Irvine Tutoring Tips: 4 Finals Week Pitfalls to Avoid

Tips from an Irvine Tutor: 4 finals week pitfalls to avoid

It’s finals week and students are studiously preparing for these important exams. This is the time of year when students are being tested in every subject, and their final grades will be immensely affected by their performance. Many students become overwhelmed and forget the big picture at this point in the school year and may experience some pitfalls that can make life more difficult than it needs to be. Although each student is an individual and their experiences will vary by grade level and classes, there are some common situations that nearly every student experiences – our private Irvine tutors are here to help you score high on your finals.

1. Panic

It’s normal to be a little bit stressed out about testing week and, in fact, a healthy amount of stress can help students focus on studying and make good choices when it comes to priorities. However, excess stress can lead to all-out panic, which does not help students concentrate or perform well. Students can best avoid becoming panicked by planning and having a backup plan in case their first strategy doesn’t work out. Students can organize their study time, work with their tutor to review important information, and put social plans on hold while they’re working towards finals. Students should also take adequate brakes and make sure they’re getting enough sleep as well as eating healthy meals during this time, so both their brain and body are awake and alert for their exams (READ: How to Keep Your Grades High During The Holidays).

2. Excess socializing

Although having good friends at school is part of a healthy and balanced childhood, there should not be too much socializing during finals week. It’s just one week out of the year, so there’s plenty of time for students to get together with friends once they’ve taken their exams. Students my appropriately socialize during a study group or a group tutoring session but should not make lots of weekend plans when they’re about to take important tests on Monday morning. Students who don’t prioritize well at this point in the term will often find that their final exam grades are lower than they could’ve been and this can affect their entire GPA.

3. Cramming

Many students procrastinate and put off studying as long as they can, then they end up cramming until the early hours of the morning before taking exams. This is one of the worst ways for students to study because it fatigues their brain right before taking the test and also prevents the brain from having enough time to absorb new information. Rather than cram, students should prioritize how they’re going to study for each course, allocate a certain number of hours and prioritize which subjects need more of their attention. Tutors can be a great asset when it comes to this studying because they can help students determine how much they need to improve to reach their GPA goals and how much each test is worth about other assignments in the course.

4. Skipping review sessions

Many teachers will hold a review session which will cover important points from the entire semester. Many students do not attend these sessions because they think they only need to remember a few key points or that the review session will take up too much of their time. However, review sessions contain the most valuable information a student can get before taking an exam. The information is coming straight from a teacher who is administering and grading the test. Many teachers will give students hints on what will appear on the exam and go over important information that hasn’t been covered for a few months. Every student should attend review sessions offered before finals week.

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