Conquering Test Day Nerves

By Kaitlin Hurtado on February 23, 2017

Tests in high school did nothing to prepare you for the stress storm that comes with midterms and finals in college. Whether you’re on a quarter or a semester system, you’re going to have to face all your exams head-on and be well prepared for them when doing so.

While test day nerves are inevitable, there are a few things you can do to help you when midterms and finals roll around.

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Take preventative measures: keep up with assignments and readings, and start your studying early.

You know how your professor stresses that you shouldn’t wait until the night before the exam to cram? Listen to them. It may be hard to consistently set aside time to study, but just as you would plan to spend time at lecture, set aside time for each course to avoid the excuse of not having enough time to study. Cut back on the amount of time you spend on Netflix, or taking unneeded naps, and instead use your extra time to be more efficient.

If you can’t find it in yourself to be consistent on setting time aside for studying, at least stay on track with assigned readings and class assignments so that when it is time to study, you can dedicate all your time to studying without worrying about making up missed assignments.

If you have been up-to-date with all of the course’s readings, you can use your time applying it to what was learned in class instead of seeing it for the first time and then trying to get something out of the readings.

Learn how and when to take a break. 

As unproductive as taking a break before a big test may sound, it may actually be effective in refreshing your state of mind for later studying, or the actual test. If you’re going to spend hours on end locked in a library study room looking at the same set of notes, you’ll most likely lose focus faster, zone out, or begin looking for distractions. When it comes time for finals week, I actually prefer going to my job just so I have a valid excuse not to study and to take my mind off of the content I should be studying.

Leave the books behind and try going for a run – exercising has been proven to help make studying more effective. While you’re not spending your time studying, you will still be productive by reaping the benefits of exercising and increasing your capacity to learn whatever you will be studying after.

If you are studying and your mind is more focused on how stressed you are than on the actual content you are supposed to be studying, it’s time to take a break. Study breaks do not necessarily need to be productive. 45-60 minute power naps can increase your memory five-fold, so even a break that you would think would be unproductive, will ultimately help you be more efficient in the long run.

If you are stressed out beyond the point of being able to settle down for a power nap, try other methods of temporary distraction, such as cooking, grabbing lunch with a friend, or an hour of Netflix.

Do not cram.

As previously mentioned, it’s always in your best interest to begin studying as early as possible. Nearly all college students have suffered the effects of cramming at one point or another in their college career. While you think last minute cramming will help you during the test, cramming will essentially put you at a disadvantage on test day.

Leaving your studying until last minute puts a time limit on your studying; if you begin studying the night before a morning exam, you will know that you only have hours to learn all the material you have yet to understand. The time stamp will just be another factor in the seemingly endless amount of stress that comes with preparing for a big test. Some may be motivated by the lack of time they have, but you also don’t want to limit your potential by a time stamp.

Knowing that your test is just days, or hours, away means that the limited time you do have should be dedicated to studying, and only to studying. With a looming deadline, the need for adequate sleep or meals will be pushed to the back of your mind, putting your health at jeopardy. By giving yourself no choice but to cram for an exam and stress over last minute studying, you’re at risk of becoming susceptible to disease. There isn’t a point in cramming for a test you can’t take if you get too sick to continue studying, or worse, not make it to take the exam.

An end note: it’s just one test.

When you know how much time you have invested into a class, and how much effort you’ve put into studying course content, you’ll be more confident come test day. You want to go into a test knowing that you did all you can to step into the exam with your best foot forward.

However, not all test preparations will go smoothly enough to send you into the exam fully confident in your ability to ace the exam. Instead of focusing on what you could have done, or beating yourself up about what you did and did not do, make a bad experience into a learning experience. Learn your lesson once to help you devise an efficient plan to conquer future tests.

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