Studying for finals is all about knowing how to allocate time to the subjects that need it the most. There’s no reason to obsess over that gym grade that’s already at 100 percent, especially because it takes away from precious studying time that could be used elsewhere.
The first step is to establish what you can do and create goals around that. If you currently have an 85 percent in a class, that grade isn’t going to change drastically during finals; it can’t get up to an A and it’s pretty secure in terms of maintaining a B in the class. Unless your grade is particularly low at either 55 or 65 percent, then it’s best to not worry over a grade like this. Grades that are within 3 percentages of being a borderline grade demand much more attention than ones that range in the middle and aren’t likely to change. If your grade is a few percentages above the borderline, then your goal is to maintain that letter grade. If your grade is a few percentages below the borderline, then your goal is to jump that barrier.
Once your goal for each class has been determined, the second step is to create a game plan for your studying. The lowest grades automatically take priority, especially if they’re in a position to be raised. The grades that take priority next range from those that will be hardest to raise to those that will be the easiest to raise. The next type of grades to take priority are the ones whose position need to be maintained. These should be treated as an afterthought the closer it is to the middle percentage range. The time spent studying on each subject should correspond to their determined priority. The actual means of spending each study period depends on what works best for you. Everyone is different, and it’s important to know what strategies work best for you and in which subject. If there’s a particular subject you have a hard time studying for or are particularly worried about, scheduling a meeting with your teacher is always a good idea. They know how their final is going to look better than you could, and their tips on how to study could make all the difference.
Once you have decided the order of importance, the best allocation of time and how you will study for each subject, the third step is to go through with your game plan. With this step completed, finals week becomes very easy. You can skim textbook pages and loosely review ideas the night before each final and quickly look up random facts before the test to make yourself feel secure and confident. However, if you studied well, your job is essentially over by the time finals week begins. It’s good to get lots of sleep and eat healthy food to keep you alert, but apart from that, there isn’t much to do at this point in time to aid the final outcome. In fact, over-studying at this point could hurt. So rest up, eat well, and good luck!
