Studying for Finals in Vet School

[cheathac]

I was wondering what your guys' advice is as far as preparing for finals? We had two-three exams the week before finals last semester and I didn't do a good job of preparing for the final exams because I was studying for the ones the week before. This semester is the same with an exam or two every week until finals week. How far out did you prepare? Did you look over every lecture? How did you do it? Trying to do a little better on my final exams this semester. Thanks!

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[Awapi]

I do a few things that I think have really helped me (all of them have to do with spreadsheets, lol)

I have a spreadsheet of all exams for the semester with how many days there are between the exams, how many lectures are covered on each exam, and other assignments/things I need to do outside of those exams (I attached a screenshot from the beginning of the semester as an example - I do it for the entire semester but I think you could start doing it now to prepare for finals and it would be just as helpful). I have a final column where I plan out how many days to study for each exam and leave myself notes like "leave no more than 3 lectures for Monday" - spoiler alert: I always leave more than three lectures for "Monday" and I rarely study all the nights past-Awapi suggested to current-Awapi - but it's worth a try, right?

I'm a terrible procrastinator, I act like putting off studying is my literal job. I've found that knowing how many days I will have for each exam as well as other complications (assignments, scholarship apps, "holy crap endocrine phys has 17 lectures on it when GI phys only had 8, I better procrastinate less on that one", etc) keeps short-notice overload from sneaking up on me. It also motivates me to study further out for some exams (esp. finals) when I can really see in black and white how screwed I will be if I put off studying. I think this could be helpful in your situation because you could see how far out realistically you'd have to start studying for finals given your other test schedule to make sure you got to put as many nights as you need towards each.

I think everyone learns differently, but at UGA they record all our lectures and it's really beneficial to me to listen back to them while going through my notes (I can also usually listen to them on 1.5-2x's speed).

Finally, in this same sheet I have tabs for each class where I built in grade calculators based on the syllabus. I put in grades as we go and can easily see what I need on the final to keep the grade I want - I can also see what the "worst case scenario" is and it's rarely as bad as I thought it would be in my mind. This doesn't sound like something that would help with studying per se, but it honestly really has. It helps me to focus efforts - I'm not advocating for half-doing anything, but if I see I need 10 points higher on the phys exam than the BacT exam to keep the same grade, you can bet I prioritized studying for Phys. It's also nice because it put things in perspective throughout the semester - for example, this semester we had a neuroanatomy lab exam and a large animal anatomy exam in the same week - it lowered my stress when I could quickly and easily see in the sheet that the neuro exam was only worth 14% of our grade. I put in the same amount of work I would have otherwise, but I was less stressed about it. Being less stressed when studying really helps me to get more out of the time - so I think this has helped me with my final exam grades and studying in a round-about way by lowering my stress and putting me in a better head space to retain/prioritize.

 

[Frozenshades]

Agree with counting days and always start earlier and try to do more earlier than you think you'll need too. I would usually end up behind if I tried to time things exactly to cut it close. And where to focus just really depends on the break down of the exam (if it's not cumulative it should be a lot easier to figure out, but if it is my question was always what's the point distribution?). I remember physiology first year the final had a cumulative section which was worth like 45% of the test. BUT, that was around 65 lectures worth of material, so each lecture was basically only worth 1 to 2 points (so one or two questions). So in that case it really wasn't worth trying to do anything but a quick read of some of those lectures.

My strategy was generally to try to learn the new material well, and do quick refreshers on older material for cumulative exams.

Definitely agree with crunching the numbers like said above too. Hopefully you're in a good spot, but it lets you know where you really have wiggle room and where you really need to study. As annoying as it can be to get stuck in a spot where you're just shy of being able to raise your grade to the next letter, it's also somewhat a relief if you can do utterly terrible and stay where you are too. If the math shows you you're pretty much locked in at your grade, why sink too much time for that test.

If I needed to cram I usually tried to do it two days before an exam to rest a bit the night before; finals weeks with multiple tests in a row can be a little more fluid, but still. Go sleep, you need it. I usually preferred to get up and come in early at like 5 or 6am to study before class/exams rather than staying up late. And there's usually no line at the coffee shop that early 🙂

 

[LyraGardenia]

I remember physiology first year the final had a cumulative section which was worth like 45% of the test. BUT, that was around 65 lectures worth of material, so each lecture was basically only worth 1 to 2 points (so one or two questions). So in that case it really wasn't worth trying to do anything but a quick read of some of those lectures.

Yeahhh, it was the same way for my class, I didn't even try to study for the cumulative portion.

I don't have too much to add, but I second the suggestions to start early and prioritize your time wisely. If you have a class where you can get a 40% on the final and still keep your current grade, but it's impossible to raise your grade, don't spend too much time studying for that one. For cumulative finals, hopefully you've set yourself up well with study guides for the previous exams, and can just look over those rather than going back through all the lectures. And as always, mental health is important, it's super easy to get burnt out during finals week! Get enough sleep, take breaks, and try to meal prep or have things that are easy to cook on hand so you're not relying too much on fast food.

 

[cheathac]

Thank you so much guys! I don't have as many cumulative finals this semester thankfully, but was just upset at myself last semester with how I did in a few classes. I'm trying hard to raise my GPA this semester. I have either A's or B+'s in all my classes and I'd really like to keep them that way this semester.

 

[cdo96]

Yeahhh, it was the same way for my class, I didn't even try to study for the cumulative portion.

I don't have too much to add, but I second the suggestions to start early and prioritize your time wisely. If you have a class where you can get a 40% on the final and still keep your current grade, but it's impossible to raise your grade, don't spend too much time studying for that one. For cumulative finals, hopefully you've set yourself up well with study guides for the previous exams, and can just look over those rather than going back through all the lectures. And as always, mental health is important, it's super easy to get burnt out during finals week! Get enough sleep, take breaks, and try to meal prep or have things that are easy to cook on hand so you're not relying too much on fast food.

Last semester I printed a 24 hours planner for three weeks and literally planned out three weeks straight of when I would cook, eat, sleep, study, and relax so I didn’t forget to do the basics.