In the next few days, sophomores will share how they studied for their freshman finals last year. First up is physics.
Q: What was your method for studying for the physics final?
Sophomore Lily Brown: I just took out all of my homework, the things we had done in class and labs. I remember sorting them into piles by the unit that they were in, and I went through each pile and tried to go over everything and do some practice problems.
Sophomore Yasmin Gupta: I mainly looked at past tests from the class because I kept everything. I also made notecards for every test throughout the year, and I kept the cards and looked back at them. Because I already had them, I didn’t have to write a whole lot down. I also looked at all the study guides and all the homework, basically everything we did in the class. That was helpful.
Q: Did you study in groups or by yourself?
Lily: I studied with my friends a little bit, but mostly by myself.
Yasmin: Both. If I didn’t understand a problem, I’d ask my friends and they would help me.
Q: Is there something you wish you could have changed about your study method?
Lily: I don’t think so. I did really well on that final, so I think I had good study habits.
Yasmin: Starting to study earlier because I didn’t realize how many handouts we had.
Q: How ready did you feel going into the final, and how confident did you feel after taking it?
Lily: Going in, I was afraid that I would forget something because there was so much information, and I wasn’t sure that I had gone over everything. But after I came out, I felt pretty confident that I had done well.
Yasmin: It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. (Teacher Glenn Mangold) gave us all the equations we would need, which made it a lot easier.
Q: Are there any other suggestions you would offer freshmen?
Lily: I think you should try to go over everything because there is a lot of information. Also, make sure you practice doing the problems. I think it’s important to study the A-questions because those are really difficult and they give you a lot of points.
Yasmin: Finals are kind of a big thing, but in some classes they aren’t worth that much of your grade. Don’t stress too much. But if you start studying early and don’t procrastinate, you should be fine.
—By Allison Zhang
