In Hungary, college and uni exams are taken in the 4-6 weeks coming after the 3-month study period. This is what we call the exam period. There are weeks filled with intense studying and multiple high-stakes exams. Of course, the whole experience can seem very intense and even overwhelming, especially in the first few semesters. We have a few tips tough for the university finals preparation.
Read everything at least once
Before you start actually learning facts and topics, make sure to quickly read the entire material at least once. This will help you understand the entire topic in general and it will also calm you a little: once you already understand how big this mountain is, it’s much easier to climb it! This is the hardest part of studying, because during the first reading the material usually seems to be impossibly long and difficult. But don’t worry, once you get to the end, you’ll be happy that you understand the challenge that lies ahead of you.
Make schedules
Time management is everything when it comes to university finals. Sometimes you only have a short time to prepare for an exam, and you have to use this time wisely. Take a calendar and even a pen & paper, and make a study schedule. Note down how many days/ hours you have for studying and decide which topic to study at which time. This will help you stay focused and keep you on track so you will be surely well-prepared by the exam date.
Make notes… and then concentrate those notes on smaller notes
When you read a topic and it’s very long (like many many pages and dozens of slides), make sure to highlight and take notes. Make a nice little mindmap or write a short little pages. After this, you only have to re-read the smaller note over again. After this, you can further concentrate the notes to even smaller notes, so you can revise more and more times in lesser and lesser time.
Also, don’t forget: an exam is an important but not the most important event of your life. So be diligent, study well, but take care of your mental health too, and everything will be alright!
