How to Organize Your Final Exams Schedule
Chaos, madness, and frenzy—these three words can easily describe your college finals week. With more projects to complete, papers to write, and exams to study for than you can count, you can easily find yourself overwhelmed.
If this is your first exam week of your college career, you may be feeling like you’re drowning in anxiety and questions. Before believing all the horror stories and myths, focus on getting your exam schedule organized with these 5 tips!
Discover when your final exams are scheduled.
Each college schedules final exams differently. Some schools automatically schedule finals during the regular class time. Other schools (especially larger ones) schedule exams in blocks determined by some particular but consistent schedule.
Before you begin calculating what score you want to get on your exam, check the details of your exam time. There is not much worse than the last minute panic of forgetting about an exam. There is also no need to spend the night rolling back and forth, anxiously hoping your exam was when you thought your professor said.
Some colleges automatically create an exam schedule for you online. If you can’t locate anything like this, ask an upperclassman or your RA for help.
Once you identify when each exam is scheduled, please do not rely on your tired mind to remember. Either write down these times in a planner or create an excel spreadsheet blocking a spot for the time of each exam. Label each class with a different color and name to ensure that you do not mix up each exam’s time.
Pay special attention to online exams or online deadlines for final projects/papers. You do not want to miss these deadlines, because a college professor is unlikely to open up the dropbox for you at the end of a semester.
Discover where your final exams are located.
Almost every exam should be in your regularly scheduled classroom. However, if your college is larger, your exam may not be in the normal room. Check with your syllabi and with classmates that your exam is located in the normal classroom.
Label the location on your exam schedule you created (either in your planner or on a spreadsheet). Please double-check the location the morning before your exam as well. You don’t want to sprint across campus or arrive late to your final exa, especially since some teachers do not let you take an exam if you arrive too late.
If your exam is due online, pay special attention to attendance being required. Some teachers still want students to come to the classroom on the day and time of the exam even if the exam is online.
Identify what items are needed at exam time.
Every college is different and every professor is different when it comes to items needed for a final exam. If you have projects, papers, or other assignments due the day of a final exam, be sure that you bring these items. The night before, print out any needed papers put them in a secure location (like in your backpack).
If your professor uses Scantrons, GradeMasters, or other forms for final exams, do not forget to purchase enough copies for each exam that requires them. Bring extra writing utensils. Be prepared for an emergency situation just in case.
If your college requires you to bring some sort of personal or exam identification, do not forget this back in your dorm room. Double-check it is in your wallet or backpack.
Plan for buffer time to and from exams.
Plan for the weird emergencies, like your alarm not going off or getting stuck in traffic. Normally you may cut it close to class when arriving, but do the opposite on a day like this. Plan on showing up at least 10-15 minutes before each final exam begins.
If you arrive “too early,” the worse situation that could occur is that you have time to study more. If you arrive too late to an exam, the worse situation is not being able to take it and earning a 0. If I were you, I’d aim on the side of caution.
Plan to stay healthy during exams week.
The temptation during this last week will be to push yourself to the “breaking point.” You’ll want to skip meals, forget exercise, and/or stay up all night studying for most of the week. Don’t. Plan to make healthy choices.
If anything, plan to take more time for your health during finals week. Do not study for finals with long stretches of time. Take regular breaks and stay physically active by doing activities like jogging or walking.
Consider laying off caffeine, carbs, and sugar during finals week. While this may be wildly unpopular to say, these comfort foods and beverages are more likely to hurt than help your academic performance. Instead of reaching for a cup of coffee, drink a glass of water. Instead of sitting through drive through, purchase or prepare a well-balanced meal.
Rather than spending long hours socializing with friends or talking on the phone, plan small blocks of time to socialize. Give yourself deadlines with some accountability for sticking to the deadlines. Be strict about getting sleep. In fact, try to get more sleep if possible. Do everything you can to ensure that you can conquer each and every final exam.
