23 Easy Study Tips That Will Help You Ace Your Midterms

Smart and effective study tips will help you tremendously in acing all of your college midterms this semester. With the coronavirus pandemic drastically altering the education system, how we take out quizzes, tests, midterms, and final exams will be extremely different.

Many schools and colleges across the nation are operating in a variety of ways for the 2020-2021 school year, such as in-person classes, online-only, or a mix of both options. Given the complicated matters on how schools plan on teaching material to students during the pandemic, people are going to need plenty of useful and handy study tips to help them nail their midterms.

Regardless if you are taking classes in-person at your university or fully online, all of the study tips featured in this article right here will help pass your midterms with flying colors.

1. Prepare for The Test as if It Were Scheduled for The Day Before:

One of the most common and well-known study tips is to always be 110 percent ready for any quiz, test, midterm, and/or final exam.

In order to be 110 percent ready, one way you can do so is preparing for all midterms as if they were scheduled to take place 24 hours before the actual dates they were supposed to take place. Trust me, it is always better to be over-prepared (not to the extent of academic burnout though) than underprepared.

2. Eliminate All Possible Distractions:

Eliminating all possible distractions is another one of the most important study tips that will help you ace your upcoming college midterms.

In order to maintain a laser-beam focus, have the discipline to turn off the TV, stereo, and/or radio prior to beginning preparations for midterms. Be sure to also leave your cellphone in another room and that your study materials are the only things up on your laptop browser.

3. Make a Midterm Calendar:

From all of the study tips featured in this article, Study #3 is perhaps one of the smartest ones that people should apply towards his/her preparations if they want to ace their college midterms.

Before you begin studying, the first you should do is bring out a blank calendar with large boxes to create a Midterm Calendar. Being on top of when each of your scheduled midterms take place will help lessen the stress. In addition, a midterm calendar will help you map out which course materials to study first, whether it due to the date of the scheduled midterm or how comprehensive the subject is.

4. Make a List of The Things You Want Study and Go Over Each Day:

Besides listing the dates that all your midterms take place, another way to put your midterm calendar (see #3 above) to good use is to also include a list of things you want to review every day for each of your classes’ midterms. For each of your midterms, make sure to dedicate some time to prepare for every single one each night leading up to the day that the exam takes place.

5. Keep Your Dedicated Study Area Clean & Tidy:

Regardless if you are taking classes on campus or remotely via online this semester, one of the most beneficial and useful study tips that every person should use is maintaining a clean and organized study area.

A study by Psychology Today stated that a cluttered desk and/or workspace can add on more, unnecessary mental stress, in addition to less efficient information processing. Maintaining an organized area while preparing for midterms will not only enable you to remain calm and focused, but also boost your productivity too.

6. Form a Virtual Study Group:

In the week leading up to the midterm, form a study group with some pals from class and meet up a few times for a couple of study sessions. Study Groups can help everyone prepare efficiently if you all spilt up the study guide and come together to share the key information from your assigned section.

As the coronavirus pandemic has placed limits on how many people can gather together, the study group can be conducted virtually via Zoom. Therefore, everyone in the study group will feel safe, especially if anyone has any medical issues that puts them more at-risk of contracting COVID-19.

7. Review the PowerPoints From Each Of Your Classes:

In general, PowerPoints (for all of your classes) often contain the most important information, such as key terms and concepts. Therefore, one of the most vital study tips from this article that will help you ace all of your midterms this semester is reviewing each of the PowerPoints from each of your courses.

8. Make a Review Sheet of All Important Terms, Facts, and Info:

Tip #8 is one of the study tips that helps me ace any exam. On the night before any quiz, exam, or midterm I have to take the following day, I make one last review sheet containing all important terms and facts that are either important or that I struggled to remember.

Around 15 minutes before the exam begins, I pull out this sheet and review everything on the paper. All of the information is fresh in my head when the test begins. Trust me, doing this really helps and this should be one of the study tips that everyone reading this article should use when midterms week rolls around.

9. Space Out Your Study Time:

Don’t forget to space out enough time to review the materials on the midterm for each of your courses! Waiting to review the materials the night before or at the last minute will hurt your grades.

10. Don’t Jump Right Back into Study Mode After Finishing Each Midterm:

Every person’s midterm schedule will be different. Some might have more than one exam on a single day or one exam each day. If it is the former case, take a well-deserved break in between those exams, assuming that there’s enough time to do so.

