If you are going to cram for the final, Here's a few hints,

OK, the steps to pass a final and get a good grade in a class are:

• Attend all your classes,
• Do all your assignments on time,
• Take good notes and study them,
• Complete all reading assignments,
• Ask the professor for help with anything you don't understand,

If you have done these things these next few weeks are not going to be overly stressful. However, there may be a few of you who did not make it to class as often as you could have, your notes don't really make a lot of sense and are spotty, your dog is at the vet from ink and paper poisoning, and your text book makes a cracking sound when you open it. Tomorrow is your final. You are going to have to cram.

Again this is not about how to learn anything or to do well in a class. This is about how to do what you can to pass your final.

• First look through your notes and see if there is anything underlined or that has stars or arrows next to it that you may have put their to remind you that it was important. If it is a word or a phrase look in a high quality dictionary, the glossary in your text book, adn the index in your text book and read up on the note,
• Next most text books start with an introduction that summarizes what the chapter is about and ends with a conclusion that does the same thing. Go through your text and read the first and last paragraph or section for each chapter,
• Most quality text books do not add images or charts arbitrarily, but use them to emphasize important points. As you go through the chapters look at the images and charts and study the captions, if necessary read some of the text until you understand the point they are trying to make,
• If your text has a glossary study that next, you can record your reading and listen to it the next day before class if you have time,
• If it is an essay final after completing the steps above, look up your topic in a good encyclopedia like Britannica, thoroughly learn the entry about President Lincoln or the Cold War or whatever your topic is, you can also record this to listen to before class, there are few if any professors that will expect you to know more than what is written in Britannica unless it is a very specific or arcane topic, if you can write the equivalent of an encyclopedia entry for an essay exam, you will most likely get a decent grade,

For those of you that have book reports due the next day on 600+ page books that you have not read and there are no cliff notes you may still have a chance.

• Again Read the first and last paragraph of each chapter,
• Read any image captions,
• Look in article databases for other reviews of the book, You must not copy these reviews but they can guide you to the major themes of a book,

Get some sleep, eat some healthy food and get some exercise like a relaxing walk. Studies have shown that material reviewed just prior to sleep is often transfered to long term memory and processed by the brain while you sleep. Exercise and healthy foods also increase brain power. Following these steps may make the information you need accessible during the exam the next day.

I make no promises about any of this working. The only way to be sure is to do the work when you are supposed to as first mentioned in this post. However, if you have to cram this systematic approach may be your best hope.

Good Luck