Exams Are Hard!!! But having a plan of attack can make your life easier
Before the exam
Know The Format
Before any exam, you should have a general idea of what types of questions will be asked. Are there multiple choice questions, short answer questions, practical questions or a mix of different types? Know how much time you have to complete the exam and how many marks and questions will be up for grabs.
Dont Compare Yourself To Others
Everyone learns at different rates. You do not need to copy someone's study schedule. Know how much time you need to grasp a topic. Plan ahead and play to your strengths. If you are a visual learner, watch some youtube videos. If you like to write, make beautiful notes and flow charts. If flashcards work for you, then go for it. Do what works for you and ignore all the noise of others.
All-Nighters Suck
The only thing all-nighters do is make you feel like you are doing something. The small amount of content you memorize is not worth the exhaustion. Your brain forms the connections for new long-term memories when you sleep. Let the brain do its job. Definitely don't pull one the night before an exam.
Make Sure You Have Everything Ready The Night Before
Have all the required stuff ready to go. Have your ID, Calculator, pencils, pens or whatever else you need ready the night before your exam so you don't have to stress about having the right equipment just before you go into the exam.
The Morning Of The Exam Is A Normal Day
Do your regular routine as you would on any other day. If you drink coffee each morning, then have one if you want. If you don't drink coffee, it may not be a great time to try it out when you don't know how it will make you feel. Light morning exercise can be an excellent way to lower stress before the test and increase focus for the rest of the day.
You Are Going To Ace This
Whenever you get doubt in your head, convincing yourself that you will fail, turn it off. You wouldn't let someone else mock you and say you will fail, so why do it to yourself? I am going to ace this. Manifest that win!
During the Exam
Read The Instructions
Make sure you know the rules. Nothing worse than failing because you used pen to write on a pencil scantron sheet. Even if you think you know the rules, have a quick read just to be safe.
Read The Question
Possibly the most repeated words of exam advice in existence. Simple but easy to mess up especially as you get tired later on in the exam. Read the question and then read it again Make sure you have not missed anything. Watch out for words such as NOT, AND, ALL, SOME etc which can drastically change the meaning of a question.
Time Is A Resource
Work out how much time you should spend on each question. Usually divide the total number of marks by the total time you have available. This will give you the average time to spend on each mark. Note that although all marks are equal some will require more time than others. The time per question is just an average not a hard and fast rule.
Bank The Easy Marks
For some questions you will know the answer straight away. Do these first and you bank time to use for the more difficult questions. Simple resource management to maximize your efficiency.
Never Leave A Question Blank
You have a 100% chance of getting a question wrong for not answering. If you guess you may have a 99.9% chance of getting it wrong but it’s still better than nothing. The only case where leaving a question blank is acceptable is during a negatively marked test, where an option of “I don't know” will score zero rather than negative marks. These types of tests are very rare so don't apply to most students.
Trust Your Gut
Unsure about a question and you are leaning towards an answer but you don’t know why. Just go for it! You don’t know the answer, tossing up about how much you don’t know the answer is wasting time. Just go with your gut it’s probably right.
If You Have Time At The End Go Back And Check Your Answers
Only change answers where you realise you were definitely wrong. Don’t second guess every answer otherwise you may end up shooting yourself in the foot. This is a good opportunity to go back and look out for those pesky NOT, AND, SOME, All words which can mess you up.
Don't Rely On Cheat Sheets
Some tests will be open book or allow you to take in a sheet of notes. Try not to use these resources for every question. Concepts and flow charts ar ebest suited here rather than a long list of facts. You want to avoid spending time searching through a cheat sheet so the shorter it is the better.
Don't Stress It's All Good
Easy to say hard to do. Go into every exam with the mindset that you are going to prove to the examiner what you know. Exams don’t exist to make you fail, they are there for you to flex your knowledge. Don’t psych yourself out.
After The Exam
If It Goes Bad Don't Dwell On It
Try not to think about how you went. A poor performance in an exam happens to even the best of us. Dwelling on a poor performance can impact your focus and confidence for your other exams.
Don't Judge How You Went By Talking To Others
Your classmates will likely ask you about what answer you put for this or that question. Take their answers with a grain of salt. They aren't the one marking the exam. Don't feel bad if you put different answers to them. They could be more wrong than you.
Celebrate
Probably once you have completed your last exam. Get back to having some fun before the results come out. That is a problem for another day.
