Test Taking Tips Guide
Before the Test
Arrive Early – making sure timing doesn’t cause you anxiety can help you start your testing off on the right foot as anxiety will create confusion, and make it so you can’t recall details you would otherwise know.
Get Comfortable – find ways to make yourself comfortable, you’ll want a drink on hand, extra equipment for taking the test in case your primary pens, pencils, rulers or other devices fail during the test, and you’ll want to find a comfortable location to sit.
During the Test
Read the Directions Carefully – there is nothing worse than missing a “don’t” or “not” and giving a well thought out, but incorrect answer to a test question.
Review the Entire Test – if there is time, I recommend looking over the entire test, as clues to the answers of early questions might might be hidden in later questions, and as such they’ll spark your memory by reading them. It also helps you judge how you should divide your time.
Review Your Answers - I suggest checking over your answers both for completeness, and to make sure they are correct, but if you are having issues with multiple choice or similar types of questions, it is safer to trust your first gut instinct than change your answer as changed multiple choice answers account for a large number of mistakes in tests.
After the Test
Once you have completed and handed in your test, you will have chances to talk to others about their answers, and might realize what mistakes you made during the test. Don’t get frustrated or upset. Instead, go back and study the material that you didn’t know so that you can better prepare for the more comprehensive mid-terms and exams. If it was an exam that this occurred in, remind yourself that you did the best you could at the time you took the test, and go try to have some fun to unwind and shake the stress and anxiety you’ve no doubt felt.
Special Note
One of the best tips I can give anyone looking to take a test is to understand how it will be marked. Some teachers mark harder than others, but all of them are looking for certain qualifications to earn that mark, and your job as a student is to not only learn the material, but the teachers and what they are looking for in a perfect answer. Sometimes you can find a way to get previous years tests to look over, or ask the teacher for a small handful of example answers to base your own work on. Every teacher marks differently, and while you might think your answer was correct, you may have missed the key things they were looking for and ended up with an unsatisfactory mark.