A final exam is not a typical exam. It is designed to determine what you know after eighteen weeks of study. It is supposed to be difficult! It is important that you do well, because what you used to know has no value. Taxpayers spend thousands of dollars a year to teach you information that is only valuable if you remember it! To do well on the exam, and therefore make your eighteen weeks of effort worthwhile, you must use a more sophisticated study strategy than you would for a chapter test.

What's in it for you?
Preparing well for a final exam benefits you in the following ways:
1. By studying the semester's material, you have a better chance of using it to acheive something in the "real" world.
2. In many classes, you will not be successful in the next semester of the class unless you know the material from the previous one..
3. You get the satisfaction of having done a difficult task well.
4. You get  relief from the dread of receiving your final exam grade.
5. You come home to proud, instead of angry, parents.

What are the benefits of this method of studying?
1. It almost eliminates stress.
2. It encourages long-term retention of the material.
3. Your time is invested, not spent. This method may even allow you to study less, with better results!

   This strategy requires that you start preparing at least three weeks before your final exam. It's eighteen weeks worth of material--an exam this big deserves at least three weeks of preparation.

The Strategy
   First, you need to organize your materials. Look through all your stuff. Organize it in a logical way. Compare with your friends, see what you are missing, and get copies of those items. Bookmark pages in your textbook which are especially important.

   The Second thing you need to do is learn the stuff you didn't learn in the first place. Think about your grades for the first semester grading period; if you have a "B", that means that between 11% and 20% of the material is stuff you didn't learn!. If you have a C, you are missing up to 30% of what you were supposed to have learned in the semester. You can't review what you've never learned--you have to learn this stuff! That is why you need to start early, because this will take time.
   Look through your materials for the purpose of determining and listing what you did not learn. Re-read your materials and try to re-do some of your old assignments. Make a list of questions you still have and topics you don't understand, and make an appointment to work with your teacher. You won't believe how impressed your teacher will be when you approach him with a specific list of questions. Most teachers will bend over backwards to help a student who shows interest and effort. And don't be surprised if your teacher reveals some inside information about the exam!

   Third, prioritize the information according to its importance. Not all information is equally important. You need to separate what has to be on the test from what might be on the test, for two reasons. First, you want to invest your time in studying what has the best odds of the greatest reward; and second, the act of prioritizing helps you to understand how the material is interrelated.
   Some information is the foundation for other information, and is guaranteed to be on the test. Understanding, for example, how one chapter relates to the next, or how a lecture relates to the reading, helps your brain to sort out the information, and to recall it better. Sometimes if you forget a detail, but understand the "big picture", you can make an educated guess.

   Fourth, learn and review the material in order of priority. You need to start with the material that will get you the most points for the least effort! If you begin learning the things which may be on the test, you may run out of time to review what will be on the test. Begin by studying to get a C. When you've got the stuff you're sure will be on the test, start working toward a B, by studying what you're pretty sure will be on the test. If you start early enough, you'll have time to study the stuff that might be on the test, to get an "A".

   Unless you're a very gifted student, if you wait until the night before (heck, even the week before) the final exam, you'll be doing four things that you don't want to do:
1. Forcing your brain to work inefficiently by trying to learn too much, too fast.
2. Guaranteeing that what you learn will be forgotten very quickly.
3. Adding stress to your life as you find yourself with too much to do.
4. Increasing your probability of a low score.

   Which is the better deal: Two hours' worth of results from four hours of cramming? Or four hours' worth of results from four hours of efficient studying? When you cram, you don't get what you pay for. So study smarter, not harder!