Hello college students, 
 
      How do you guys deal with the stress of finals week?


      Any special method(s) to reduce stress? 

Please, give suggestions. 

Hi there,

I am currently in my last semester of college and I can tell you from experience that finals week can be particularly difficult. The best thing to do is to start studying early. DO NOT Cram! Research proves that cramming does not do a lot of good anyway. The best thing to do is make time for something you really enjoy doing. For me, I make sure to have my piano music out and ready for when I feel stressed. Do what you enjoy! That is the best advice I can give you. I hope it helps.

Sincerely,

lizzylovesaugie

I normally use the stress to motivate myself to study more. I don't see it as a bad thing.

If it's becoming incapacitating, I listen to music or actively stand up and study on a whiteboard. Both help.

A lot of the stress goes away when I start taking practice exams and see that I can hold my own on them.

I never really feel stressed out. If you completed the assigned homeworks/readings and attented class regularly there is no reason for you to panic.

Just make sure not to over study (your brain gets saturated), get plenty of sleep and everything will be all right!

First thing first: don't forget to drink water. That alone can help lower your stress levels just because you are well hydrated and your brain will thank you. I'm not even joking, it will cause your body to put out less stress hormone.

Same with NOT pulling all-nighters to study. It usually doesn't help, and all it is guaranteed to do is raise your stress levels so that you have an even harder time thinking. 

Listen to music in your down-times. Find something you like that is soothing and fill a playlist on youtube or something with similar things. Get up and do stretches every 20 minutes when you're sitting and studying. It will help keep you from being stiff and the movement will reduce your stress. 

Try not to drink too much caffeine, and DO NOT drink caffeinated soft drinks or energy drinks right before a final!  This actually makes it MORE DIFFICULT to concentrate and your brain will blank more easily. If you HAVE to have caffeine, drink coffee or a cup of green tea. Green tea is better, really, but I know it can be hard to find sometimes (or afford on a college student's budget). It'll give you the caffeine rush you may need without the horrific blank-mind crash a bit later.

The best advice I can really give is to just study as much as you can without overdoing it. And what I mean by that is, if you're staying up until 3 or 4am, that probably should be an indication that you're studying too hard ( yes, there is such a thing ). Back when I was still taking some college classes, I studied as much as I could before I got a headache. Then I'd take a break for a little bit...maybe like an hour or so, and maybe get something healthy to eat or drink and start up again. That worked the best for me.

Another thing is to be careful what classes you take and when you take them. I know some students want to get college over with as quick as they can, so they take like 6 or 7 classes a semester. That's just absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion. Try to even out your classes...if you have to take a complex class that requires a lot of reading ( like psychology for example ), it might be a good idea to take more easier classes that semester to give you a break.

I just took my last final today for the semester. I'm now done with finals and classes. I'm waiting for the results on a couple classes but my GPA could be potentially be a 3.9 and that is coming from four CIT courses. I need a 80.5% on my database final to get an A for the class. I think it is going to be close because there are definitely a couple problems (query statement) I could not figure out and that is a major portion of the grade. Those joins for me have been the hardest part of the course.