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*U-Wire member papers have full permission to reprint all or part of this column. Enjoy! This Week: • Is it really so bad to cram at the last minute? (questions may have been edited for length, grammar and/or to maintain the sender's privacy.) Is there any studying method that actually works? I know you're supposed to study throughout the semester and take things nice and easy, but nobody really does that, and now here I am again with a massive pile of crap to do and only a couple weeks to do it all in. Is it really so bad to cram at the last minute? Isn't there any merit to pulling an all-nighter? Studying for finals is everyone's worst nightmare. Even my great-grandmother's. She had a recurring one in which she'd been in a class all semester without ever knowing it, and now she had to take the final. That's enough to keep me up nights, I'll tell you. The truth about finals is the one neither you nor my great-grandmother would want to hear. In most classes, your grade on the final will reflect the consistency of your work throughout the semester far more than it'll reflect the work you do the night before. But luckily, since you've been keeping up with the readings and assignments all semester long, all you need to do is review, right? No? (Sigh.) OK, against my better judgment I'll weigh in on a few pointers that might help you if you're starting to feel a little antsy. First, do what your instructor tells you. So if she says you should know every term in chapters 5-11 of your textbook, go through with a highlighter, make index cards and review them with some classmates. Similarly, if she says reread everything, do it. Don't miss any tip the teacher gives you — after all, she is the one making up the exam. Second, talk to other students about the instructors' tests and grading. They'll be able to give you ideas about do's and don'ts, and they can probably even give you study tips. Third, to thine own self be true. Some of us work best in the quietest, wee-est hours of the morning; some like studying to heavy-metal music; some prefer the bustle of a coffee shop or cafe. It's crucial that you find the right place or places where you can focus, concentrate, and absorb material. Fourth, know your methods. I'm an index-card gal. Color-coded, boxed, numbered, the whole nine. I've got boxes for every project, book and grad-school exam I've ever done, and packs of cards for every class I've ever taught. I love 'em. But you could be a note-taker; I know very successful students who recopy their notebooks as a way of studying for the final. (This one only works, though, if you went to class all the time, stayed awake and took notes yourself. Recopying someone else's notes doesn't work as well.) Or you may scribble down your notes in the margins of your textbooks and hope you'll be able to find and review them later on. Regardless, take some time to figure out what study method works best for you, and then stick with it. Fifth and last, don't kill yourself cramming. The time-honored tradition of chemical alteration still has many believers: Be it caffeine, Vivarin, Sudafed or other less-legal substances, lots of students believe the slogan "Better Living through Chemistry" refers to exam-prep strategy. From my side of the fence, I gotta tell you: A coked-up exam is much worse than a bad clean one. And I know which is which. So with the exception of some coffee and ice packs, I suggest you sleep when your body asks you to. Studying 'til you drop isn't always the best solution. Also, avoid buying notes, papers or advance copies of tests. We nail students who do that with some regularity, though the people (or Web sites) who sell them won't tell you that. So don't try to buy your way through — the risks are too high. So, get as much sleep as you can, review what the instructor recommended you review, study where you like to study according to the methods that work for you, and get together with fellow students. Boring? Yep, but it's the answer. It's just a modern rite of passage; teachers make exams for the students we ourselves used to be. Since that's the way we suffered... er, studied, that's the way you've got to do it, too. Dr. Anahid Kassabian is a professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University in New York. While our Virtual Advisors are good, we're not gods - please keep our disclaimer in mind when reading our advice.
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