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Although final exams are no longer as common as they were in years past, millions of college students across the country will be taking finals at some point over the next few weeks. In many cases, final exams can make or break a student鈥檚 overall course grade. They can even be the deciding factor as to whether or not some seniors will be able to graduate on time.

For those reasons alone, it鈥檚 understandable how such important tests can cause students considerable stress and anxiety.

5 Helpful Suggestions for Surviving Your Final Exams

Knowing how to study effectively can help you manage your exam-related stress and help you stay sane during this tough time, and 911爆料 has prepared this helpful final exams study and survival guide for your benefit.

#1 Figure out how many final exams you have to take and how many final papers you have to write.

It鈥檚 time to break out those time management skills that you were forced to learn about during your freshman orientation sessions, because scheduling study time for multiple final exams and giving yourself enough time to write quality final papers can be a chore in itself.

Go through your final exam schedules and double-check your course syllabi for due dates of any final papers. It鈥檚 all too easy to mix up dates and times. Keep track of what is due when, and don鈥檛 let your grades suffer because of a simple scheduling conflict that you didn鈥檛 notice ahead of time.

#2 Find a few good places to study.

The points out that even though studying in your dorm might be convenient, it鈥檚 usually a poor place to study. Dorms are full of distractions, especially your bed! It鈥檚 all too easy to stop studying for a short nap only to fall asleep for several hours.

Some students swear that Starbucks is the best place to crack open their textbooks, while others camp out in the library. In order to study successfully, figure out your best places to study. That鈥檚 right, places. A 2010 article referenced a classic 1978 psychological experiment in which researchers found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice in the same room. Later studies also confirmed the findings.

#3 Even though it鈥檚 tempting to stay awake all night studying, avoid cramming for exams and make sure you get enough sleep.

Cramming for exams might be an age-old college tradition, but it鈥檚 not necessarily a healthy one. Vahid Mohsenin, director of the Yale Center for Sleep Medicine, told the that people should get between seven and eight hours of sleep each night. 鈥淎nything less than six hours of sleep will cause problems with learning, and mental and physical performance will decline,鈥� he said. Mohsenin went as far as claiming that staying up all night is 鈥渙ne of the most detrimental things you can do to yourself,鈥� but giving up cramming is a hard habit to break.

Jennifer Haubenreiser, vice president of the American College Health Association, agreed. She told the newspaper that students should place a greater value on the amount of sleep they get. Instead, 鈥淭hey tend to joke about how little sleep they get,鈥� she said.

# 4 Watch your diet.

It鈥檚 all too easy to overdo the caffeine and snack excessively while you study for finals, but you should try to watch your diet during such a stressful time. Brent Beam, PhD, a staff psychologist in Student Health Services at Washington University in St. Louis, told the that 鈥淭he logic of all-nighters and caffeine diets may help in a pinch, but there are easier ways to get through it.鈥�

Beam suggests that students eat healthy, skipping sugar and munching instead on grains, fruits, veggies and proteins; hydrate often with water to naturally sustain focus and energy; and limit alcohol and caffeine. He also recommends that students make it a point to move. Spending long hours hunched over books and laptops can take its toll rather quickly. Take a five-minute walk a few times per day and you鈥檒l most likely notice an improved mood along with better concentration and energy levels.

#5 Take advantage of final exam 鈥渟tress busters鈥� offered by your college.

Colleges and universities realize that prepping for final exams can be incredibly stressful, and most schools offer various activities during finals week to help ease stress. You might be tempted to skip anything organized by your school during finals week, but take advantage of everything that you can鈥攎ost of the events are a lot of fun.

鈥淒uring finals you can feel the stress鈥� it becomes kind of palpable,鈥� Lori Morgan Flood, an assistant dean and director of the Center for Leadership in Health Promotion at Oberlin College, told in December 2010.

The newspaper reported that Oberlin students were allowed to dance for five minutes in the campus library twice every night during finals, while Cleveland State University tried a different approach. Free temporary tattoos, yoga and massages were offered in 鈥淪tress Free Zones鈥� at Cleveland State during winter finals.

Posted on 19 Apr

Melissa Rhone earned her Bachelor of Music in Education from the University of Tampa. She resides in the Tampa Bay area and enjoys writing about college, pop culture, and epilepsy awareness.