No-fail Tips for Successful Test-taking

It may have been a minute since you took a traditional test in school, and you may be feeling out of practice. That’s understandable. At work, you prove your knowledge and understanding by performing your job successfully. In college, you’re tested by your ability to solve problems, form sound arguments and answer questions that demonstrate your knowledge.

Test-taking is a skill — a skill you can learn — and this article will prepare you for your next exam. Whether you simply need to brush up on your exam prep or completely overhaul your relationship to tests, you can use these strategies before, during, and after exams to reduce stress and improve performance.

Before the exam

Make your life easier with good study habits.
Take advantage of sample tests. Ask your professor if there are any sample tests to review or make up your own practice tests. Be sure to check your test against the correct answers so you know what you need to review more. Research shows this is one of the most effective study methods that exists. Reading text, writing notes and other traditional study methods put data into your brain. Sample tests require your brain to retrieve the data, which solidifies the information in memory in a way that traditional studying cannot. Sample tests also give you an idea of what kinds of questions and formats to expect, reducing test anxiety.
Sleep instead of cram. If the choice is study or sleep, sleep. And don’t feel bad about it! The less you sleep, the less you can retain and recall. When you cram — especially with late-night sessions — not only will you be less likely to remember the info you studied the night before, you may find it harder to concentrate during the test itself.
In fact, just skip cramming altogether. Instead, focus on short, intense study sessions. If you can put in 20-30 minutes a day, you can likely learn what you need for quizzes and exams and have the confidence to skip a marathon study session.

Day-of

Fuel your body. No one performs well hungry. Do yourself a favor and eat a small meal 45-60 minutes before the exam and have a snack available if needed. Skip the cereal and shoot for slow-release carbs like unsweetened oatmeal or yogurt or filling foods like avocados or eggs.
Show up on time. For online tests, this means logging in early and making sure you have everything you’ll need for the test, be it scratch paper, a calculator or a textbook for an open-notes exam. Being even just a minute late can rattle some students (and annoy professors), so why risk it?
Brain dump. If you’re worried you’ll forget some important facts for the test, take a minute or two to write them down right when the exam starts. Whether it’s a list of presidents or a chemistry equation, putting it on paper relieves you of the stress of trying to remember and frees you up to focus on each question as it comes.
Look over the entire test. Read through the whole test first to assess which areas will require more attention — and confirm that you can move forward and backward through an online test to review your answers. If you’re concerned about the length of the exam, make a quick timetable to get you through all the questions before time’s up.
Prioritize what’s easy. Start with the sections you feel more confident about and circle back to tougher questions where you’re feeling unsure. In all cases, follow directions and make sure you read the entire question (and all multiple choice options) before answering.
Use the process of elimination. On multiple choice questions, home in on the right answer and steer clear of absolutes such as “never,” “always,” “none,” and “all,” unless you’re sure of the correct response. Check out these additional strategies for best guesses on multiple choice and true/false questions.
Read essay questions carefully. Look over the assignment several times and make a quick outline of your answer. Fill in with relevant facts and then draft your paragraphs from there. Look for key terms in the essay question itself — you may find it helpful to use some of the exact wording to keep your thesis on point.
Don’t turn in an exam early. Always, always re-read each question and re-check every answer. If you catch something wrong, change it. If you’re waffling, leave it. If you haven’t answered it, just guess! (Except for the rare test where unanswered questions don’t count against you.)

After the exam

Review and absorb. Take time to review any questions you missed on an exam and find the right answer. Doing so helps imprint the information to memory, making it easier to retain and retrieve key ideas for finals — even when they’re months away.
Reflect and revise. Many students spend a lifetime developing ineffective study habits. To step outside of your usual approach, make a list of everything you did to prepare for your last test, including things besides traditional studying, such as showing up for class, taking a sample test and fueling your body before the exam. Which tactics seemed to yield the best results? Focus on the methods that worked best, and adjust as needed for different professors, subjects or types of tests.
Ask questions. Critically examine your approach to school so that you can become a more effective learner and successful student. Use questions like these to get you thinking strategically about learning.
- How did you feel about the test? Did you get the grade you expected?
- How did you feel going into the exam? Prepared? Tired? Nervous?
- What strategies did you use to prepare for the exam?
- If the next test were the exact same format, what would you need to do to improve your score?
- Have you carefully reviewed the questions you missed and understand the correct answers?
Remember: Mistakes bring growth. Did you pour all your time into one key chapter, when you should’ve double-down on your lecture notes for the whole quarter? Perhaps you focused on memorizing dates, but half the test was an essay question. Or maybe you gobbled a candy bar five minutes before class and your energy crashed midway through the exam.
Give yourself some grace. Have you ever learned anything by doing something right? No, that’s not how it works. We learn when we fail. When that happens with a test, simply take note of what worked and what didn’t. Learn from that mistake and outline your plan for the next exam.
Remember, you’re doing this for yourself. Whatever your grade, no one’s going to get mad and you won’t get in trouble. But you may learn that you need to prepare differently. Remember, too, that tests are just one data point: do you show up, participate, prepare for quizzes, turn in extra credit? Most importantly, are you learning something interesting, important or relevant in your college experience? The goal here is to expand your possibilities, and sometimes that goes beyond grades.

Take advantage of these tips as you prepare for your next exam. After years of never having to take a formal test, it can be nerve-wracking to go back to that style of evaluation. With short, daily study sessions, plenty of quality sleep and a thorough review of incorrect answers after any test, you’ll be setting yourself up for semester-long success.