fail. There are two classes that I do not attend at all, but I have managed to do well in them because I took notes, did homework, and all that stuff along with the syllabus. Doing this also helps you not get caught off guard when quizzes, tests, etc are coming up.

I skip class because my teachers are copying from the textbook and writing on the board, so I get everything done in a quarter of the time.

STAY IN CLASS KIDS.

2. Always look at the past exams and attempt them.

3. Go to the last few classes the week before finals. The professors usually review the important stuff.

4. go to your library and get some cliffnotes/sparknotes/for dummies/etc quick study guides. These books explain everything a lot better than the textbook. For example, physics textbooks will give you full derivations of how to get certain formulas. None of us care about all that. If you are cramming you just want the meat and potatoes of the course.

5. When I get my test, I usually glance through the whole thing and answer all of the easy questions first to rack up as many points as possible.

[Dangerous J]

Med student here..

I) General tips

1) Try to get a good nights rest the night before. I know it isnt possible sometimes, but at least try. So many people score lower simply b/c they werent alert enough during test time.

2) Eat a good breakfast the day of. No breakfast affects you whether you admit or not.

3) Try to piss/shit before every exam. While most places allow broom breaks, you dont wanna lose time /interrupt your flow of test taking.

4)Bring whatever ID/documents if applicable (more for standardized tests) Sometime sdriving an hour to a test site and getting turned away b/c of no ID happens

5) Try to take a shower the morning of, and try to leave early so you wont get in caught in traffic/random sheneanigans. the next bit is more personal. But like me, you cant stand people running and acting like chickens w/heads right outside the test room. Try to go chill in a isolated plac enearby until 5 min or so before the exam. DO NOT CRAM in those last 5-10 minutes.IT ONLY FUCKS YOU UP!!


Study Tips

1) If the final is cumulative , start reviewing your oldshit min 10-14 days beofre. Now, I mostly am taking natural science, so by default we usually have lots of shit. Cramming the whole body in one night isnt gonna work.

2) Try different shit to make sure you know your shit. Anybody can just read the profs notes/book/powerpoints umpteen times and "Feel " like they know it. Try taking online practice quizzes(or written ones), quizzing your classmates/friends, writing/dsrawing important concepts on a whiteboardetc.

3) By know, you should know what your prof likes and how he/she asks the questions. Remember what the profs research/specialty was, that area may get more coverage inadvertently yon the exam. If your prof is kinda unpredictable, know almost everything.

4) since time is a factor and most people usually have multiple class in rapid succesion, dont study the most for one classs and ignore the other. I.E, i fyou have an A in anatomy and a C- in histology, dont go overboard on anatomy. Better to pass all marginally than to get an A and a D.

5) If you havent been doing so, condense your prof/ notes/book into a more concise form in your words. Depending on how detailed your notes are, rewriting them cvan be very beneficial.

and most importantly, after all exams are finished, get drunk, jack off, eat lots of junk food/sleep --whatever activity you feel like doing, regardless of how you feel you did.

Hope that helps.

[Darklightjg1]

Get plenty of rest...
Walk in and guess...
BS and don't stress...
And write down "Fuck this test".

[Wires]

Excellent work, guys. All of this is extremely helpful and/or witty.

[shinjohnny]

thought i would give it a bump cause classes resume soon, or have for some of you

but check out my post (#25) for some helpful hints

[Warrior's Dreams]

Regarding the sleep matter, I learned the hard way that a little sleep is better than no sleep at all. I just think of it as "taking a nap." Works for me at least.

For note taking, I find that typing my notes on a word document really helps a lot. You can add /amend new information as necessary, and as long as you are by a computer, you can always carry your notes on a jump drive for quick access.

For cumulative classes, I find that reviewing things once a week helps keep everything fresh in your head. I take a lot of math courses, so I have to remember all the rules and formulas for differential/integral calculus, stats, linear algebra, etc.

Also, for new chapters, I tend to read and learn the vocabulary first. If they took the time to boldface it, then chances are that this stuff is integral to whatever it is youre studying.

[ckrazy]

thought i would give it a bump cause classes resume soon, or have for some of you

but check out my post (#25) for some helpful hints

Classes have already started for me =( couple days ago

[Warrior's Dreams]

You gotta be kidding me.... My classes dont start til Wedensday.