Sophomores share how they studied for their freshman finals last year. Last in this series is history with teacher Sue Nellis.
Q: How did you study for the final?
Sophomore Carlos Nuñez: I read my notes and then made an outline. For the things that I didn’t know off the top of my head, I wrote out questions for myself.
Sophomore Harkirat Lally: I read through all of the chapters that we went over in the book, and I felt confident about it. I took some notes, too, but not very many.
Sophomore Yasmin Gupta: I made notecards and an outline to study with. I also went back to old quizzes and made sure I knew that information.
Q: Where did you normally study?
Nuñez: At home, but I also had a study group with my friends which helped a lot because I could compare notes and ask them questions.
Lally: I studied in my room by myself, which made it really easy for me to focus.
Gupta: I studied at home by myself, but the day before the final I met up with other people and we studied together. That helped me a lot.
Q: What are important habits that helped you study?
Nuñez: Organization is really important. It makes it a lot easier to find information you need when you keep track of your notes.
Sophomore Esme Bruce-Romo: Yep, you need to make sure you know where everything is. Trying to find a specific assignment when you’re studying wastes a lot of time.
Gupta: I tried to study with no electronics around me so that I could focus. I would take five-minute breaks every so often so that I could rest my mind and then go back to focused studying.
Q: What are things that you shouldn’t do while taking the test?
Nuñez: Don’t stop to look around or zone out. Time is really important.
Bruce-Romo: If you get to a difficult question, don’t spend too much time on it. Even though it’s a fair test, it is long.
Lally: Write everything you know for whatever topic the question is asking about, and manage your time well. I remember I went to the last minute trying to finish. Also, be confident with your answers. Don’t try to second-guess yourself too much.
Gupta: Be careful with how much time you spend on different parts of the test. I would recommend doing the map first because it’s one of the easiest sections.
—By Sahej Claire
