Surviving (and Thriving) During Finals Week: My Personal Study Tricks

November 6, 2025
by Ciara

Classes School/Life Balance

With midterm season finally ending and finals being a few weeks ahead it is officially the marathon portion of the semester. Between group presentations, essays, and late-night cramming for exams, I know firsthand how hard it is to balance studying for all your courses while also trying to keep your sanity unscathed or to put it plainly not “crash out”. Those 24/7 Leavey Library cram sessions don’t have to be the way you study for this upcoming exam session. I like to apply the “work smarter, not harder” saying to my study methods, so if you are a little stressed for this upcoming final exam period and are on the prowl for some study tips then follow along:

Have an Idea of Yourself:

My biggest advice is simpler than one would think: know yourself. This can mean various things in the study context, but I like to think about this in terms of knowing what environment works best for you. For instance, coming into my freshman year, I didn’t exactly know what environment worked best for me but through trials, I quickly learned that I don’t work best in a group studying environment. It’s not beneficial for me to spend a chunk of my study time in groups when I usually find myself getting distracted or having my mind wander amongst the different personalities in the group.

On the flip side, if you work better and are more motivated in groups, then try to organize study sessions with classmates; a great way to truly comprehend content in a group setting is trying to teach it to your friends.

Leavey Library offers study rooms that you and some friends can book; this environment is the perfect mix of group work while also not having too many distractions, so if you’re interested, you can reserve study rooms (or study pods if you like to go solo) here. Whether you like group studying or solo studying, it’s good to stick to your strengths during this final period especially with how many exams you may have during a rather short period.

My Dear Friend: Quizlet

After quite a few exam periods, I don’t know how I would survive without Quizlet. I love studying with Quizlet for a few reasons.

First, you can use it wherever you have the app. When I have downtime such as waiting in line in the Village or sitting on the Metro, I pull out my Quizlet and already start familiarizing myself with the content I’m studying.

Secondly, I feel like making the Quizlet yourself forces you to re-read notes and try to understand the content so that you can later test yourself. If you want to go beyond, I find it helpful to make practice exam questions after reading my notes and put them in a Quizlet and use the “Test” function to make my very own practice tests.

If you want to try the entire “Ciara Study Method,” then accompany Quizlet review sessions with writing and explaining concepts using a whiteboard. The combination of memorization-based studying provided by Quizlet and the visualization and active recall based studying provided by using whiteboards leaves me feeling my most confident going into exams.

Plan Ahead:

This next piece of advice may scare the community of procrastinators, but during the final period, I find it vital to plan ahead. For me, I use Google Calendar to put my exam dates and deadlines (ex: essays) in. Based on that, I can put when I should start studying for my exams, which is usually at least 3 days ahead of the exam during final periods.

If you find yourself always studying at the last minute I would highly suggest starting to start calendering or even starting out with writing To-Do lists for yourself. The last time I found myself procrastinating during final exam periods, I felt so stressed throughout the pre-exam period and during the actual exam. I felt more confident and performed academically better when I spaced out my studying amongst several days with breaks rather than doing it all in one night with no breaks, which takes me into my next point…

Take Breaks:

Going hand in hand with planning ahead, I find it essential to give myself breaks. I know the temptation to work for hours straight is strong but simply said: neither the mind nor body can run on fumes. I prefer to study amongst several days so that I naturally give myself breaks and time to enjoy college life and go explore California with my friends.

When I am running low on time, I like to do the Pomodoro technique. With the Pomodoro technique, one works in 25 minute intervals separated by 5 minute breaks and then a longer break after several intervals; the intervals characterizing the Pomodoro technique have shown benefits in improving focus, and combatting burnout and procrastination. If this technique sounds interesting to you, click here for a free Pomodoro timer. 

Studying for finals can be stressful and overwhelming but it doesn’t always have to be. These 4 main tips help me feel academically prepared for exams while still taking care of my mental health. When I manage my time correctly, study with intention, and give myself breaks, I find myself saying “bon voyage” to burnout and panic.

Good luck Trojans and future Trojans, and during this upcoming exam season remember: be kind to yourself and trust the work you’ve put in!

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