One of the most dreaded words in college has to be "finals". No one actually wants to take them or write them, but it is a way of assessing how much we have learned in one semester. In a way, it shows us if we are comprehending what is being thrown at us.
I have never been that good at taking tests. Even with the help of an ACT tutor, I still didn't excel as much as my peers were. It was hard and it really took me a long to time to realize that a score does not define me. This is something that I hope you take from this article.
My advice for getting prepared for finals is organizing your things into folders and binders. Trust me, you will NEED to invest in these sooner rather than later. This will allow you to see all of your notes and papers in one place. It will hopefully make you feel less overwhelmed because everything is in one place.
Once you have everything in one place, it would be helpful to make your own study guide. If you are lucky, one of your professors could end up giving you a list of things that will be on the exam. Unfortunately, there are a lot of professors who are not like this.
Start studying for them NOW. I know it is easier said than done. I also fall victim to watching Netflix instead of working ahead. Life can be exhausting and everyone knows that. However, you are still going to have that exam and you are still going to have to get up and write that paper. Start getting ready for them now.
If you really aren't understanding something in a class, make sure to go to office hours or the tutor room if you can. It is so important to go to someone who knows what they are doing and wants you to succeed. These professors will see the effort you are putting in and will reward you for that in the end.
The more you commit to studying and working on getting the best grade you can get, the better you will do. It is so worth staying in and working on homework due the next week. It is SO much better for your mental health. Put in the work now so you can spend more time just reviewing the week of finals.
Remember, you are so smart and can do anything you set your mind to. Even if you don't do as well as you would have liked, you did your best and that is what matters.
