Preparing for finals begins on Day 1!

Follow my tips and finals will not be scary to you anymore!

Why start studying that early?

Building a study habit takes time. Time goes very fast and your first test (usually 1 month into the semester) will come when you don’t expect it yet! You definitely don’t wanna see yourself cramming the night before the test because you have not prepared for it yet!

But what to study on Day 1?

I get it, you don’t feel like you need to study yet. There is no homework yet, you don’t even know what the homework assignments look like yet. You have only 2 pages worth of notes (if any)! Here are my suggestions:

Ask your teacher what books/papers they are using to prepare for the class.

If you never had this teacher before, this is a very good step toward building a strong relationship with that teacher. (More on that in later posts!)

Don’t worry about asking your teacher for help/advice. Teachers love hardworking students and will do their best to help such a student! Why?

1 They love to share their knowledge and skills with students. That is assuming they chose that job of course. Knowing that a student wants to receive what they have to offer feels good!

2 Their name is attached to yours forever! You will always be their former student and they will be proud of you one day!

If you get the name of the book, see if you can get it at your library

You don’t need to buy a brand-new book to become successful in a class. Chances are, if you want to borrow a book at the beginning of the semester, it will be available!

If getting the book from your library is not a possibility, see if the book is open access and download it from the internet! Well, not all books are available for free, an electronic math book may cost as expensive as $200! But…you don’t have to buy them, as long as you are not required to. Look instead for lecture notes based on the book. Just write “the name of your book + lecture notes pdf” on the search bar and you will see tons of results! You can print them and use them to study. Make sure the notes you download are from an actual professor and not from a student. For institutions in the US, the domain name should end in .edu.

Start reading the book/lecture notes

Commit to reading the book/lecture notes every single day. You can do as little as 30 minutes a day but you should do it consistently. Don’t stop where your notes in class stop. Read further. It is better to read the book/lecture note before it is covered in class and have your list of questions prepared in advance. When the teacher covers the topic next time, you can ask the questions. Also, don’t ask questions about topics not covered in the session in class. You need to make sure that your questions are in context with the class! Of course, you can ask your teacher in their office if you really want the answer ASAP! However, asking the questions in class is beneficial for everyone in the class. You are going to get the answer to your question. The students who have the same questions but are shy will get the answer and your teacher doesn’t have to repeat themself!

I hope this post helps you get started! Please consider following me and sharing this post with your friends and students!

Antsa