Trimester exams lie just around the corner. Soon, the library will be inundated with studying students, and the halls of the Schoolhouse will be silenced as students buckle down to cement their term grades. In these final days of preparation, enjoy a few study tips to aid you in academia.

Start Early

The easiest method of managing crunch time and maintaining one’s sanity is, simply enough, proper time management throughout the year. Admittedly, this skill is easier said than done, but once exam season nears, it becomes doubly important to exercise. As soon as you know what the assessment consists of, be it a project or test, you can begin lightening the load of preparation. Start to study the material or plan out the project in advance, then continue to work on it consistently until assessment day arrives.

Bite-sized Chunks

While studying a vast amount of material in a short period of time, it can be easy to become numb and stop absorbing content. Additionally, this method of studying can appear daunting to some, especially in AP classes and areas of difficulty. By dividing the material into manageable pieces, a massive task—take an AP Latin exam, for example—becomes completely conquerable. This method can be further expanded to encompass every class, leaving you with dozens of little bits instead of five or six massive ones. Abigail Rogers-Berner, President of ARETE, says “some of my close friends are able to sit down at their desks, open a book, and work until the early hours of the following morning. For me, I find that my studying depends largely on the subject matter; for math, I usually drill practice problems by myself, because math requires little to no discussion. When discussing major themes in an English text, I will almost always work with others in my class in small, focused groups over a cup of tea. Or three.” This process of group review is especially useful for more subjective subjects, in addition to more interpretive matters.

When it comes to the rest of the humanities, Abigail suggests similar methods: “For history classes and foreign languages, I find that reviewing the material with one other friend (i.e. one asks the question, and the other must formulate an eloquent response) is very effective. Language is largely conversational and requires a companion, and history studying works well in pairs because you have someone with whom to discuss major historical themes while checking basic facts (such as dates or names).”

The sciences, however, are easily the most diverse among the disciplines.  “[It] depends on the nature of the material,” Rogers-Berner continues. “My current science, social psychology, has a lot of essays involved so I typically work by myself, but physics and chemistry and biology can easily be studied in groups.”

Interval Training

Unfortunately, dozens of little chunks, if left disorganized, become relatively inefficient under the stress and chaos of assessment week. One key way to keep it fresh is to alternate between subjects and disciplines during an evening of studying. If a five-page English essay plus a math review packet plus a chemistry lab proves too much to do in one long haul, varying the type of work you do can help. Instead, study one subject per hour and switch after every hour. If you work on that essay for an hour, do math for the next. Each subject challenges the brain in different ways, which also allows you to stay awake longer and easier when pulling late-night study sessions.

Breaks

Take a break. Not a meandering, hour-long cruise through Reddit, nor a quick little coffee and donut run, but a real, true, mindful break. For every hour of studying, take five minutes off. Spend them well. Sip your coffee and contemplate life. Check your texts, your Facebook, your Snapchat. Whatever you do, do not study. Don’t even THINK academic thoughts for this little break. When your five minutes are up, put all that fun stuff away for another 55 minutes, and focus all of your energy on your academics. These little breaks keep you fresh, keep you focused, and keep you attentive.

Sleep

Though your studying is all-important, there comes a point where another run through your flashcards is superfluous, where your fifteenth editing run becomes obsession, and your trigonometry appears to have surpassed Euclidean limits. At this point, only sleep will save you. In order to function, to think, and to stay healthy, you need sleep. Though studying is a necessary undertaking for academic performance, it will be for naught if you fall asleep over your test.

ARETE

Lastly, always feel free to enlist the aid of an ARETE tutor. Their hassle-free system will quickly set you up with a tutor for any questions you may have, from Algebra I to AP Bio. For more mathematic and writing-related questions, the Math Tutors and Writing Center are invaluable resources as well. Simply sitting down with a tutor can instantly boost your grade in any discipline, making those final assessments and projects a total breeze.