Midterms are creeping up faster than you would think. Thanksgiving break is coming up this week and just a few weeks after that, midterms. How exactly are students going to study and prepare for exams coming up during the week of December 12?  Here are a few students from all grades explaining what they think of midterms, and what they will do to prepare:

Freshman Alex Richter ’20 predicts that midterm will be “stressful and annoying”. He mentioned “studying the week before review week” so he could ask questions to teachers during review week. He also mentioned “studying homework problems and previous tests and quizzes”.

Similarly, freshman Tharoon Balaji ‘20 said that he will probably review previous assignments.  He will study his notes, go to his teachers for help prior to review week, and take online quizzes and tests.

John-Shaw Moazami ‘20 also added that he will look specifically at the material he did not understand first, and then ask teachers questions.

Rigzin Lhatoo ’20, like many of the other freshmen, planned on studying a week prior to exam review week so he could ask questions to teachers during the week.  He mentioned: “By the weekend before exams, I usually have gone over everything I have to, and the rest of the time I have is spent hammering [out] material that I might not be as strong at.”

Sophomore Daniel Leonard ‘19 said that he will make a huge study guide for every class with the major concepts from each class. He will also make a Quizlet for each class with the key concepts and terms. For math, he said, “I would redo math tests and homework until I get all of them right, and then do additional math problems in the textbook.”

Graeme Thomas ‘19 added that he will study two weeks before actual midterms, and he will study for one hour on a different subject each night.

Graden Snyder ‘19 said he will make an outline for Western Civilization, chemistry, and English. For English and Western Civilization, he will study his notes, and write a few practice essays on major concepts. He is not excited for the upcoming exams, but is looking forward to the end of the semester.

Junior Eric Miranda ‘18 said that he will start studying a week before each exam. He will then make an outline of every class with a group of friends. Each person in the group will then have an outline they all made together, so by the end of prep week, all of the outlines will be done.

Firas Abboud ’18, taking his fifth round of exams, doesn’t think exams will be that bad. He said that he actually likes midterm week because he thinks it is a “very chill week” of just studying. He recommends that every student find what they like to do to prepare and do what works with them.

Uzo Ahn ’18 said that he thinks that organization is the most important factor when studying for midterms, and says, “Organization is such an important key factor that’s often overlooked when preparing for these exams. Don’t wait until later, do it now. You’ll have less time to worry about finding your notes for World War I and more time to spend on the actual studying.”

Senior Brandon Wang ‘17 said that he has a three-part process when he studies. He focuses first on what he thinks will be on the actual exam. He said “I review the assessments that I have first, as those represent what I’ll likely see on my exam. Afterwards, I review my in class work. This includes notes and presentations. This is secondary as the assessments I have are most indicative of what may be on the exam. Finally I review my textbook readings and problems. Those are farthest from what I expect to see on my exam”

Keyvon Rashidi ‘17 recommends to freshmen that they study early, maybe a week before review week. For every subject, he recommends that they scan over their notes and retake all of their tests.  Then, they can go online and find more problems (specifically for math). For history, it is important to read sections from the textbook that they do not understand or remember.