Finals at the end of the year are stressful to most of the students. Since finals count up to 20 percent of the whole semester grade, students often feel pressured and might not do their best on the final. In this article, I am going to introduce a few techniques you can use to do well on your finals.
Get enough sleep before the day of the final
As I did once, there are students who study until late at night, trying to shove in a bunch of information in their brains at 12 p.m. Unless you have not studied at all and at least trying to study at the night before the exam, this is a bad habit. In many scientific studies, it is proven that your memory recall will be much better if you have had enough rest. At the night before the final, make sure you get enough sleep.
Pay close attention to instructions
There is nothing more frustrating than getting the question you know wrong because you did not read the instructions. Before solving any question, make sure you read the instruction first. It might say choose the incorrect one, choose the correct one, or choose ALL the correct ones. The teacher might want you to show all your work, or might just want you to give an answer. Do not lose precious points because of carelessness!
Use your extra time wisely.
Usually, teachers do not give finals that take exactly two hours. Most students finish in less than one hour and thirty minutes and others might finish in less than an hour. I know taking exams is boring and tiring, so some students just sleep or do nothing. However, if you want to improve your grade, spending any extra time checking over your work will be a good idea. Check your math equation and follow it along to catch any small mistakes. Read over your English essay for any grammatical errors. Most of the times, you will find mistakes that if you slept, would slip away and hurt your grade. If you already checked your test, repeat at least three times.
Relax.
Relaxing is the most important aspect of taking an exam. If you are nervous, you might blank out and forget the information you had. To relax, move around your toes and fingers and take a deep breath. It can be easy to forget things we already know, like our locker combination. However, it will quickly come back to you because you already practiced and know it to your heart.
Skip the question you do not know
As you take the exam, there will be at least one question where you will be stuck. If you are stuck on one problem, do not waste your time. Move on to the next question. When you come back to those hard questions later, your brain might be able to remember what to do. Even though you have no idea how to solve one or two questions, do not leave them blank. Write or do your best, even though it is whatever so that the teacher might give a few extra points that otherwise you would not have got.
Read the test through first.
When the exam starts, go over your test. Check which part takes longer than others, and in your head divide the two hours so that you would have sufficient time to solve each section of the test. There is nothing more shocking than spending one hour on short-answer questions and only having ten minutes to write your essay. My own advice will be spending more time on sections that are worth more. You have no reason to spend one hour on multiple choice that is only worth 20 percent, while only spending 30 minutes on your essay that probably worth about 40 percent.
