I forget about them until fifteen minutes before class, cram in a scan through my notes, and then take the exam.
In the mid-west here.
In the actuarial profession, we “sit for” exams. It sounds a little pompous at first, but you get used to it.
Of course, in my case, mostly I just “fail” the exams.
(New Jersey). At college, I/we “take” exams. As Freddy mentioned above, however, I “sit for” (future tense) my actuarial exams, or “write” them (any tense).
I can definitely relate to this, having failed a few of my actuarial exams along the way.
I’m from Louisiana, and live in Texas. I take exams. I’m familiar with all the other terms, but almost never hear them used locally. It might take me a moment to correctly interpret “writing an exam” in this context, since I would first parse it as “composing an exam”.
Here in Melbourne, you definitely sit for exams. And at the end, you have finished, not done them.
I was born and raised in Cleveland, OH and I’ve always taken exams. My wife is Canadian, raised and schooled in Windsor and Toronto. She writes 'em. I have a couple of Indian friends who sit exams.
I take exams, and have never heard any of the other terms used in verbal communication.