5 Mistakes to Avoid When Studying for Finals

By Alicia Geigel
Each semester, we all make the same promise to ourselves that we aren’t going to study last minute before a test and change up our study habits, but for most of us, these promises just about always fall through. With all of the responsibilities of college, time management can be a real challenge, not only in regards to homework and projects but especially with tests/exams. Because it can be difficult to manage time efficiently and balance your schedule, it can become easy to cram the night before a test and burn yourself out.

As finals week is quickly approaching, you may feel the urge to postpone your studying and cram at the last minute. While sometimes this is inevitable, there are a few mistakes that you’ll want to avoid in order to get the most out of your study sessions.

Are you cramming for your upcoming finals? Here are five mistakes to avoid, with solutions to counter them!

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1. Don’t Procrastinate: The spell that seems to plague college students everywhere, procrastination may feel good in the moment, but down the line when you have to study for a major final, you’re going to wish you hadn’t. It can be easy to fall into procrastinating your studying between balancing other classes or your life as whole, which is why you want to avoid this common study mistake. Instead, assign yourself a topic or chapter each day, to help break down the information, while lessening the burden of relearning everything at once. Furthermore, you can incentivize yourself with a reward once you’re done!

2. Don’t Rely on the Study Guides of Peers: From time to time, it can feel like a lifesaver to hear a student offer their study guide to you. For one, you don’t have to worry about making one yourself, and two, you can potentially score a thorough study guide. Though not always the case, sometimes your classmates can misunderstand information, write down the wrong information, or lazily take notes leaving out key points of a topic. In this case, a study guide like that wouldn’t be good. So instead of relying on the study guide of a classmate at the last minute, create your own instead. Scope out key terms and important headings/subheadings from your textbook and reference the class notes that can help you create a practice test. Additionally, gathering the same information and applying it to flashcards or making an outline can help you retain information better and faster!

3. Don’t Over-Highlight Everything: Highlighting is a great tool to use when you want to draw attention to an important person, place, topic, or phrase. It gives emphasis to the section of text you need to cram for. A common mistake when cramming for a test is going wild with the highlighter, coloring the pages in hues of neon pink and yellow, and completely defeating the purpose of the tool. Highlighting everything will distract and overwhelm you in terms of important aspects to study. Instead, use the highlighter sparingly and only for the text you need help memorizing or remembering. Not only does this stimulate your brain, but it also helps you remember better!

4. Don’t Avoid Taking Breaks: Burning yourself out is key to forgetting what you need to study, frying your brain, and making you do poorly on the final. Though it may seem necessary to cram all of your studying into long hours without breaks in between, it is counterproductive to do so. Instead, take short 5-10 minute breaks in between chapters/dense topics/etc. to help break up your study sessions. Not only will this give you time to grab a snack or send out a few texts, but it will also leave you refreshed and ready to tackle the next section of your guide.

5. Don’t Waste Your Night Time: One of my worst habits is going on my phone, scrolling through social media before bed. My worst habit is also a common mistake among college students. Instead of wasting time at night, wind down by studying for a couple of minutes before bed every night before the test. While it’s the last thing you probably want to do before bed, studying can help with your memory retention!

Though studying can be stressful, managing your studying in a balanced way instead of cramming will leave you feeling less overwhelmed and more in control of your performance. Always remember to study how you feel most comfortable and work at a pace that is best for you!