Finals week, anyone?

[Jeff L]

Have a BA and 32 Master Level Credits. My program was not a Masters until a year after I graduated. Was not ready to spend the extra $ plus I was working fulltime already with a long commute. But that is all a story for another post!

I found studying in blocks of time worked best for me. Taking food breaks, walking outside a bit really helped. If I started to get drowsy I would take a nap to refresh. I made sure my study space was quiet, phone turned off, and became a hermit the few weeks for finals or midterms.

Stress is the biggest obstacle. Try not to worry. If you gave it your best effort studying then there is nothing more you can do. Just keep that confidence you prepared and are going to ace it!

With any test, if they have these parts, try to do essay type questions first. I always left multiple choice for last. This can help if there are time limits. Plus I found that sometimes reviewing the multiple choice sparks your memory that might help you finish some of the tougher written or formulative essays.

When done look over the test a few times and read over everything. I had a few instances I did not fully answer a question and luckily caught my error. These mistakes can happen especially when taking multiple tests on multiple subjects.

Good luck and I hope you had a successful Semester!

 

[Kwik_Cutty88]

I'm a Sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. And I can back up what you've heard that getting a good nights sleep is way better than pulling an all nighter studying. I've also found that getting up and awake well before the exam starts has helped me a lot.

 

[lilbowtie]

Wow - it's great to here the numbers of youth on this forum and good luck on finals (make your on luck). CK80, there are a few of us here that can lay claim to that degree, graduated HS in 68 - College in 72, but if you like it it's yours.

 

[LukeZ]

Have a BA and 32 Master Level Credits. My program was not a Masters until a year after I graduated. Was not ready to spend the extra $ plus I was working fulltime already with a long commute. But that is all a story for another post!

I found studying in blocks of time worked best for me. Taking food breaks, walking outside a bit really helped. If I started to get drowsy I would take a nap to refresh. I made sure my study space was quiet, phone turned off, and became a hermit the few weeks for finals or midterms.

Stress is the biggest obstacle. Try not to worry. If you gave it your best effort studying then there is nothing more you can do. Just keep that confidence you prepared and are going to ace it!

With any test, if they have these parts, try to do essay type questions first. I always left multiple choice for last. This can help if there are time limits. Plus I found that sometimes reviewing the multiple choice sparks your memory that might help you finish some of the tougher written or formulative essays.

When done look over the test a few times and read over everything. I had a few instances I did not fully answer a question and luckily caught my error. These mistakes can happen especially when taking multiple tests on multiple subjects.

Good luck and I hope you had a successful Semester!

Ill take your advice - I have food breaks scheduled into my day lol. Thanks for tips, man

 

[LukeZ]

I'm a Sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. And I can back up what you've heard that getting a good nights sleep is way better than pulling an all nighter studying. I've also found that getting up and awake well before the exam starts has helped me a lot.

Go 49ers! lol good luck to you in college bro. Ill make sure I get my sleep too

 

[Jeff L]

Ill take your advice - I have food breaks scheduled into my day lol. Thanks for tips, man

You are welcome.

One thing I forgot to mention is sometimes studying with a partner can really help when you have tests with a lot of vocabulary, definitions, etc. We would take index cards and write down questions and answers and quiz each other until we had them all right. Plus I found writing all that information down helped me to remember it better.

All depends what kind of "learner" you are. I am a visual learner so writing it down helps me. Others are more auditory and find recording the lesson and listening a few times works the best. Some do both. You get the idea. Whatever works for you to help you retain the info is all that counts.

 

[marcar1993]

I feel the finals. I'm a senior at Kean University, a state school known for its education programs. They set up degrees in an interesting manner, so the short story is that I will graduate with a BA in History and certified in Social Studies Ed (They set it up like a double major). It's almost impossible to find a Tech Ed program alone in this state, so my plan of action is to become a Social Studies teacher (History, economics, civics, geography) then go through the Dept of Ed to take a qualifying 30 credits in tech and a test to certify to teach Technology, which encompasses shop classes.

I am 2 years behind (should have graduated in 2015, I'll be out in 2017) but I took some time off to work early on while I was in community college, and community college and my university who "work together" more or less screwed me on a few classes that "transferred" but don't count towards my graduation. It's been an uphill battle, but I'm coming out a member of the History Honor Society with a current GPA @ 3.9. This is my last "academic" semester. Next semester is student teaching for me, and the one class which accompanies it, my senior capstone.

In the end, I think being delayed helped me. I always took college seriously from day one: never partied, always commuted, and was a "here to do my job" kind of student. However by the time I made it out of community college (graduated with a high gpa there too) into the state university I had a real taste of adulthood, the working world, and a different drive and perspective. I'm looking forward to graduating, hopefully getting a teaching job, and going right back to school to continue to get my tech certification.

Most of the stuff said here are the habits I hold, and they work, even while I work a roughly full time job (varies from time to time) carrying a full course load (typically 18 credits, 6-7 classes). The best advice I've seen yet is what 81cutlass said: treat school like work and remember you are paying for it. Now some people don't treat work like they should, and others are foolish with their money, but I'm assuming we can agree this is serious. Don't miss class, don't zone out and go on your phone/facebook, do all your assignments, do them early enough to be able to ask for help if you need it, ask questions, don't be afraid to ask dumb questions: you aren't the only one thinking it I promise, if the class allows always participate in discussions/answer questions: you won't look dumb and the professor will be happy to see you are involved in the topic and paying attention.
You are a freshman, if its anything like what everyone I know has had to do, you are in the crappy courses now, gen eds. You wonder why you are learning this stuff not related to your major. Just get through it, and be happy its intro level stuff. The stuff you like will get harder, but at least it'll be offset by an interest in it (sometimes).

Winter break classes, I usually took them, and it sucked, but it was a way to cover 3 credits in 2-4 weeks. Summers too, its nice to be out, but its a good time to take difficult classes by themselves or with only one more class, though they are usually accelerated. I always took summer classes, and it was nice to take my Seminar class alone in the second half of this past summer semester. It allowed me to write my senior thesis with no other class work to worry about, even though it was a severely abbreviated semester.

Good luck, and enjoy the time off you have after finals. Relax and enjoy that relief of a burden lifted from your shoulders.

 

[LukeZ]

A lot of good advice here. Yes, I think it is correct to say that once you understand how much you are paying for each class, you will appreciate it more.

Well, off to my honors computer science exam. 7PM-10PM tonight. The curriculum was based around teaching us Python, Matlab, and UNIX. Good stuff lol. Wish me luck.

 

[LukeZ]

Ya know, I never realized how many 'younger folks' there actually were active on this site. I always thought the majority was older guys, 40+. Nothing against them lol. Its just that everyone I know in my area who drives a G Body is long done with schooling. Its cool that this site is diverse like that.

 

[Hickrocket1258]

Good luck to you. I graduated from Penn State back in 2008 with a Bachelors in Corporate Communications. Did horrible while in school but have a lot of work experience at this current time in the financial industry field. Sometimes you never work in a field you went to school for.