Did you know every year, there is a disaster that hits college students twice a year in May and December? Without warning it sweeps in, disrupting lives of thousands of people. Some people don’t make it, and the people who do survive would rather forget the whole experience and look to the future.

Sound familiar? No, I’m not talking about tsunamis or hurricanes.

I’m talking about finals!

Do you think of finals like this? If so, it might be a good idea to face the pain and look back to see what you could have done better. What you might discover is that if you had done a few things differently earlier in the semester, the apocalypse called “Final’s Week” would have been a cake walk!

To do really well on your finals, you really have to start preparing on the first day of class. That way, instead of cramming for your finals next semester, you’ll only have to do a nice little review the night before. Sounds pretty sweet huh?

If you want to ace your finals, spend less time cramming for them, and have zero fear come final exam time, read these 6 tips and apply them to your studies next semester.

1) You didn’t really forget it all.

One thing most students don’t understand about memory is that it’s not like a textbook. You can’t go to the table of contents, look up the location of the memory, and turn to the right page.

It is also not like a chalkboard. You don’t erase memories to make room for new ones. They’re all still there!

So don’t sweat it if you feel like you have “forgotten everything.” Chances are the knowledge is still there in your brain somewhere. You just have to do some reviewing to refresh it.

2) Learn it the first time.

If you start reviewing and you still don’t feel things clicking, it is because you didn’t learn it right the first time, not because you forgot it.

If you were getting Cs and Ds on your exams leading up to test time, you probably were not doing a very great job learning the stuff during the semester, were ya?

3) Do well on tests.

Your tests will give you the best “sneak preview” you can get for your finals. So do your best on them. And hold onto those suckers! They’ll prove very valuable come finals time.

When I get my graded exams back, I always do two things:

1. Go back and look up answers for questions I got wrong.
2. Hold on to them!

Old tests are the best thing you can use to study for your finals. Better than your notes, better than your instructor’s Power Points, and better than your textbook.

4) Be consistent.

Some people, (like myself) do just fine without taking notes in class. Other people would rather not read the textbook. That’s fine, but do not change your habits half way through the semester unless you really believe you must.

If you keep switching things up every week, you will never find a good “groove” that works for you, and you will still be confused as hell during finals week.

Having good study skills requires that you know how to study. If you don’t know how to study for your course by finals time, you did something wrong.

5) Stay organized

Keep separate folders and notebooks for each class and keep all your old tests and notes in these folders. That way, the night before the final, you won’t be scrambling to find materials to study from.

6) Make friends in each class.

I have always been the type to do things on my own and this tip I learned fairly recently.

Making a few connections in each class will pay off down the road. Especially when you start taking courses for your major. You will inevitably find a few of the same people in each of your classes. Make them your allies! There are a lot of ways you can help each other out.

Sometimes in one class you will find someone who had already taken a class that you are currently in. Most people are more than willing to give you advice on how to do great in a class and if you’re really nice, they might even give you their old materials (notes, study guides, and even old tests!)

So here’s a recap of the 6 steps to preparing for your finals next semester:

1) Realize that you can’t forget everything you learned

6) Make friends in each class.

I cover a lot of these steps more in depth in my other posts, so look around, but these might get you started.

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could walk into your classroom on final exam day without worry and ace it? Bookmark this post and read it again in August (if you can remember!) If you start preparing early your finals will be a breeze.

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I am a procrastinator of epic proportions. I literally put things off ’til the last minute. When I go out with my buddies, they usually tell me to be there 15 minutes earlier than everyone else; and even then I’m usually late.

I’m such a procrastinator, I have it down to a science. On an Anthropology exam last semester, I studied a total of three and a half hours for a test that covered 5 chapters. And having ADD, I wasn’t the greatest at paying attention in class either. I showed up to class most days half awake, taking notes every once in a while, so I barely knew any of the stuff. I should mention all 3.5 hours of studying were onthe day of the test.

I should also mention that I got a 103% on this test, while the class average was a C. The girl next to me failed it.

Yep, that’s how I roll.

Cram smartly

Cramming isn’t such a bad thing; if you do it right. Of course the best option is the traditional one: study frequently, read the chapters of your textbook every week like you’re supposed to, and take copious amounts of notes. But comon, we’re in college right? Who has time for studying that often when there’s beer pong to be played?

This post contains a guide on how to ace your exams with just a few hours of study time. Assuming you’re a halfway decent student, you can use the tips I list below to help you out when you’re in a jam with limited time to study. Note: Cramming does require some ass-busting! I don’t cheat. Anyhow, my methods will get you a better grade than any cheat method could.

Damage Control

When you’re short on time, you can’t afford to read every word of every chapter in your textbook. You had weeks to thoroughly memorize all the material and you didn’t do it. Don’t waste time trying to do this now.

You’re in damage control mode. You must learn how to pick out the important bits of information and remember them the first time, because there won’t be a second time.

Be focused, organized, and efficient.

Sit down with your book, notes, etc, and tell yourself you’re going to study for X amount of hours. Turn off the TV, turn off the music, and close your door. No distractions.

A little bit of coffee helps me to stay clear minded during my cram sessions, but don’t blast yourself into oblivion on caffeine or other stimulants. This is college, not Requiem for a Dream.

Study using a top-down, non-linear approach.

As opposed to a bottom-up approach, top-down means you want to start with the most general concepts first and then work your way down to the more specific stuff. Then you can go back through again, if you have time, and cover the rest.

When you have a solid grasp of the general concepts, it makes it easier to figure out answers without explicitly memorizing the info, and you’re better able to bluff on the questions you don’t know.

Learn the art of BS

Testing is a lot like poker. You have to bluff your way to an A. The truth is, when you’re being tested, you just have to appear to know the material. This is why the top-down approach will get you a better grade, especially on short answer and essay exams. Specific facts or statistics may appear once or twice on your exam, but general over-arching key points could be applicable to many questions.

Plus, most instructors want you to do well on their exams. No instructor wants to have to explain why half their students fail their class every semester. If you at least appear to know what you’re talking about, you’re giving your instructor a reason to give you points.

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Quizzing yourself is really a great study tool. But when you’re cramming, there’s not a whole lot of time to write up your own flash cards is there?

I suggest you use what I call “continuous self testing” to memorize stuff the first time around. Immediately after you read a key piece of information; say a definition or description of a theory, immediately quiz yourself on it by making up a question for that piece of information.

For example, you’re trying to remember this piece of information:

“Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial development is called “Trust vs Mistrust.”

Wrong way
You: “K. Gotta remember this! Erikson’s first stage was Trust vs Mistrust. Erikson’s first stage was Trust vs Mistrust. Erikson’s first stage was Trust vs Mistrust. Erikson’s first stage was Trust vs Mistrust.”

When this question pops up on your exam, you’ll have a hard time remembering it because you didn’t create a link to it in your brain. That sentence is still floating around in your mind somewhere, but without anyway to find it, you’re in trouble.

Right way
You: “Ok, now what was Erikson’s first stage called? Hmm…I just read it a second ago…I remember…Trust vs Mistrust!”

That’s it. It might sound silly until you actually do it, and realize how hard it is to really commit something to memory. Even doing this right after you’ve read something will create a much stronger memory that’s way easier to recall.

And this really makes sense when you think about it. You’re practicing for exactly what you’ll be doing a couple hours later for your test. Would you practice for a baseball game by repeating some mantra over and over again? “I will swing the bat and hit the ball. I will swing the bat and hit the ball…” No, you would practice by actually playing baseball.

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