Tips for testing: not just for midterms and finals

BY HAELEY CARPENTER / Multimedia Journalist 

Midterms, finals, pop quizzes; everyone has to take exams in college. For some people, taking tests is no problem and for others it can be a nightmare.

Here are some of the best tips and tricks that have helped Tarleton students. Some of these tips also helped students land on the Tarleton Scholastic Honors Dean’s or President’s List.

Take your time and read carefully

Oftentimes, students want to get the test over with so they will rush through it. This causes mistakes. 

Take the time to dissect each question and answer choice. Think them through and argue each answer choice and why it could be the right one. 

Dr. Christi Horton, a communications professor, said her best tip for students is to cover up the answer choices at first and try to answer the question without them. Then reveal the first answer choice and decide if it could be the answer or not. Do this with every answer individually.

Skip what you don’t know and come back to it 

It’s okay to not know the answer the first time you read it. 

By reading the other questions and answering them, it can help jog your memory and get context clues for the ones that you don’t know. 

Go over everything one more time 

When you are done, double and triple check that each question is answered and that you’ve answered them to the best of your ability. 

Also go over your bubble sheet if there is one. There’s nothing worse than getting a bad grade because you misbubbled your answers. 

Show as much knowledge as you can 

On essay style or short answer questions, write as much as you know. This will help prove that, even though you may not know the specific question that it’s asking, you are still knowledgeable about the general topic. 

Be prepared

Knowing the material is the best thing for a test. 

Go to office hours, ask your professor for help, study with friends, make flashcards and go to SI sessions. 

Valerie Argumaniz is a junior who has earned her place on Tarleton’s Scholastic Honors President lists the past two semesters.

“Take advantage of Quizlet,” Argumaniz said. “Use the feature that simulates a test to get used to studying in a different way and get you thinking about how the questions may be asked on the exam.”

Use your time leading up to the exam to study the material.

“Break your study sessions down into increments rather than trying to study it all in one sitting” Horton said. 

Be confident 

Trust that you have done what you can to get the best grade you can. If you start to doubt every decision you make then you are undoing all of your hard work. 

“When you feel prepared then that just gives you less of a chance to second guess what you know,” Horton said. 

Tests are unfortunate and unavoidable but everyone has to take them at some point in their classes. All tests are going to be different but try these tips and make test taking a little more bearable.