How to Survive Midterms

Author dawnw
Posted on 15th August 2017August 16, 2017
In the Know
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It’s that time of year again. Past tests and quizzes are hung up in your room with gloom, and PowerPoints haunt your dreams for days on end. Midterms. Everyone goes through stress, but just remember there’s a light at the end of the tunnel: Spring Break. Specifically, spring break in Havasu. However, before you can earn you Greatest Partier Alive title, you have to make sure your actual GPA is good first. You know, for your whole future and life reasons. So before you throw your laptop out of your dorm or bang your head on your desk, check out these 5 tips to Survive Midterms.

Tip 1: Sleep

I know, I know. Sleep is taboo around midterms. We college students are just like Batman; we stay up for endless hours of the night fighting crime, studying, and watching Netflix. Well maybe not in that order, but you get the idea. For most of us, sleep is the best thing in the world we never have time to do. But midterms are a different; we skip sleep and survive off of coffee and energy drinks. While they keep you up, those stimulants are no replacement for the real deal. Studies have proven that sleep is the best thing for your body, and having a good night’s sleep is often better than the 18-hour cram session you had the night before the test. So to pass the exam, you should sleep fam.

Tip 2: Hit the books early

This tip goes directly with tip #1, so refer back to it if you didn’t get the memo. We all know most Professors post the midterm date in their syllabi at the beginning of the semester, and we still get surprised when they happen anyway. It’s hard to keep track of every test and quiz date through the pressures of college, but studying at the last minute can be avoided by simply skimming over the chapters a week earlier, if not sooner. Even if it’s not a week, just a couple days before can help improve your chances of passing. Why? Because when you sleep on the info, and you actually remember it later. Funny how that works, huh?

Tip 3: Eat

The basic struggle for every college student is the next meal is coming from, especially during midterms. You’ve been saving up for your epic spring break in Az, and you’re running low on ramen. It may be hard, but eating, especially in the morning before a test, really tips the scales in you favor. A growling gut is more distracting during a midterm than your classmate humming Chainsmokers. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Tip 4: Master the Summary

Perhaps the most important tip of all, aside from sleep. Reading the summaries. In almost every college textbook, as infinitely complicated and frustrating as they are, there is a summary at the end of every chapter or section. These summaries are your lifeline for last minute crams, tests, and midterms. They typically give you everything you need to have a base knowledge of the material, and every definition included in the section. Even if you’ve procrastinated studying and spent most of your time binge watching TV shows or hanging with friends, at least read the summaries. That way you’re not completely blind going into a test. Combine this with tips 1 and 3 and you’ll be golden.

Tip 5: Learn to relax

Make the impossible possible. Relax during finals week, because it helps more than it hurts. Hang out with your friends on an off night. Go to a movie. Go to the gym. Do whatever de-stresses you. This helps give you a clear head and open mind for studying, which in turn helps you pass the test. So maybe a night out with friends after you’ve studied isn’t all the bad huh?

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5 Great Tips to Survive Midterms