5 tips for success during midterms

It’s that time of the year again – Midterms!

Whether you’re in highschool or in university, midterms can be a very frightening time. For many students this is the time they realize how behind they have been on their school work, and they start a frantic race to catch up in the seemingly little time left till the first (and last) midterm.

But midterms can also be a wonderful opportunity. For one, consider the fact that once you do catch up with all the topics being taught then you’ll have an almost ‘clean start’ for the second, usually more difficult, part of the semester.

Here are a few things you should always keep in mind when studying for a midterm:

1. Your teachers/instructors/profs use midterms to check your knowledge on the earlier chapters of the semester. Once that is established, they know they don’t have to spend too much effort (questions) on the final exam asking questions about those chapters. That is why usually midterms are slightly more skewed toward the earlier chapters of the half-semester than the final is. So make sure you understand the topics that were taught in the first month of the semester at least as well as those taught later.
2. Don’t panic! In many courses, the midterm has a diminished weight in the final grade, a mistake in the midterm does not reduce your final grade as much as you fear.
3. Plan ahead - Here is a good strategy - starting a week before the midterm, set aside some time every day to go over one of the chapters that will be tested in the midterm. Make yourself a study sheet - take notes, make summaries, write equations, whatever is relevant – on a special study sheet, then when you start studying in earnest all you’ll have to do is just review this sheet. An added benefit is that when you’ll be studying for the final you will already have these papers and will only have to summarize the latter half of the semester.
4. Know what you don’t know – Make a list of all the topics you are struggling with and need to know by the time of the midterm. While studying, when you feel you’ve nailed down a topic – scratch it off! It will give you a sense of accomplishment each time and a sense of perspective of where you are in your studying goals.
5. Plan your time and your priorities – studying is difficult as it is, with school, family, work, extracurricular activities. Set aside in advance time for you to study, and if you need to – delay commitments till after the midterms. Look at previous semesters and try to remember what commitments made it the most difficult for you to study. Then try to figure out how to avoid/delay/preempt whatever you reasonably can so that you have a clean slate as much as possible for your studying. That said, don’t forget to plan for some reenergizing ‘down time’ for yourself during your studying.

Midterms are a difficult time, but with careful preparation and with good time and effort management, they could become very manageable. A good grade could mean a strong ‘safety net’ for the final, which can never be a bad thing.