Don’t:

Pull an all-nighter. Sleep is one of the most essential parts to doing well on the exams. During sleep the brain is encoding what it recently studied into memory. Sleeping can help you do better than cramming that night and the morning of. When students are cramming they’re trying to speed memorize a list of facts rather than take the time to understand them meaning that generally the human brain will forget most of the list by the time the test comes around. Studies recommend getting at least six hours of sleep however eight to ten is better for the brain.

Stress out over the tests. According to a study at University of California test anxiety is something that affects nearly 50% of students. The anxiety they get before a test will hinder their memory and can impair brain-cell communication in areas associated with learning and memory.  Researches on this have said that stress causes the brain to release the neurotransmitter CRH which temporarily damages the neurons in the part of the brain that forms new memories.  Sleeping well and spreading out study time can help many students conquer the anxiety that they feel before and during a test.

Not study. “I’m not gonna pass anyway.” “The teacher will just fail me no matter what.” “I just can’t do it.” “I don’t need to study for this.” Almost every student has made one of these comments during their school years before studying for an exam. Whether the student thinks that nothing they do will ever help or that they already know everything they’ve used this as an excuse to not study.  Not studying before finals is one of the worst things that a student can do. Even in a subject that they are barely scraping a 75 average in with studying a student can’t just give up on making an attempt.