How to ace your finals
By Jamie Wu ‘18
Finals are right around the corner. In fact, it is 3 days away. Little-known fun fact huh? :P Although there is a lot of work to be done, studying doesn’t always have to suck. And as a senior, hopefully I can offer some studying advice. Here are my 7 best tips on how to be on your A game this finals season!
1. Study in small chunks of time
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management technique in which you break up your study time into smaller, more manageable time chunks. It calls for a 25 minute study period and then a 5 minute break. It also compounds—meaning you take a 15-30 break after every 2 hours. It has scientifically proven to improve your memory because it’s related to primacy and recency effects. This technique will only help your brain remember better!
2. Get a good night’s sleep every night
“Don’t cram” You’ve heard this a million times. And you’ve done it a million times. So I’m not going to repeat it. Instead, I’m going to tell you why parents, professors and psychologists are saying it. During sleep, your brain processes information from your day and forms memories. And for something to become a memory, these three functions are needed: Acquisition (where you experience something), consolidation (where your memory consolidates in the brain ) and recall (being able to access the memory in the future). Consolidation takes place when you are sleeping, which means that if you don’t get a good night’s rest, everything you studied isn’t going to be remembered as well. So the energy you spent studying (input) doesn’t give you the max output. So it’s always better to sleep more and then study efficiently (not longer) instead!
3. Go to office hours
Unless your professor is horrible and has proven to be unhelpful, going to office hours will not hurt. Professors often send out emails for their availability during dead days. Take advantage of them. They don’t want to see you fail as much as you don’t want to fail. If they don’t have office hours, email them. A lot of professors at USC really care about their students and sometimes you just have to take that first step to ask for help! Also, most people never go to office hours. Meaning you’ll likely get one-on-one instruction on how to do well on the exam. And who better to ask about questions on the test than the test-maker himself?
4. Be aware of how long you’re on social media
Everyone says they’re studying. And then they go on social media for 10 minutes for every 5 minutes they study. So in an hour, you’ve spent 20 minutes studying and 40 minutes on social media. And sometimes, it’s just this realization that we need to motivate us to study. It’s okay to take breaks to go on Instagram to stalk your celebrity crush and #travel photos, but keep track of your time. Or you’ll go down this endless spiral of memes on Facebook. Such as these
5. Study in small groups
Find people in your class and make study groups. Assign 2 people to tackle one problem and 2 people to tackle another problem (after you’ve tried them on your own of course) And then have those two groups teach each other. People learn better from teaching other people and by sharing knowledge, everyone gains. Teaching someone is not going to raise the curve in their favor. Honestly, let’s just stop thinking how to do better than someone else. Do your best and help those along the way. Everyone will gain in the long run. Trust me.
6. Take care of your mental well-being
Your brain controls every part of your body: how you breathe, how you move and how you feel. In fact, it is responsible for remembering everything you’ve learned. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to function. So during this finals time, know if and when you’re stressed and how you can manage it. Exercise to keep your brain sharp and feed it with foods rich in antioxidants. Your mental state affects your physical state so you can’t do well if you’re always stressed or anxious about something. Try this 4-minute breath meditation.
7. Understand that getting a bad grade is not a reflection of your intelligence
A test is one of those things our society uses to measure our intelligence. Is it always effective? In my opinion, no. Is it stressful? YES. But I’ve met a lot of people who are so, so smart not necessarily because they studied harder but because they understand how life works. They know that there is a bigger purpose than just getting A’s in all their classes and instead they use their time to network with influential people and read books that will change their mindsets. However, they might not ace all their tests and that’s okay!
I also know people who never study but have access to previous tests and people who study their butts off and don’t have access to previous tests. And they both do equally well. Does this mean one is “book smarter” than the other? No. In this case, one student definitely had an upper hand on the other student. End point: there are different types of smart. And getting a bad grade does not reflect all those different types. Sometimes, you might be knowledgeable about a subject area but maybe the test was designed contrary to what you studied in class! And thus, tests are not a good measurement of your knowledge. Read Ellice’s post on getting a bad grade.
There might’ve been a lot of honesty (potentially bluntness) in this article. But I hope you all got something useful from it. After being here 7 semesters, I’d just thought I’d lay out my thoughts. Good luck!
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