Study Tips For Finals Week

Let's be honest - finals week is a stressful time. You have plenty of exams you need to study for, especially if you're taking the maximum amount of credits you can take in one semester, and college final exams are nothing like high school final exams. This may be your first college semester, so you may not realize that. Your college exams are going to be a lot longer (we're talking multiple pages) and a lot harder. Your exams in high school may have had a lot of multiple choice or been all multiple choice - in college, you won't be as lucky and you'll probably have a few extensive essays to write. Due to the differences in your high school exams and your college exams, you're going to have to change the way you study.

Eliminate Distractions - This is the most important thing you can do to help yourself study. Stay away from social media. You may have your laptop or tablet with you when you study, so this may be more difficult. However, you really need to force yourself to stay away from social media and from texting. Put your phone far away from you if you have to in a drawer or in your closet to eliminate the temptation to check social media or your text messages. That being said, also put your phone on silent. Not vibrate because you can still hear it - put it on silent. You really need to eliminate those distractions in order to have productive study time. Also - don't watch TV while studying. Go to the library if you need a quiet place that eliminates any possible distraction.

No Last Minute Studying - Your college exams are much longer and much more of a big deal than they were in high school. Studying for 20 minutes before the day of the exam is not going to cut it. At all. You need to study days, possibly weeks (don't get scared! You have multiple classes you're taking, after all, all of which need to be studied for!) in advance in order to have the most productive study time. Also, studying for 20 minutes here and 20 minutes there may also not be good enough - that isn't enough time to get involved in the study session and then the next study session may be spent re-looking over what you studied during your previous study session.

Look Over Things Multiple Times - Studying for a major final exam means looking over things multiple times. This isn't a time to skim material or read it once and call it a day. Look over things multiple times. If it was a concept you had trouble with, look it over many times. If you find that you're having a lot of trouble, or you just have a few questions you need clarification on, take advantage of your professor's office hours or the tutoring center. This isn't a time to be shy or embarrassed. You're not the only one that needs help. That's why there are office hours, especially during Finals Week. And there's no such thing as a stupid question.

No All Nighters - We said it last week, and we'll say it again because it's just that important - don't pull an all nighter. Don't do one massive study session the night before the exam. This time is stressful enough - you need your sleep. And not just a few hours each night because you're studying a lot. Stick to your normal sleep schedule. Studying all night won't help you do better on the exam. All it will do is exhaust you, causing you to make small mistakes that add up on the exam.

Materials - Make sure you have study materials handy. And plenty of them. This is essential if you're going to be looking over concepts multiple times. Whether you're having trouble with a certain concept or there's a really important area of the text, make sure you mark it so you can come back to it later without wasting a lot of valuable studying time trying to find it. Sticky note flags are essentials and life savers when it comes to this type of studying. They'll mark the exact spot you need and then if you need to make extensive notes or jot down ideas about the concept, you can also stick a larger sticky note on that same page with your notes. And don't go highlighting everything important. You'll look back on the page and find that you highlighted everything, making studying a lot harder. Use highlighters sparingly.

De-Stressing During Finals Week

College can be a slightly stressful time. However, two of the most stressful times during college can be registration time and finals week. You may even spend a few weeks up until finals simply dreading finals week. When you're studying for finals, there are things you want to do and things you should avoid.

When you think of college, you may think of all nighters where you cram all night for an upcoming exam. The truth is, this isn't the best way to study. You don't want to spend one night all night studying for an upcoming exam - it is best to split the time up over a few days. First of all, you would be cramming a lot of information into one night - all of the information you need for the exam, in fact. When you're processing that much information, it is going to be easy to get things mixed up and completely forget some things. Just because you're not studying for 8 plus hours straight the night before doesn't mean you can drastically cut your study time, however. You're going to need to start your studying a days in advance. One of the most important reasons why pulling an all nighter is bad? You need your sleep! You need a proper night's sleep and a good breakfast before your exam - not an all night study session and then straight to the exam. You could end up being so tired that you don't properly answer questions or you could even fall asleep during the exam. You don't want to do either of those things. Study smart and break up your studying time. You'll be glad you did.

You need to relax during your study time. You don't want to go to class all day then come back to your dorm room and study until you sleep. Break up your time. Allow yourself to relax. You're hurting yourself if you don't allow yourself to take a break during studying. Watch a TV Show, play video games, do some free reading or writing. Build in some time in between study sessions to give your brain a break. You may be thinking that you need to cram the most information into the time that you have, but you really need to allow yourself breaks in order for you to stay sharp and make the most of the time that you do have. Again, allowing yourself breaks won't make you more stressed because you're losing a little bit of study time - allowing yourself breaks will cut down on stress.

