Midterms are an important part of every academic term, but something that many students dread. There are ways, however, students can prepare for these important tests in advance so midterms week runs smoothly. Whether a student is working with a tutor, as part of a study group, or studying solo, there are some tried and true tips that can help any student.
Organize up front
One of the best things students can do when preparing for midterms is to organize their study sessions ahead of time. If a student is working with a tutor, they should make an outline of what they would like to work on in their session so their tutor can organize the session and make sure to manage time accordingly. If a student is working solo, they should also have good organization but it will be up to them to manage their own time and prioritize which items are studied first.
Read the syllabus
Older students will generally have a class syllabus they can refer to in order to determine which items will be given more weight on a particular exam or which chapters or topics they need to study. If for some reason a student doesn’t have a syllabus, they should reach out to their classroom teacher to get an idea of what they need to focus on when they’re preparing for exams.
Take breaks and leave extra time
A lot of students leave studying to the last minute or find that the material they need to cover takes longer than they anticipated. In which case, they end up cramming for exams a day or two before, resulting in the student being tired the day of the exam and feeling like they didn’t get to cover everything. This can be remedied in a straightforward way when students leave enough time to take breaks when they start to feel mentally fatigued. Leaving extra time will also give students an opportunity to review important items they need to spend more time with.
Learn from past exams
Students can often get valuable insight from items they missed on past exams to determine which topics they need to study more or to learn about their individual needs as a student. If possible, it’s advantageous for students to take their recent graded exams with them to their tutoring session so they can prioritize future study sessions with an expert.
