Study Tips: How to Study for High School Final Exams

Some of the most common study-related questions concern final exams, and with good reason. For many high school students, their final exams determine their success or failure in a class. That test can be 50% of a student’s grade for an entire semester of work. Here are four steps to help ensure you get the most out of your study sessions for high school final exams.

1. Make sure you have all your materials.

Few things are more annoying than having to continually reassemble school supplies. Make sure you have all the books and other materials you need for that class. However, frankly, his books should simply be a reference at this point. You’ve been taking good notes and studying all the time, so your most important materials aren’t in your books. It’s in your own words on your own paper.

You’ll also want to make sure you have enough materials to stay in place for at least 50 minutes. A writing utensil, paper for making new review materials, and a focused mind should do the trick. If you prefer to make a digital resource rather than a handwritten one, that will work. But before you commit to a computer, consider these three benefits of handwriting your review materials.

First, you have the added memory aid of kinesthetic learning. This is a primary way that people get information, and believe it or not, just writing something down can be tremendously helpful for memorization. Second, there are visual aids that come from handwriting a new review sheet that are overlooked on a computer screen. For example, many people have had the experience of remembering where an answer was on a particular page. If you’ve ever thought, “I remember it was under the alligator image in the top right corner of the page…” you know what I’m talking about. That benefit is mostly lost on a scrolling computer screen. Third, successful students know the benefits of handwritten arrows, diagrams, scribbles, scribbles, and all the other weird stuff for studying. You miss that in Microsoft Word. There is no way around it with the current state of technology.

If you have all your materials, you are now ready for step 2, setting the stage for a successful final exam study session.

2. Establish a great environment for studying.

Many college students overlook this element entirely. Consider this: how many students have you seen at Starbucks with a laptop open, Facebook in the background, Gmail chat in the foreground, Twitter feeds buzzing on their phones, text messages arriving every three minutes, and a book of chemistry in your lap? That kind of studying, if you can call it “studying,” isn’t particularly helpful for studying for finals. High school students must understand this element of studying for final exams before graduating. Your environment matters. You can make or break your study session.

The problem with a bad environment is that time moves at the same speed whether you are learning or not. Many disappointed students have spent hours in the cafeteria preparing for exams, but failed a test due to a poor environment. Large environments improve studying exponentially.

Large environments, while different for each individual, will have certain things in common. Social networks will be kept at bay. As difficult as it sounds, it must be done. Say to Facebook, “Bye”, for an hour. Twitter, text messages, Voxer and HeyTell have no place in a final study session. More traditional media such as television must also be shut down for a while. Establish an environment where you can focus without the constant pull of the media around you. Music can help some students stay focused, but try to make sure it’s instrumental and plays softly in the background, if at all. The calmer and more focused your environment is, the more productive your study session will be.

3. Focus your studies on the most important ideas and details.

When you study for finals, you should not reread the chapters. Reading is an important part of the learning process, but it is too comprehensive to be useful on a final exam. You only want the biggest and most important details. Birthdays, maiden names, pet names, favorite colors, and state flowers are generally not included in final exams. Essays on the major movements of thought and the key thinkers involved are in the final exams.

Excelling on final exams depends on whether or not you can focus your learning on the most important ideas. If you can, you will surely get a higher score in less study time. If you can’t, you probably know a lot of information, have spent many hours in the library, and don’t understand why much of what you studied wasn’t on the test. Learning what to learn is just as important as learning how to learn.

4.Study.

Get to work on what you know. Go over the notes you’ve taken, make a study guide for yourself, and get the job done. I recommend 50 minutes of study at a time. Break those sections up with a ten minute break to get the most out of your session.

5. Stop studying, sleep and master the final exam.

There comes a point in each study session where each student has to sleep. Sometimes students forget about this. They stay up late, drink a lot of coffee, feel miserable, and work for a long time. Then when the test comes, they’re in a daze and end up writing weird stuff.

Don’t write weird essays. I just went to sleep. It is one of the most important things you can do during the study process.

A friend of mine from high school drew a sailboat on an essay test because he couldn’t collect his thoughts enough to write a great essay. In case you’re curious, sailboats don’t score well on essay tests. And yes, that is a true story. You can’t make that up.

If you’ve done your work, you should be prepared to do great on your final exams. Relax, know that you have done your best, and master the test.