<p>I’m a college sophomore and I should have this figured out by now, but I don’t. I have a bio test coming up and I’m freaking out. I start freaking out about 2 weeks before any test and vow that I will start studying right away. Well once I crack open the book, I realize how much material there is to know, start reading, taking notes, get overwhelmed halfway through the chapter and walk away. I’m not a bad student, it’s just I FREAK OUT when it comes to testing. I do my work, but lately it’s just like I have no motivation. What do I do to snap out of this? I need to maintain my good GPA.</p>
<p>Don’t read so much…much is to be learned by just skimming and doing practice problems</p>
<p>You’ll probably find that your success on exams has a lot to do with how confident you are going into the exam.</p>
<p>For example, let’s say you know about 75% of the material that you’ll be tested on for an exam. If you go into it thinking that there’s so much you don’t know, you’re much more likely to give up on questions that you actually do know the answer to but that aren’t immediately apparent. Often times seemingly complex questions and problems are really just connections between things you already know, so if you think that you don’t know much going into the exam you’re much more likely to just randomly guess on it than to try to figure it out.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you go into the exam confident that you know what you’re supposed to, not only will you not give up on questions that you really know the answer to, but by extension you might be able to deduce the answer to some questions that you actually DON’T know the answer to. In any given topic area, most topics are interrelated in some way. You might not know the exact answer to what the question is asking, but if you understand the terms to some degree you might be able to apply what you DO know to work your way in the right direction. This could be worth partial credit (on an open-ended problem) or a better educated guess (on multiple choice). But if you came into the question thinking you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re liable to just guess randomly.</p>
<p>But I’m assuming that if you could control how you felt going into an exam that you wouldn’t CHOOSE to freak out about it. So here are my suggestions…</p>
<p>A) In the days leading up to the exam, mull over the information in your head. Think about and concentrate on what you know. Don’t even think “damn, I should know that,” about anything. Just keep rehashing the information you understand in your mind. This helps you get a firm grasp on what you do know and gives you a foundation for your last minute study.</p>
<p>B) Don’t worry about whether or not you have motivation, as long as you do your work you’re fine. If you have no motivation it could very likely be linked to a fear of failure. If you’re not motivated and you do poorly on an exam, you can tell yourself that if only you studied more you’d have aced it. In your mind, by not motivating yourself, you’re preparing for the inevitable (failure) by setting up a situation where you don’t have to feel as bad about it. Sure, you’ll kick yourself for not studying, but it’s much easier to kick yourself for not studying than it is to study and then do poorly, which is what you’re avoiding.</p>
<p>The easiest way to be confident going into an exam is to not care about the outcome. It sounds impossible, I know. But if you tell yourself that no matter what the outcome of the exam you’ll come out alright, you’ll be infinitely more confident.</p>
<p>I have my first chemistry exam of the semester tonight. If you’ve read my other thread, I’ve been pretty worried about it. But today I’m as calm as can be. I’m going to study a bit, go to all my classes, and show up to take the exam telling myself that I’m just as prepared as anyone and everyone else even though that’s probably not true at all. This way I’m much more likely to think about the problems and do my best than I am to just give up and write “I don’t know” for all of the answers (which I’ve been known to do).</p>
<p>I have a bio exam this tuesday. I’m not flustered because I know I’ll study…and there is the weekend :). In fact I have a hugeee box of flash cards right next to me ready to roll as soon as I get my other homework done. Studying in a group might be kind of fun but I don’t really know any of the other kids in my bio class. </p>
<p>Sing a song about bio…do a little dance…whatever works :p. My plan of attack is to read/outline the rest of the chapters, flash cards, and “sketching” out what I know if given a word or something. I’ll take tons of breaks in between to do what other stuff I need to get done. </p>
<p>My study plan may fall through seeing as I haven’t studied for anything in the past two years of high school (lol). I need to practice haha. But I’m pumped…the adrenaline is starting to kick in and I’m feeling jolly =). </p>
<p>I may not feel this way when I get the results back though. :p</p>
<p>you said you have a good gpa and that you normally freak out before every test. well then just keep doing whatever you’re doing because obviously it’s helping you keep a good gpa.</p>
<p>I try to avoid test anxiety by front loading my studying and keeping up with work on a daily basis. I find that people get sick worrying about an upcoming midterm if they slacked off the first week or so and then try to make up work while new work is piling up. </p>
<p>If you are already receiving solid grades in your courses, just tell yourself you will get an A like last time because you put in the same amount of work as last time. Before the exam, don’t tell yourself what you don’t know, but what you do know. Often teachers only ask question on the main ideas of topics, not the nitpicky stuff that you don’t know, so you know a lot more than you think you do.</p>
<p>Another thing to do is to ask yourself about the worse case scenario. If you do bad will you get a B? C? D? Even in the scenario that you receive a D, you can always retake the class again. If you realize in your mind that the test is not that important, you will lose some of the test anxiety.</p>