Start Prepping For Midterms Now

By Christina Oehler on February 26, 2015

Although midterms might sound like a futuristic concept at the moment, they’re slowly approaching and will be here sooner than you think. Even though the cold, dreary days of winter take forever to pass, spring is just around the corner, which means studying for those pesky exams.

Whether you cringed in fear as your grades were posted or aced your midterms last semester, there is always room for improvement. This semester, prep yourself and keep a positive mindset during this mid-semester slump, and you’ll find that when finals come around you won’t be scrambling to save your grades. Below are four ways to ensure that you ace your spring midterms.

1. Stay Positive

There are so many reasons to keep your head up this spring as you prepare to take your midterms. First of all, spring break is right around the corner. It doesn’t matter if you’re going to be climbing the Eiffel Tower or spending your week with your dear friend Netflix: you get a week to yourself. Keep that in mind as you study. Remember that unlike the fall semester, you only have a couple more months until you’re free for the summer. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

“The best way for me to focus on studying is reminding myself of what I’m working toward,” Sophomore Kelly Clinnin said. “Even when it’s just thinking about summer, it’s good motivation.”

2. Start Prepping Early

There’s nothing worse than the sinking feeling of realizing you are a week away from the exam and haven’t been keeping up with the readings. Remember, it’s early. You still have a couple of weeks until the brunt of exams kicks in, and you still have time to catch up with the readings and homework for your classes.

All caught up? Even better. Start reviewing now. As tempting as it is to give yourself a free pass to go out as much as you want because you have kept up with your classes, be honest with yourself. Do you really know the material, or are you just going through the motions?

3. Stay Healthy

There is nothing worse than coming down with a debilitating cold during midterms. Although illness is sometimes unavoidable on a college campus, you can take precautions to ensure your health this semester.

There are a few aspects of college that are inevitable: you’re going to have times where you binge on junk food, you’re going to drink too much and you’re going to come in contact with hundreds of people each week. But staying proactive with your health by cutting down on alcohol consumption, washing your hands frequently and getting enough sleep will help prevent illness, according to WebMD.

4. Be Realistic

It’s likely that you have at least one class that you find challenging. If you think your grades are going to drop because of it, maybe it’s best to take it another semester (or over the summer) when you have a more time to focus on that subject alone. Remember, if you’re a student at U of I, you have until March 13 to drop a class without it showing up on your transcript as a dropped class, which means you likely will know by midterms whether or not this class is worth taking.

“One of the best parts about this school is that you get the chance to try classes without having to fully commit,” Sophomore Grace Morgan said. “Knowing that you have the option to drop a class if it’s too overwhelming is relieving.”

Be realistic with yourself. Challenge is good, but overwhelming yourself with work is detrimental to your grades.

There will be countless opportunities to go out with friends, binge-watch Netflix and procrastinate, but this semester’s midterms is not one of them. Make the best of it, because doing well on midterms will take away from the stress of finals. And really, when it’s 70 degrees and sunny, you won’t want to be worrying about getting your grades up due to slacking off earlier in the semester.

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