Top 10 Tips to Ace Your Midterms

Midterms are coming up, and these times can be stressful for anyone.  Preparing is the best way to ace those midterms, so here are some tips to help you prepare.

1. Get a good night’s sleep before the exam.
2. An absolute must if you can: get prior years’ exams and, with a small group of classmates, prepare point form sample answers to share among yourselves.
3. Review your notes to see all the items the professor indicated were important. In some cases, s/he might even have hinted at exam topics.
4. Take a quick scan of the course outline – make a note of the topics the professor seemed to spend a lot of time on, or otherwise emphasized.
5. Take a look at the assignments if there were any – see if you can find topics, skills or techniques that were emphasized, especially those after the mid-term.
6. Did the professor comment on areas of weakness on the mid-term? These sometimes reappear on the final.
7. Make a set of study notes from your class notes and the text. Writing them down in condensed format aids in recall during the final exam, and in some cases, helps you identify items you need to clarify with a friend or teaching assistant.  Work with the group you formed to address point 2. If you like – this can increase the scope of your studying.
8. If there is a key item you need to remember for the exam, study it right before you enter the exam room. Right after the exam starts, write down what you know. A favorite is to list formulas (or dates?) that you need to remember. If you wait until you are freaked out by a difficult exam question, you might not remember them.
9. Make sure you have a meal that includes carb’s AND proteins before the exam. This will give you staying power. Take a granola bar and fluids to your exam desk if permitted.
10. In case you have forgotten the first, and very important point, get a good night’s sleep before the exam.

For more information see Top 10 Tips.