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3 Study Tips for Your Midterm Exams

Midterms are coming up quickly for schools on the quarter system, and it’s never too early to start preparing for these tests for schools on the semester system. Studying for midterms can be tedious because they don’t have as big of an impact on your final grade as finals do, but these smaller tests are a quick way to rack up a lot of points that can help you to finally achieve those straight A’s that you’ve been trying for. Here are some study tips to make it happen!

Get rid of distractions.

I find it to be helpful to actually turn off my phone and shut off my computer when I am studying to completely get rid of distracting websites and apps like Facebook and Twitter. Even if you need your computer to study, some applications exist that allow you to block certain websites so you aren’t tempted to go on them. One example is StayFocusd available on the Google Chrome web store. Applications like these will also help you to waste less time on these sites as a whole, even when you don’t have midterms coming up.

Take notes while doing class readings.

It is so easy to skim the readings for a class and then forget the material by the time midterms come around because you don’t have any notes to refer to. Taking notes while doing the reading will also help you to internalize the meaning of a tough text, even if the task seems tedious and time-consuming.

Go to office hours.

Going to office hours can be intimidating at first, but it is the best way to get both one-on-one instruction from your professor and to build a relationship with them for future letters of recommendation. In a large lecture class, it is almost impossible to ask all the questions you need to ask to the professor due to the size of the class. Office hours offer a remedy to that. Professors notice who comes to office hours and it may end up being the deciding factor in a close letter grade.

These study tips can help you during the rest of the school year too, and help you to form good study habits for the rest of your time in college.

 

Kaitlyn LannanKaitlyn Lannan is a sophomore at Northwestern University. She is majoring in economics and communication and plans on attending business school. Her dream job is becoming Chief Marketing Officer at a Fortune 500 company. You can find Kaitlyn on Twitter at @KaitlynLannan.

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