- A student thats concerned about their grades
- A parent thats concerned for their children's grades
- A person that wants to know for the future how to do better
BEFORE THE TEST:
- STUDY. Study until your eyes fall out, and you can recite your material in your sleep. I don't know what else to say besides study in advance, the night before, anytime. Day or night. Preferrably day.
- Get 9+ hours of sleep! I find that getting a poor night's sleep TWO nights before the Exams makes a good night's sleep feel 10 times better! So if your like me, you probably get up at around 6:30(in my case 6:15). Do whatever you want until 9. By then, you should have your PJs on, electronics off, and reading a book or writing.
- Get a really good breakfast! Give yourself food that YOU know will fill you up. My dad believes that some fruit and toast fills me up - when it leaves me with a rumbling stomach by 3rd period. Make sure your full - working on an empty stomach is like driving a car without gas. You aren't going to get anyhere.
- Look up the average scores. For my exams, the averages for last year's scores were online. I found out that(1 being the best, 4 being the worst) the majority of the people got 1 in Math, 2 in Reading, 2 in Social Studies, 2 in Science, 3 in Writing. When I read that, I was VERY happy. Last year I got all 1, except for a 2.
- Believe in yourself. If you've aced it in the past, have that attitude that you're going to do well. If you haven't done so well in the past, tell yourself your GOING to do better. And scientifically, you will. By looking up how to do better, your brain is remembering these things, and incorporating them into your habits when you take your test - subconciously.
- Make sure you have materials. A book, a pencil(pencils are provided for my exams), or something to do. I always found that half the class would be done with the exams, and we'd have 45 minutes left to do whatever. I could finish a 100-page book in 45 minutes, so I'd always be twiddling my thumbs, knowing I would do well. So just, do something that is quiet AND productive. The best thing is to review notes that just came to you while you were taking the exam.
- If you don't know the answer - make an educated guess. If it's multiple choice, then get rid of the obvious answers. Then, once you've narrowed it down to two, try to remember as hard as you can to guess. I've always selected the answer that my gut felt was right - and my gut happens to be VERY smart.
- Do NOT rush it. Your future matters more than if you get to play rock paper scissors with your neighbor after the exam. I was always one of the first students to finish a test - and I would feel sorry for those around me. They'd be intimidated by the fast kids, and feel like they were going slow. So take a look around the room. Just because three people are done, doesn't mean you have to be done.
- Don't half ass the end. Work hard on it! In fact, don't even know when the last question is. Trust me, if you know you have 70 questions on one portion, then by question 40, you'll be marking the first one that seems right. But if you don't look at the end, and only know until question 68, because it's on the last page, then you'll do MUCH better.
- Do a little happy dance! You're done! Yay! Now go relax and hang out on the computer/watch TV all day!
- DON'T WORRY! If you feel like you are going to do bad, remember - as long as you worked hard and did your best, then you have nothing to be ashamed of. I got an A- on an Geo final, and that felt amazing and much better compared to half-assing an English final, which I got an A on.
- Figure out what works and what doesn't. Think about when you felt best about studying - little bits at a time, or chunks all at once. What time of day, where you were, who you were with, what method. Then, you can do better/just as well on the next one!
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