Don’t ever “walk” into a test thinking you’re going to fail. Confidence really does play a role in your testing abilities, and could sway the outcome of the exam. As long as you’ve reviewed the material, and asked questions ahead of time you should be confident at some level to answer the questions in front of you.

[How to Survive Your Finals and Midterms]

So, what if you’re not ready? It’s not like your final is the SAT or LSAT, but the grade from your exam may weight heavily on your final grade for the class. It’s a snowball effect, and you don’t want to worry about playing catch up. If you find tests  intimidating and you know you talk yourself out of it before you his start, then try getting a talisman or lucky charm.

Your talisman can be something as simple as a figurine, or a picture of your pet. It’s something that will divert your attention away from what’s making you nervous. Channel your strength into an inanimate object, and make sure to keep it with you for exams as a habit. You’re instilling confidence in yourself. While it may not be a four leaf clover with magic powers, it can help keep you focused and on track.

By J. Mason

There is little we can do to prevent criticism from coming our way-whether it’s in your studies, your personal relationships, or on the job-so you should actually try and turn into a positive experience that will help to shape your the quality of the your work. Being open to criticism allows you to quickly recognize areas of improvement. When you acknowledge that receiving criticism is fundamental in becoming the best student you can be, then you can prepare yourself to deal effectively with it and not become defensive and run from the situation.

Top three things to remember: 

1. Learn to expect criticism
2. Learn to recognize, accept and welcome constructive criticism
3. Never allow criticism-constructive or destructive-to negatively impact your thoughts or performance.

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It may seem counter productive to list out the things you shouldn’t be doing, but really it’s a good way to see your bad habits on paper. This isn’t something you need to do every week, but if you’re hitting a rough spot in your studies then it’s time to re-evaluate where your time is being spent.

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As you begin to bury yourself in your major, you’ll note that the content starts getting a little more complex. You don’t need to keep a dictionary by your side, although it wouldn’t be a bad idea, but you should definetly pay attention to words you don’t recognize.

[Define Your Learning Style to Maximize Retention]

Context clues are a great way to figure out a word you’re unfamiliar with. Write down the new word in a small book, or save it in a word document to add onto as you read. It’s a great way to build your vocabulary, and the more industry specific you get the better. The words you write down could be used in your term papers. Just remember to look up the word later if you’re unclear of it’s meaning. Your professor won’t be impressed that you used every industry term in your paper out of context.

If you want to branch outside of your school texts, try word of the day sites like Wordsmith to expand on your word bank.

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