Regardless, one of the most important study tips that everyone should remember is to take an hour or two max off after each midterm to recharge your batteries. Therefore, you will be able to have a much clearer and functional mindset when you go back to study mode.

11. Remember To Take Breaks When You Need Them:

One of the most important study tips to remember while preparing for midterms is to take breaks when you need them to ensure that you don’t burn yourself out. When you don’t have a clear mind, you won’t be at your best and won’t be able to retain the information if you are burned out.

For every hour you study, reward yourself with a 10-minute break. Spend your break time away from your established study area. A few of the other study tips included in this article include activities that you can do if you find yourself in need of a study break.

12. Exercise:

As I said earlier, although it’s not even related to things to go over for midterms, one of the most essential study tips to do that will help you nail all of your midterms is remembering to take study breaks when you need them. If you are burned out, it won’t help you in getting the As you want for your impending exams.

One of the recommended activities you can do as a study break is by getting an hour of exercise in. Harvard Medical School has stated that while exercise is a form of physical stress, it can help relieve a person’s mental stress. Regular aerobic exercise will stimulate the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that serve as the body’s mood elevators and natural painkillers. Post-workout, you will have a fresh and renewed sense of energy that you can use as you are in preparing for all of your midterms.

13. Wake Up Early and Review:

For morning midterms, students have to wake up early. Even if you are not scheduled to take a midterm until sometime later in the day, one of the most beneficial study tips to follow if you want to get an A on your midterms is to still wake up early and review the course materials that will appear on your impending exam(s)!

14. Grab Takeout:

As we can’t go out and eat at restaurants due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, an alternative measure for this is grabbing some takeout at night for dinner. Going to pick up some food can also serve as much needed study break by rewarding yourself with some fantastic foods from one of your favorite restaurants.

What Students Wish Their Professors Understood

15. Gather All of Your Gear The Night Before:

The night before each midterm, back your backpack with all of the notes, pencils, a snack, a water bottle, and other important necessities that you need to bring with you to the midterm. Having all of this ready will help you get out the door much faster so you aren’t late.

16. Use SparkNotes:

If you have an English and/or Literature midterm, one of the most useful tools you can use to help prepare for those subjects is SparkNotes, which offers the main characters of a work along with their roles in the story, the symbols and motifs, plot, setting, and even analysis of the work for you to easily study. SparkNotes has all of this key information for a plethora of books.

17. Ask Your Professor About Anything You Are Unsure Of:

If you start reviewing everything for the midterm in advance and there’s something you are confused about, you can ask your professor. Either send them an email with your questions or see them during their office hours.

Just like with most of the study tips featured in this article, do not wait until the night before the midterm or at the last minute to contact your professors! They might not respond back to you back in time.

18. Stay Hydrated:

While studying and taking your midterms, make sure you take regular sips of water to stay hydrated. However, make sure you don’t drink too much H20 heading into or during the midterm though. Some professors don’t allow students to get up and use the restroom during the exam.

19. Make Flashcards:

One of the most well-known study tips that will help anyone ace any midterm, quiz, and/or exam is making flashcards. Do this only for important vocabulary terms or facts.

20. Go To Class & Pay Attention Regularly:

One of the few study tips included in this article that can be applied prior way before midterms week is going to class and paying attention regularly. Time in each of your courses is spent learning and interacting with the class material. Hence, Study Tip #20 is one of the most effective steps you can take when preparing for midterms.

21. Get Enough Sleep:

During midterms week, it is important that students get somewhere between six to eight hours of sleep each night. Getting under the recommended amount won’t do you any good when it’s time to take the midterm.

22. Eat a Nutritious Meal Before Each Midterm:

One of the most basic and important study tips that everyone should absolutely do is to consume a filling and nutritious meal before each of your midterms. You won’t be able to strive for the best results possible on your exams on an empty stomach.

Spoon University recommends consuming a light breakfast for early morning exams, a filling breakfast and a light lunch for midday exams, and both breakfast and lunch for night exams (and a light dinner after completing the night exam).

23. Stay Positive:

Last, but not least, one of the important (and easy) study tips that will help you nail your college midterms is to stay positive! I get it, midterms are scary.

However, remaining calm in the midst of all the stress, in addition to being well-prepared, will help you feel more confident heading into each of your midterms. A positive attitude will lead to great results on midterms across all of your courses.