December is a month of wonderful things for collegiettes™: cute jackets and holiday cheer abound, winter has just begun so a few flurries still cause waves of frosty excitement across campus, and it’s finally Peppermint Mocha season at Starbucks. But wait. Those five exams in four days that you actively chose to forget about for the past six weeks? Those are happening more or less…now. Before you panic, cry, or start Googling midyear transfer applications, read on for 25 tried and true tricks, tips, and totally random traditions from our study-savvy Barnard and Columbia peers to help you power through and dominate this finals season!
1. Always eat something before any exam (especially breakfast before those early morning ones, even if it means getting up earlier!) so that you don’t lose focus due to hunger halfway through. (CC’13)
2. It seems like most people study late at night and then go to bed, but I prefer to get up early, maybe around 7:30am, and study after I’ve gotten some sleep. (BC’13)
3. Order “the red-eye” at Artopolis: shots of espresso INSIDE of coffee. Yeah. (CC’12)
4. Sleep matters! I think it’s much better to know 80% of the material and be totally rested on test day and than to cram 100% of the material into your head and then be falling asleep or too tired to recall any of it during the exam. (GS/JTS’12)
5. Wear your lucky perfume or jewelry—whether it’s a familiar, comforting scent that helps you block out everything around you or those rings that calm you down when you play with them, this little trick can make all the difference in helping you focus. (CC’13)
6. Find your lock-down chamber. I have some secret spots in the Diana (you’ll have to find them yourself, sorry!!) that are often overlooked. The best place is one that’s quiet, impossibly dull, and can be occupied 24 hours a day. (CC’12)
7. One of the most important things I do for myself during finals is to keep exercising on a regular basis. I’ve found that a hard workout reduces my stress significantly, makes me more productive upon my return to the library, and helps me to eat well, too! (BC’12)
8. When you hit that studying wall where you just can’t look at your books for another second, take a break and watch a 30-minute episode of one of your favorite guilty pleasure TV shows to relax and blow off steam. (BC’14)
9. Always wake up a few hours before your test, even if it means giving up some sleep. It’s so important to have your mind awake and ready to go! SAT tutors suggest that you read at least a little bit of the newspaper to help jumpstart your brain on test day. (CC’13)
10. Make awesome playlists to keep you going! A combination of a good pump up, reenergizing mix and a calming, listen-to-it-while-studying mix is key. (CC’13)
11. If you have painfully late finals, have a friend or family member change your Facebook password and not give it to you until you return home. Reading other people’s status about being finished, sipping eggnog, and rolling around with puppies near the Christmas tree will only bring you to a new low. Save yourself the pain. (CC’12)
12. Keeping a regular sleep routine during finals also makes a huge difference. Trying to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day helps you to set a routine for studying (and working out!) that will help you avoid stress. (BC’12)
13. Color code your notes, flashcards, or study guide. Studies have actually proven that this strategy helps you remember information more effectively! (BC’13)
14. Never review your flashcards or study guide in the test room. It’s way too stressful! You should always try to arrive early and reserve whichever seat you want, but it’s must better to sit calmly and focus on relaxing than to psych yourself out with thinking about what you don’t know. (CC’13)
15. Order the 5-5-5 deal at Dominoes or something similar to provide motivation as the clock ticks on. By the time the sun rises, the pizza will be cold, providing the perfect, desperate snack on your way to hand in that paper! (CC’12)
16. When studying for a test, I usually handwrite anything that I’m having trouble remembering. For some weird reason (probably something to do with memory association?), I’ve found that it helps if I take the test in the same pen/pencil that I used to study. Somehow looking down at the same pen will remind me of what I last wrote with it. Besides, if nothing else it could be my good luck charm! (BC’13)
17. Keep everything in perspective! When you’re going through finals, each test can easily feel like a life or death, succeed or fail situation. In the end, what matters isn’t the grade you got but the effort and hard work you put into your studies. Grades can and do feel like the only thing that matters in life during finals, but everything always ends up all right in the end. (BC’12)
18. I’m superstitious and I’ve never done badly when I’ve had eggs on test day, so now I always have eggs for breakfast on the day of an exam! (BC’14)
19. If you can study well with other people, recite information you think you know well to them as if you were teaching them in preparation for an exam. When you can fully explain a concept to another person, you know you truly understand the subject. (BC’14)
20. I recite my notes out loud as a way to help me remember the information. (BC’12)
21. Set realistic goals. Do not make yourself a 26-item impossible to-do list. You’ll only feel depressed and overwhelmed when you can’t complete it. Work out a schedule that gives you reasonable time to take breaks, eat well, or even take a walk. There’s no sense wasting hours staring wearily at the computer screen and hating yourself. Be reasonable, be gentle, be optimistic. (CC’12)
22. There is this stuff called “rescue remedy” that you can buy at Whole Foods. It’s a natural herb that calms you down when you’re stressed. If I’m super nervous before a test, it’s great! Just a few drops under the tongue and I’m way more relaxed. It helps me focus on the actual test instead of my anxiety over it. (BC’13)
23. It’s all about the Haagen Dazs Rocky Road Dazzlers! (BC’13)
24. I like to bring little snacks like apple slices or nuts in Tupperware for between exams or to help me through long study sessions so I don’t end up snacking on gross food I wouldn’t normally eat. (BC’14)
25. If you’re getting really anxious and stressed out, take a 15-minute walk to clear your head or even just grab a snack outdoors. The fresh air and change of scene will help you re-center so you’re ready to focus again. (BC’14)