How to support your student during finals week:

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  • Students should lean on their professors.
    • Review sessions and exams may look different for every class depending on the professor. Make sure your student has clarity on what is expected by their professor. If there is any confusion, they should feel free to reach out to their professor and ask for clarification. They can send them emails or visit their office hours.
  • Every student is different.
    • Just like every professor is different in their teaching style, every student is different in their learning style. Students should remember that it’s okay if their study methods look different from their peers. Encourage them to think about what strategies have been helpful in the past and brainstorm locations on campus where they know they can be productive.
  • Two is better than one.
    • Encourage your student to study with a partner or group. This serves two-fold as it will not only help them learn the material and prepare for finals, but it also provides social interaction and a sense of connection.

Additional context for families to better understand a student’s experience preparing for and taking final exams:

  • Dosage
    • We all know that when we take medication, it is very important to take the right dose at the correct time. You don’t get better faster by taking all the pills at once. The same can be true in preparing for final exams. It is hard to start to prepare for exams if you think of “taking it all at once.” Exam preparation must start sooner than later and be parceled out well. This is done by putting the “what in the when.” That means that a student, with the help of an advocate, should look at the content that must be learned and the amount of time that remains to learn it. Then a match must be made by scheduling a specific study time with a specific academic task. It’s a little like making an appointment with yourself.
  • Should I Study for an Open-Book Test?
    • The answer is “yes” – but in a particular way. If a student says to a parent, “There’s no need to study, it’s open book,” that student may not be able to locate the correct answers without familiarizing themselves with the content being tested. Always know where to find all the parts of the correct answer.
  • “It’s Overwhelming to Study for a Comprehensive Final.”
    • If a student says this, they are feeling some discouragement which needs to be addressed. It’s important to see if the professor has provided a study guide for the final exam. If so, that needs to be the starting place. If not, a student can easily make their own study guide and then send it to the professor for comment. Narrowing down the content of study can provide the necessary encouragement. 

All divisions of the Shepard Academic Resource Center are meeting with students and available to help in the following ways:

If your student has academic needs, please encourage them to reach out to the Shepard Academic Resource Center by sending an email to sarc@up.edu or by stopping by in BC 101