Finals Anxiety

[FMLx3]

Hey guys, I have three finals next week and am starting to shut down because of stress. How do I prepare well for all of them? I'm not used to more than two.

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[GomersGoToGround]

When it comes time to take the finals, you either know the material or you don't. The best thing you can do is to acknowledge that you are scared to high h*ll, by understanding and saying to yourself...(this is important) what it is, physiologically, that's causing you to feel that way. It's obvious, but over the years, I've found that I sometimes become "numb" for a short while to emotions when I really talk about the psychological and physiological reasons behind feeling this way. It's kind of like saying the word "hand" 300 times. Eventually, you don't even recognize the word.

Of course, everybody's different, and this might suck for you. In which case: my bad, bro.

As for prep: create a schedule for the next coming week, and set aside specific times to work on specific classes. The amount of time spent on each class will be dependent on your current grades in that class, your goal grade for that class, where you stand in terms of being up to date with the material, and lastly, the day of your final.

If one final is on Tuesday, and the other is on Friday, it might be wise to put in more time, initially, for the Tuesday final, and use the time afterwards to study for the Friday final.
Maybe you study a few hours every day for each class, and then tailor the time to your schedule once the actual exam week begins. This gives you solid preparation beforehand, and allows you to titrate the final concentrations right up to the time you put pen to paper (because I don't use pencil.)

It's really about being able to recognize what it is that you need to learn, and how much time you have to do so. Once you do this math for every class, you'll have a better idea of how to stagger and allocate your time for each class wisely.

Keep calm and final on. Something something doesn't kill you, something something stronger; yeah. Aye.

 

[ski89]

You have no idea what stress is until you apply to medical school.

Edit: ok I feel like I should try and be helpful.. Just put the time in OP. If you are that worried, just make yourself a study schedule with like 8 hours a day of studying, spacing your study time in blocks of 2-3 hours or so. If you put the time in, you'll do fine

 

[Pierre Escargot]

Excessive stress is detrimental just about every time, so step one is to take it easy. If you've studied well for your midterms, the vast majority of the material should be quite easy to recall once you read over the lectures and your notes again. Start from now and divide your time between the three exams and you'll be fine. Oh, and get some sleep, too. You won't be remembering much if you're pulling all-nighters from now until then.

 

[ski89]

Excessive stress is detrimental just about every time, so step one is to take it easy. If you've studied well for your midterms, the vast majority of the material should be quite easy to recall once you read over the lectures and your notes again. Start from now and divide your time between the three exams and you'll be fine. Oh, and get some sleep, too. You won't be remembering much if you're pulling all-nighters from now until then.

Good point about midterms Pierre. For the most part, my first midterm for each class was always the most stressful for me since the first midterm sets the standard for how hard the tests are (typically) and also tells you if your study habits are adequate. In fact, in a large number of my classes, I only ended up needing a 85-90% on my final to keep by grade above 93% (an A).

 

[Pierre Escargot]

Good point about midterms Pierre. For the most part, my first midterm for each class was always the most stressful for me since the first midterm sets the standard for how hard the tests are (typically) and also tells you if your study habits are adequate. In fact, in a large number of my classes, I only ended up needing a 85-90% on my final to keep by grade above 93% (an A).

For sure, the first midterm is definitely how I gauge how difficult the rest of the semester will be too. If OP has done fairly decently on his/her midterms, I'd say he/she really shouldn't be worrying so much. If they've barely scraped by...well I guess that's another story.

 

[amazing tekkers]

I have 4 finals this week, so anxious

Any advice appreciated

 

[Spirit of the Student Doc]

Currently waiting outside of a lecture hall to start a final............... It's like torture

 

[snowflakes]

Never feel defeated or let the panic get to you. There is a surprising amount you can learn in even 1 day of intense studying. 1 day =18+ hours of possible studying if you work hard. Don't lose hope. Good luck!

 

[snowflakes]

Currently waiting outside of a lecture hall to start a final............... It's like torture

What? what time is your exam??

 

[efle]

always helps me relax

 

[Spirit of the Student Doc]

What? what time is your exam??

7pm............had a 7am as well. Worked the overnight yesterday. I'm going to take a nap now.

 

[Gregor Wiesmann]

7pm............had a 7am as well. Worked the overnight yesterday. I'm going to take a nap now.

7:00 a.m. final? GROSS! I took a Biology class at that time last year, but the professor was nice and let us take the final at 7:30. That class was still a bad idea though! haha