While creating a solid study plan that spans over several days is considered the “best” practice for exams, sometimes things don’t go as planned, and we need to fit a week’s worth of studying into a few days, or even one night. With that in mind, here are some helpful study plans that might be helpful no matter how much (or little) time you have.

  • Don’t cram. No matter what you do, cramming is going to result in a grade you don’t want. Instead of cramming, spend a lot of time studying, but don’t devote all your time to a single subject. When you study a single subject and every chapter at once you’ll jumble the information and end up not keeping track of everything. The trick to not doing this is spend 30–45 minutes on one subject, take a 15 min break and then jump into another subject. After another 45 minutes of that subject, another quick break, and then review the previous subject again.
  • Make flashcards. Some of the best ways to study are to write things out and review what you write out. Instead of just aimlessly writing out things on scratch paper, take a moment and make them into flashcards. The trick, though, to flashcards is making sure you can answer both sides of the card.
  • Reread the syllabus/reread your notes. The key to getting a good grade usually lies in the syllabus. Beyond the general information of what each week’s main points, the syllabus also tells you what the professor thinks are the most important readings and sections. Then, go back to those sections in your notes and review them.
  • Focus on what you know. It sounds counterproductive to focus on just what you know, but when the time crunch starts you shouldn’t waste the final hours trying to learn something new. If you haven’t gotten it within the last few hours then you probably aren’t going to get it. That being said you should use your final hours to reaffirm what you know to ensure that you get those points on the final.
  • Learn to study smarter and not harder. This is a long term thing, but studying smart is going to help you to learn faster, learn more, and give you more time to get other things done. Focus more on the main details, then go into the smaller details if time permits.
  • Remember to relax. Whether you are studying a week before the exam, the day before, or an hour before, you need to relax. If you cram, get stressed, or start to think that you just can’t do it then you are setting yourself up for failure. Understand that a final is important, yes, but also understand that your health is important. So relax, breath, and you’ll do fine because you won’t be all stressed out.

Hope you were able to find some useful tips and motivation to get your finals week underway. The end of the semester can be a crazy and stressful time, but you can do it! Good luck next week and happy studying! For more helpful study tips, click here.