If you thought that mid-terms week was tough, finals week is about to rock your world.
The semester is almost over, so that means long hours of cramming your brains for final exams. This year, finals will be within the last week of April, so, technically, you have some time to properly prepare.
Be realistic
This is a preliminary step, but an important one. Throughout the semester, you might have suffered from mild laziness and skipped a few classes, which is fine, but if your grades are a couple points short of a C, don’t expect your final exam to drastically change that.
Be realistic about what grade you’re going to get in the class, and be honest with yourself. Finals usually carry a huge chunk of your grade, but it’s next to impossible for your final to take you from a C standing to an A. Once you’ve accepted this, tackling your final exams will be a bit easier.
It’s all about location
The Alvin Sherman Library is the most cliché place to study, but during finals week, they go above and beyond for students by providing free snacks and coffee from April 18 to April 30 at the reference desk on the second floor. Just make sure to bring your Shark Card with you so you can collect your study-break treats.
The Alvin Sherman Library is also extending their hours to accommodate students preparing for finals. From April 16 to April 30, the library is open from 7 a.m. to midnight, but if you find that you need more time to study, you can head over to NSU’s Health Profession Division Library. NSU’s HPD Library hours during finals week are as follows:
| Day | Opening Hours | Closing Hours |
| Monday – Thursday | 6 a.m. | 2 a.m. |
| Friday | 6 a.m. | midnight |
| Saturday-Sunday | 10 a.m. | midnight |
In the event that you can’t find space to study in libraries, you can study in the Don Taft University Center or find study rooms on the third and fourth floors of the Carl DeSantis Building.
Annoying online finals:
Online classes look easy on course wizard, but actually finding the time to get the work done is the undoing for most students. So, when it comes to your finals, you might want to ensure you set aside some time to do the final exam.
The final exam might not take a lot of time, but it’s always better to have too much time than too little. If the option is available to take the final on a day when you don’t have any exams, then milk this opportunity and take your online final. Time management is crucial for all exams, but online exams really take time discipline to a whole other level.
Exercising your mind and body
According to suny.edu, 20 minutes of cardio can improve your memory, so if you have a lot to remember, maybe you should have started running last week. Truthfully, exercising does help with your memory, and it also releases stress. During final exams, college students get wound up about getting good grades and that is extremely stressful. At some point, stress becomes counterproductive and so it’s healthier if you take some time to blow off some steam in the gym. Head over to RecWell with a group of friends, de-stress and then get back to hitting the books.
Just study
It’s fair to say that college students are neurotic multitaskers. Everyone is doing something all the time. Whether it’s work or extracurricular activities, time is novelty in college. So, in order to sufficiently prepare for finals, you might want to cancel a few of those of activities and reprioritize. Not to say that your job and extracurricular activities aren’t important, but so is getting a good grade. Moreover, having the extra time will prevent you from being overwhelmed, and who knows, maybe you can you even get a good night of rest.
Also, try not to have any assignments due during your finals, as that will set you up for failure. Your only focus during finals week is your final, not that paper that you could have finished weeks ago.
Prioritize your finals
Let’s be honest, some finals are harder than others and need special consideration. So, for classes where the finals are harder, dedicate more study time for the weeks leading up to the exam date. The hardest classes take priority, and you can study for the easier classes in between so that your brain doesn’t overheat from all the thinking. Some college students think that every subject deserves three hours of studying, when, in actuality, you can probably study for some subjects in an hour. Also, try to study the hardest subjects first so that you won’t be burned out by the time you get to those subjects.
Should we know all of it?
It’s important to know if your finals are cumulative or not. A cumulative final means that the studying will be intense and you’re probably going to need to revise your mid-terms. Clearly, this involves more preparation, so it’s important to find this out as soon as possible. If it’s not a cumulative final, then your professor will most likely focus on everything that he or she taught after the mid-term. Sometimes, it’s easier to study for those types of finals because the information is still fresh.
Also, knowing what type of final your professor is giving is a great indication to how you should prepare. If your professor is giving an essay-based final, then you will probably have to know enough information to write a full essay on whatever the subject is, and you can even study by writing mini-essays on the topic.
Don’t over analyze your finals because, if you do, you’re basically sabotaging yourself before you even take the exam. Instead, prepare for your finals by taking the necessary steps and speaking to your professors about anything that you are unsure of. Good luck!
