What to Organize to Prepare for Finals
It’s the season of finals again! Studying for exams is a struggle for everyone - and yes, it’s totally normal to get stressed out! But at the end of the day, what really differentiates an A and a C student is preparation, which dates back a few weeks before the final exam, or... NOW that is!
Below I'll provide you with the 3 things you need to get on your desk ASAP!
1. Lecture notes
You should get all your lecture notes, sort them in order, and organize them into different chapters/modules.
The lecture notes show you exactly what material is covered in class, and in case you’ve missed any classes since the beginning of this term, this is the time to go back and get them from your classmates!
Arrange your notes so that you can easily reference the correct topic when working through exam-style questions, use highlighters or coloured pens to help with this!
Choose any way you prefer to stay organized, so you can actually focus on those topics that you will be tested on, this will help you easily reference and identify what to study!
Another option is to visit your Canvas and download your prof’s PPT slides, but many studies have shown that just reading off PowerPoints and memorizing a paragraph is not effective and is not the best way to utilize your revision time!
So get your notes out and work!
2. Past Papers and Sample Midterms
It’s very important to know how to answer questions on a final exam, at UBC, generally the final exams are much more difficult, and are longer in terms of length in comparison to the midterm exams, this is because the content is usually cumulative, and thus requiring you to manage your time and approach each question differently.
You could be tested on anything from day one until what you had just learned in your last week of class!
Past exams are published on the internet, but if you can’t find them don’t be afraid to email your instructor and politely ask them for a sample final exam from the previous session! Some professors even post sample exams on Canvas, as you may already know.
However you get them, having past exams handy will give you an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned in class, and easily identify which area you need to spend more time studying!
Lastly, once you found yourself comfortable with your first few attempts, now it’s time to put yourself under time-constraint! Yes, people have actually missed a ranging number of marks simply because they couldn’t finish their exam on time.
3. Your Textbook and Syllabus
This may seem obvious, but textbooks are necessary!
Your textbook is an extended version of your lecture notes, it expands the bullet points and briefly explain any limitations or additional information you need to know about the concepts, this is an important studying habit to get used to - especially at UBC, you need to understand the material from a wider perspective, and at a much deeper level, you will thank yourself for doing this when you got your marks back…
It’s also nice to have your syllabus or course outline handy, either on your laptop or a hard copy, your syllabus outlines exactly what is covered throughout the term - having a syllabus with you ensures that you won’t skip or forget any topics throughout the course... knowing that any of them could show up on your exam, I’m sure you really won’t love any kind of surprise, especially before your Christmas holiday!
When studying, put your preferred method into action! One thing I personally would not recommend is reading the whole section about cells when you’re only being tested on mitochondria, instead you should pick out the main points that you need to understand, once you have gone through everything - then feel free to go back and refresh or just skim through the material to further expand your understanding of the core concepts!
Happy studying everyone! Have an amazing last week of school :)
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