Midterm season is here, and with it comes a combination of stress, overnight library sessions and self-inflicted procrastination. If you’re a person who’s historically suffered through midterms, whether you did well or poorly, there are always things that you can do better the next time. Here are five things you can try to survive this upcoming midterm season.
1. Construct a specific study playlist
There is evidence that listening to music before studying actually helps with retaining information, but the same can not be said for music while studying. If you must listen to music while you study, choose music that has minimal words or is primarily acoustic. That’s because music with lyrics can confuse your brain’s language processing ability, according to Stanford University Professor Clifford Nass.
Listening to Migos or Lady Gaga while you study for your psychology midterm isn’t the best practice. Listen to instrumentals if classical or acoustic isn’t your cup of tea. A good place for instrumentals would be anywhere within MF DOOM or Madlib’s discography of instrumental albums. If you want to try music with minimal lyrics, try some songs off Frank Ocean’s Endless, particularly the songs “In Here Somewhere” and “Florida.”
2. Study more efficiently by chunking information and spacing out study sessions
If you’re one of those people that likes to cram everything at the last minute, stop it. Psychologists from UCLA and the American Psychological Association recommend not to cram for exams, because all that information you get from studying at the last minute could lead to you blacking out on test day. It’s recommended to “chunk” information over an extended period of time, meaning that you split your study sessions into short segments, or “chunks.” Doing so will allow you to retain that information and recall it better than you would by cramming.
Doing all your studying the morning before a test won’t work too well. If you have an in-class midterm exam next week, start studying little by little over the next few days. You’ll retain much more of the information and do well on your exam. Psychologists found that spacing out multiple studying sessions is more effective in retaining information than doing one big cramming session.
3. Try a social media blackout
This might be an extreme option for some, but if you’re really up for it, consider deleting your social media apps off your phone for a period of time. Deactivate your Facebook account, too. Ghost your matches on Tinder for a bit. Take a break from retweeting memes on Twitter. All the free time you can gather from skipping social media can be used to study and relax. This might come at the expense of a few followers (and matches), sure, but the benefits of this route can improve your studying.
4. Relax in-between your study sessions
When you’re studying, you want to make sure you take breaks and not carry on indefinitely. Plan your study sessions out and try for at least 1-2 hours of solid studying, with no distractions. Figure out what you want to do after those studying sessions; anything from going out and exploring the city, exercising at the gym, binge watching Rick and Morty, or just eating your favorite foods. Don’t become enveloped with stress – enjoy yourself! Should your stress levels get high, Student Health Services has counselors and occasionally hosts free events such as yoga classes and workshops to reduce your anxiety and stress levels.
5. Make use of your resources
Chances are if you’re reading this, you’re a New School Student. As a New Schooler, you have a wide variety of resources at your disposal. If the 16th Street and University Center libraries aren’t quiet enough for you, reserve a whole room for yourself, which can be used as a personal study space. You can reserve a room for yourself via the Library portal on your myNewSchool page. You can stop by the University Learning Center to schedule a tutoring session. If you need help writing your essay, developing time management skills, or learning to how use an Adobe program, the ULC can help you there. There’s a lot the school has to offer outside of classes; make the most of it while you’re here.
Midterm season can be rough, and you might find yourself at a crossroads with your education at this time, but these five tips can make your experience this time around better!
Photos by Jorge Romero.