Being the procrastinator that I am, it’s very likely that I wait until the last minute and cram for all of my tests. That’s endless “all nighters” and very little sleep. I’m sure every other college student can say the same.
According to a study done by the National Survey of Student Engagement, students taking 15 credit hours should study for 30 hours a week. Being that 12-15 credit hours are the average amount taken by students, it’s safe to say that we should be studying for about 20-30 hours a week.
While statistics may show how much time we should be studying, there’s a high chance majority of college students will never spend that much time studying a week. Preparing and studying for big test like midterms not only take a decent amount of hours to pass, but there are also many other things that I think you should do in preparation for your test and to study more effectively.
First, turn off your phone while studying. I think it is one of the obvious ways to help yourself study effectively. If it’s hard for you to turn your phone off, then put it to the side then try to make it a point check it every 30 minutes. Your Twitter timeline and Instagram feed can wait.
Create note cards or your own study guide. Most professors don’t give students study guides, so make your own! One easy way to do this is to start building up your study guide from information from each class period, that way you won’t have to take the time to make an entire study guide in one day. Note cards are simple, yet very rewarding, in my opinion. If you don’t want to flip through pages of a study guide, note cards are definitely the best way to memorize important information for a test.
Ask your professor about the material. I’m sure this has happened to you before… You study hard for a test just to find out that there’s certain material on there that had no idea would be there. Ask the professor absolutely everything you need to know about the test, you don’t want to miss any concepts. Go over your notes, power points and try to get through every page of those chapters in your textbook.
Make sure you actually understand what you’re studying. It’s easy to go over material over and over again, but do you actually know what you’re studying? Quiz yourself! Make sure all the material that you’re taking in isn’t just sitting there.
Don’t get too worked up… it’s just a test. I know midterms are important, but it’s not worth losing your sanity over. Study hard, stay focused, get a good nights rest and make sure you understand all the material and you should have nothing to worry about.
Midterms are rough, but you don’t have to let them get the best of you!