• Follow us on Twitter
  • Join our Facebook Group

University Survival

  • Student Success Skills
    • Picking a College
    • Financing Your Education
    • Choosing a Major
    • Preparing for College
    • Managing the Personal Side of the Transition to College
    • Developing Discipline to Do Well
    • Managing the Social Side of College
    • Being an Efficient Learner
    • Taking Tests
    • Ensuring You Receive The Grade You Want
    • Managing Group Projects
    • Becoming a Campus Leader
    • Student Athletes
    • Navigating College Practices
    • Succeeding on Internships and Co-ops
    • Making Critical Decisions
    • Overcoming Challenges for Specific Types of Students
    • Setting Goals
    • Being an International Student In The United States
    • Using Resources
    • Communication Skills for College Graduates
    • Building a Professional Network
    • Using LinkedIn to Develop Your Network
    • Preparing for a Career
    • Understanding Job Protocols
    • Developing Essential Career Skills
    • Becoming a Leader
    • Overcoming Career Challenges
    • Planning for your Financial Future
  • Parent Connections
    • Parent Topics
      • Being a Supportive Parent
      • Making Critical Decisions
      • Financing Your Student’s Education
    • Parent Emails
  • Teacher Resources
  • Resources
  • Community
  • About
You are here: Student Success Skills » Being an Efficient Learner » Taking Tests

Student Success Skills

Taking Tests

by jennifer
July 13, 2012

The bane of every college student is taking tests. When you think about a test, you are pitting yourself against the teacher. The teacher has a strategy for making up the test that’s based upon what you are expected to know. It’s your challenge to respond to that strategy. Now imagine the teacher as a computer game designer and yourself as the game player. Is there a lot of difference in taking a test and playing a computer game? Not really if you think about the test as a challenge in figuring out the teacher’s test strategy. Sure you have to know something, but if you followed the guidance in the section on Being an Efficient Learner, you’ll obtain the knowledge you need. Now what’s your game strategy?

  1. Go through the test and answer every question you are sure you know. This builds momentum and confidence and it can help with other questions you are not sure of.
  2. For the remaining questions, start with the ones that are the highest point value (if appropriate). Then go to the questions you think you know but are not quite sure of. See if your prior answers help give a clue. The same answer rarely appears more than once on a test.
  3. If you have a multiple choice question you are not sure of. See if you can eliminate some choices that are obviously not right. Next eliminate any choices that were answers to other questions. This should help you narrow down the choices to one or two. If you’re totally unsure at this point, select the answer you remember the teacher stressing in class.
  4. For true/false questions, look for unequivocal words such as always or never. Generally these questions are false because very little is that certain. Equivocating statements are often true because of the way the question is worded. If you are totally at a loss for an answer, guess false. It’s much harder to make up a false question than a true one.
  5. If you have a fill in the blank question or matching question, try to visualize your flash card (See the topic: Making Flash Cards). If you have looked at the flash cards enough, you should be able to recall what’s on the card that connects to the question.
  6. When you have finished the test, review your answers.If you panic when taking the test, close your eyes and count to 100. While you are doing this, think about something pleasant. This should calm you down. When you return to the test, find one question you are sure of and work from there.
    1. Check random answers on the scantron to make sure you haven’t missed a question and put your answers on the wrong line.
    2. For math/science/ engineering tests rework the problems you are unsure of when you just review your work, you are assuming your approach was right. You’ll maybe catch a wrong approach when you rework the problem.
    3. Don’t change an answer unless you have a clear reason to do so. Lots of points are lost when you second guess yourself.
  7. If you panic when taking the test, close your eyes and count to 100.  While you are doing this, think about something pleasant.  This should calm you down.  When you return to the test, find one question you are sure of and work from there.

When you play a new computer game, you’re probably not very good at the start, but as you go along you begin to figure out the game. The same approach works for tests..

← Closing Out the Interview
Maintaining a Career Notebook →

Suggest a Topic

Looking for a topic and can't find it? Why not submit one...

Suggest a Topic

Share This

Rate This Topic

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5)
Loading...

Testimonials

  • The biggest improvement I have made this semester is waking up earlier. Previously, even if I had an early class I’d sleep until the last minute never questioning if I’d get to class on time. Well after being late to class several times or oversleeping and not even attending I realized that I should just wake up at the same time every day and get on a schedule. I now know that going to sleep at a reasonable hour each night is very important. Being on a steady sleep schedule makes my life a whole lot easier because now when I’m in class I am well rested and I pay attention and actually understand what my teachers are teaching me..

Sign Up For Student Emails

Enter your email below to get weekly student emails.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Suggest a Topic

Looking for a topic and can't find it? Why not submit one...

Suggest a Topic

Share This

Sign Up For Parent Emails

Enter your email below to get weekly parent emails.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Suggest a Topic

Looking for a topic and can't find it? Why not submit one...

Suggest a Topic
© Copyright - University Survival