Completely unprepared for that final exam in the morning? Are you starting to panic because you haven’t even cracked a book? Here are a few tips to get you a passing grade.
1. Open the book
Face it: you can’t read all 300 pages of text in one night. Even if you could, you wouldn’t remember enough of what you read for the final exam. But the plan is to get as much information out of the book as quickly as possible.
Some parts of your essay will be more useful than others in helping you pass the final exam. The key words, usually in bold or italics, are the words you need to test. Go through the chapters and make a list of any key words or concepts. If the definitions of the words are in the margin, lucky. Otherwise, refer to the key words in the glossary at the end of the text. Make some lamps, have a list of emails, or write down whatever you need to do in the next twelve hours.
After the text to scan for key words will likely appear on your final exam, you need to actually do some reading. The next step is what you should read and what you shouldn’t. Introductions and conclusions to chapter texts usually have pretty good summaries of all the important ideas covered in the chapter. Good textbooks have a section and/or summary chapters that outline all the important stuff. Read these things, and send them to memory. If they are working on a key idea, summary, or conclusion, turn to examples to illustrate.
If your skill has questions at the end of each chapter to test your understanding, make sure you approach the questions and know the answers. Lazy professors often use final exam questions straight out of the box.
2. Uh… notes?
Do you know in general? If you do, study them and move on to the next section. If you’re cramming and cramming the night before your final exam, though, I’m guessing you probably skipped some classes or didn’t really write the stuff.
Here’s what to do if you don’t have notes: send an email to every smart (read: prepared) classmate you can think of, politely requesting the use of notes. Sacrifice going home, meeting at the library, or buying a six pack for work. If you can take photos, let them cool. Otherwise, waking up super-early with a quick look in the hallway. Do whatever it takes, because the notes are often as important as the books.
If you can’t get notes from a classmate, or if you’re exceptionally bold, email your professor. Explain politely that you are having a hard time studying for the final exam, and ask if you can borrow her reading notes or some pointers on what chapters of the text are more important to try.
3. Play teacher.
I don’t understand that you have a shirt with elbows and a box of colored lime. Instead, play with the teacher by coming up with questions you might ask if you were to give the last one. If you are ready, maybe you got some ideas of the main themes in general. Try asking yourself some questions and see the answers. If you have time (or can function on a little sleep), make sketches for sample essays to write to answer potential final exam questions.
Also, try to get inside your professor’s head. Is the professional type of personality as multiple the final choice, or will he give it a try? Does your teacher focus more on vocabulary questions, or larger understanding topics? If you can look at the answers to these questions, you can focus your study time to better meet your expectations for the final exam.
4. Get some sleep.
I know you’re pressed for time and sleep doesn’t seem as important as studying, but you need to have enough time to complete the REM cycle. Otherwise, you will be too busy to function and your head will feel muddy and overwhelmed with information. A complete REM cycle (for most people) takes about three hours. If you schedule your sleep to coincide with your REM cycle (in three or six hour chunks, for example); it will be much easier to raise alarm.
5. Learn your discipline.
Cramming for the final exam the night before sucks. Chances are you’ll use these techniques, but don’t count on being lucky every time. And if you go to class, take some notes and read the book next time, so you actually learn more than anything on the test.
