Student Skills: Test-Taking

[Note: The links in this post go to helpful pages on each topic. Follow them!]

Before the Test
It almost goes without saying, but the first key to test-preparation is GENERAL ORGANIZATION. Time management -- and the development of your REVIEW TOOLS -- over the days and weeks ahead of a test is probably the most effective boost to both your grade and your test-taking confidence. Once you've gotten into a groove with your classes and have a feel for the teacher, you can even begin to ANTICIPATE TEST CONTENT.

Testing Well
When you sit down to a test, you want to be in an optimal state to retrieve information that's been stored away in your head for the past couple weeks. Studying helps, but on test day, it's all about your brain. This means getting your body and mind into a balanced state.

It starts with studying enough to be confident in the material (none of that TESTING ANXIETY) and even arriving early to the test but also doing things to keep your body on an even level: exercising in the days before the test, eating breakfast the day of, deep breathing/relaxing if you even start to feel overwhelmed by the test. If you can do these, then strategic TEST TAKING will be like second nature for you (especially on MATH TESTS).

Having a LUCKY MASCOT when you study and take the test doesn't hurt either.

Cramming
Cramming for a test is pretty much incompatible with a healthy state of mind for test-taking, however it is almost certain that you will have to do it at some point. (That's why I figure it's better to mention it than to pretend that it will never happen.)

If you do hit a time crunch there are a few thing that you can do as EMERGENCY TEST PREP: You have to start by trusting what you already know of the material and identify 3-5 main concepts that have come up in your class. Write them, along with a brief description of each -- then compare that description with your notes and textbook. This will help you to figure which concepts you have a firm grasp of and which you need to work on.

After the test you crammed for, of course, it will be time to work on your TIME MANAGEMENT.

Mid-Terms, Final Exams
The STRATEGY FOR EXAMS is kind of a combination of all of the suggestions above. It's about Time Management (starting about two weeks before the exam), eating healthy and exercising (even though you've got a time crunch since finals are coming up!), Test Preparation, and Testing Strategy.

Don't worry. You'll do fine.