If taking the test on a Scantron sheet, always make sure that when you’ve skipped a number to come back on, you haven’t filled in the answer for a different question. I did this once, and all of my answers were off by one. If I had checked, I would have gotten a 98. Aarggh.
If you have a photogrpahic memory, reading the textbooks cover to cover is the way to go. If not, not.
Organise study groups with friends, often explaining a concept to someone else is the best way to learn it yourself.
If it’s an MCQ paper, look at past papers…questions repeat.
Ask your teachers what they expect you to know…most of the time that will guide you not only on the type of questions they’ll ask, but also the answers they’ll expect.
Focus on the big picture: for example, in Paediatrics knowing how to deal with an emergency like “my baby stopped breathing” is much more important than knowing the symptoms of a rare genetic disorder that affects 1 in 100,000 kids.
If it’s an essay paper, spend a minute or so making a structure, but start writing as soon as you can. Even waffling slightly off-topic while you organise your thoughts will earn you more points than 2 beautifully written lines of introduction that don’t answer the question, because you spent so long writing out your plan you don’t have time for anything else.
If you do run out of time in an essay paper, use bullet points to get the most important points across, you won’t get many more points, but at least the examiner will know that although you ran out of time you were on the right track.
Pull it all together- if you can add a relevant interesting fact from your general knowledge, do. It makes you seem much smarter and sets your answer aside from the others.
Often they’re looking for less than you think, don’t sweat if you can’t remember details, get the big things down first.
If it’s a practical exam, they’re expecting nerves, and will usually make allowances for them. Don’t worry if you screw up a little, as long as you get most of it done.
I cannot stress enough: CHECK YOUR SCANTRON.
I’m only in 10th grade, but I always do math tests back to front. The easiest ones are usually at the beginning of the section, and work to harder ones. That way, if you do the hardest questions first, the easier ones will seem like a breeze.
::getting an A in math for the first time since 2nd grade- YAY!::
With that said, I’m taking an AP US history course this year and I have the worst time studying for it. HELP ME! I’M FAILING!
Thanks, all the tips (even though this isn’t my thread) are going to help me too.
Some “advice” from my students:
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Don’t fill in your name, student ID, etc, when you get your paper. This uses up valuable test-taking time. Wait until your instructor has had to pull it out of your hands at the end of the exam period, then cry, “Wait! I ‘forgot’ to put my name on my paper!”
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If you don’t remember your student ID number, just guess. Ditto for your TA’s name, your section number, etc. Instructors ask you to write these things down because they like making you write things down for no particular reason, not because these things are important for recording grades and sorting and returning exams.
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When filling out computer-scored “bubble sheets,” a good-sized, clean eraser is an unnecessary luxury. The time you might spend finding an eraser or going to the bookstore to get a new one is valuable cramming time.
Okay, now real advice:
- If a question is unclear, ask before you spend a half hour agnoizing over it. Your instructor might be able to clarify something quite easily (and they might even give a hint if they’re not careful.)
In math and science classes:
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If you’re allowed a crib sheet, use it and add to it as you do your homework! Then you automatically put down everything you might need on the test, plus you are familiar with it and know where everything is.
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Treat the homework as practice for the exam. As Turing says, sloppiness pisses off the grader and will result in a lower score than if you had everything neatly laid out but made the same errors, because if you make me have to hunt for the mistake instead of being able to see it right away, that makes me want to penalize you more. If you’re getting points off for sloppiness and not following the required format on your homework, then guess what, the same is going to happen on the exam! If you form good habits while working homework problems, it will pay off on the exam.
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If your answer doesn’t make sense, but you can’t find your mistake (or don’t have time to) then say something! “I know that 1982 kilograms is too heavy for a person, but I can’t find my error.” Some graders will give you a point back if you show that you did some kind of sanity check.
I go through all my course notes and make new condensed notes from them. 100 pages of course notes / textbook readings can become a dozen pages of essential info. Organized in bullet points with colors helping make it clear. When I can get the info into a table or diagram, I do, because it’s easier than a list.
Then I read those notes over and over, talking to myself about the subject. And not just at home! I’ll blab on the bus, mumble on the metro, whisper while I walk! Look at me funny if you like, but it’s been working great for me and I can’t imagine studying any other way.
For general advice, though, just read the questions. It’s so easy to go over the exam too quickly, because you’re stressed, and misunderstand the question. Missing a “not” or seeing “ascending” instead of “descending” can lose you lots of marks, and you’ll kick yourself afterwards, when you see what you did.
Use the elimination technique on multiple-choice exams - there’s usually at least one answer you can eliminate right away, and you can sometimes eliminate others through logic or by checking the other questions in the exam. Also, circle the answers on the question sheet as well as the computer scan sheet - if you miss a question on the computer sheet and it throws it all off, you can always show the prof the exam paper and your right answers.
Good luck, fellow studiers!
It was my understanding it was dangerous to take HCl, with or without a CS degree 
I always had good results when I wrote out crib sheets that I didn’t use. The effort taken to analyze the likely test questions, and the review of the subject matter cemented the material in my head.
Lots of good ideas here. Lemme share one that’s helped me.
AVOID OTHER PEOPLE RIGHT BEFORE THE EXAM.
You know the ones I mean, they are frantically trying to cram every last bit of info in their heads. They will drag you into panic mode, and no one thinks well in panic mode. Relax before the test. Perhaps calmly review the notes. I second getting to the room early so you can get a good seat (no wobbles, no lewd drawings by undergrads on the desk) and so you can sit in a quiet place for a while before the exam begins.
I’ve also found that planning my studying so that if the test was one day earlier I could take it helps. Example- if the test is Tuesday, and I normally do a lot of studying the night before, do the big study night on Sunday, then just have a brief light review on Monday. I seem to retain info much better that way.