Your friends will be studying a lot too, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't make time to get together. Walk around the mall for a little bit, get coffee together - do something. Hanging out with your friends for a little bit will allow each of you to talk through your stress and relax.

If you normally go to the school gym or pool, don't stop just because of finals week. Going to the gym or pool can be therapeutic and relaxing, allowing you to have better study sessions once you do sit down again and study.

Most importantly, don't skip out on meals just because you need to study. You're going to be very stressed from finals and studying - cutting a meal will make it a lot worse and possibly even make you sick. Make sure you're eating a good breakfast, lunch, and dinner so you can keep up with your much busier schedule.

Staying Secure While In College

Unfortunately, security is something you have to think of while away at college. Sure, there will be security around campus including at the entrance to your residence hall, but you need more than that for peace of mind. When you're at college, you want to to keep your things inside of your room and not have them find a home in someone else's room. You don't have to worry about that happening all day every day, you simply need to take a few precautions.

First of all, don't leave your door unlocked when you're not in your dorm room. And don't give your key to a friend (even if it's a very good friend) so they can borrow a textbook or notebook while you're in class. Leaving your dorm door unlocked even if only for an hour while you're in class is going to be too inviting. You may not want to bother with the hassle of locking and unlocking your door every time you go to class, especially when you haven't had to do that before, but it is better to be safe and take that extra minute to make sure your items inside stay inside.

You're going to want to invest in a safe for your dorm room. There's no way around it. You can leave certain valuables at home such as a cherished bracelet or ring from your mom or grandma, but there will still be items you absolutely cannot be without that you will want locked up. You don't need an overly large safe, you just need something that can be easily hidden in your closet or even attached to an immovable object such as your bed. You may not have your cherished bracelet, but you still have credit cards, money, passport, and possibly iPod. Don't chance it - make sure those things are locked up.

Along with making sure your small valuable items are locked up, you'll want to find a way to make sure larger items stay put such as your TV or computer. You may not think anything of it to just leave your laptop out on your desk. That's what you do at home, after all. However, it can be very easy for that laptop to easily end up in someone else's hand. Either invest in an anchoring system or safe for these larger valuable items or in the case of your laptop or iPad, take them with you to class so you know they are safe.

When you're in common areas like the common room on your residence hall floor or in the college cafe, there are going to be a lot of people around. So last but not least, don't turn your back on your things. If you need to go pick up your coffee from the counter, take your bags with you. Don't leave big ticket items like your iPad sitting out on a table even if it's two feet away from you. College requires extra safety and precautions than you are used to. However, once you get in the habit of these simple acts such as not turning your back on your bags, it will become second nature to you and you won't think anything of it.

Making Money In College

When you’re in college, you’re going to be on your own and independent. You’re going to be going to dinner and coffee shop visits with friends and you’re also going to be grocery and clothing shopping. Unfortunately, you’re also going to have education expenses on top of all of these things. What are you going to need for all of these things? Money. When you’re in college, if you plan on doing these things, you’re going to need a bit of income.

Work Study – When you fill out the FAFSA for your college, you’ll find out if you’re eligible and awarded Federal Work Study. This is a pretty cool program – you get to work for the college and earn money to help pay for your education expenses. With this program, you’ll get to learn new things including what you like doing. You may get to work in your favorite area or department of the college, such as the library. Doing what you like will make this experience even more fun and rewarding and you may even get future career ideas from this program.

Sell Clothes – Want some extra money to spend on new clothes? Sell your old ones! Go through your clothes that you find yourself not wearing as often either because they don’t fit or don’t go with your style anymore, take the items to a consignment shop and see if you can make some money from those old clothes. You’ll be helping others in need and you’ll also be making some money that you can put toward college expenses such as food or to new clothes if you find yourself needing dress clothes for an interview or internship.

Internship – There are many types of internships out there. Along with earning credit for college, you can also earn money which makes an internship pretty awesome. You get to try out different career paths you may be interested in and you get to learn a lot while in an internship. This is great all around – you’ll make money, get college credit, and learn a lot about what you want to do in the future all at once.

Part Time Job – Lastly, you can get a part time job. Retail is a popular choice for college students, especially if it’s your favorite store. You get to have a flexible schedule for the most part and if you’re looking for a part time job during the holiday season, you will be able to find a lot of places that are hiring for seasonal help.