My recent exam was challenging, though I slew worse dragons in my time. The questions varied in difficulty. Some were easy, but others were ferocious, fire-breathing monsters. I had feared that being out of practice for so long would tell against me, but my old skills are undiminished. I scored in the ninety-ninth percentile. It was a pleasant surprise.
Over the years, I have developed an effective strategy concerning tests. I will share as much as I can here. I will begin with general recommendations and then proceed to specific studying and test-taking skills.
An interest in how things work--the how and why--helps enormously in every aspect of life. Without intellectual curiosity, one would be at a severe disadvantage regardless of occupation. Above all else, be humble. Not knowing something is no reason for shame, but represents an opportunity instead. I respect those who know something I do not, and like them even better if they are willing to share their knowledge with me. Those who are unwilling to share knowledge are like misers. They may lack a certain sense of social responsibility. I have known senior computer programmers who horded their secrets, out of concern for job security. I was a senior computer programmer as well, and I shared my secrets with anyone who asked, because my confidence was based upon my competence, not my knowledge. Knowledge is for sharing, not hording. But some view the workplace in a Darwinian light, rather than a team where cooperation can be of mutual benefit.
A student will face many tests in school and they will determine his success or failure. It is important to use an effective strategy for studying and for test-taking. Here is mine. Make of it what you will. I approach an important test with the utmost gravity, like an upcoming battle where I am the general. I accept implicitly that the test is fair and the professor, teacher or testing organization is fair. Usually, in my experience, they are. All accountability is mine alone. The buck stops here. The possibilities are life (pass) or death (fail). Either alternative lies within my grasp. If I feel like I cannot pass an exam, then I avoid it. A wise general chooses his battles. War is serious business. Never wage war unprepared. Defeat demoralizes. Success invigorates and leads to future success. When necessary, retreat. When prepared, engage.
The more time you have to prepare, the better. If the test-giver permits the option of postponing a test, and if you feel like you need more time to prepare, then take advantage of the offer. Never be in a hurry to get the test over with. Failing to make the necessary score is a tactical defeat, which is bad for the morale of your troops.
There is no getting around studying, which consists of memorization and practice. The higher the quality of your studying material, the better. In my case, I had an adequate study guide, not the best, but adequate. I focused upon my weak areas and crammed. Memorization is absolutely required in order to pass the vast majority of tests. I read important passages over and over, day after day, until I knew what they said without reading them, which is the final goal. If you can place your hand over a page, and without looking at it, recite the relevant facts, then and only then have you learned. If you examine the page and discover you missed a few details, focus upon those details until they, too, are mastered.
There is a balancing act involved with studying. Don't overdo it, or you may risk burnout. One reaches a certain point of saturation, after which one encounters the point of diminishing returns. The brain requires a break. Ideally, the break involves a catnap. In sleep, the mind processes the information which has been absorbed during the day. Irrelevant information is discarded, while important facts, like what you are studying, are assimilated. For this reason, you must attach grave importance to the study material, and possess a keen desire to have it inside your mind. The desire is half the battle.
I call the desire to succeed the will to power. "The will to power will overpower" can even be expressed as a formula: will^power (will / power). Some employ this philosophy to improper ends, such as domination over others. The proper end is competence and performance. The idea is to perform to the utmost, not to be a cutthroat. Right-wingers see things differently, with their enthusiasm for social Darwinism.
Give yourself moderate rewards for studying, such as video games or favorite foods, but avoid all inebriating substances. Strict sobriety is my rule, at least while preparing for a test. Exercise relieves stress in an effective manner. Walking is best to stimulate circulation, which feeds the brain, but I like to do push-ups as well.
Good nutrition (in particular, all of the B vitamins--I love Marmite) assists brain functioning. Eat well and often. Never allow hunger or any other discomfort to interfere with studying. In fact, nothing must interfere with studying, not even the social demands of friends. Prior to a test, one should enter monastic mode. Social engagements serve as a distraction. Your focus must remain upon crunching logic and memorizing vast amounts of data. Friends can wait. You will obtain better friends as a successful test-taker than as a failure. Besides, real friends will respect your dedication and discipline in making sacrifices in order to perform well. Those friends who do not understand the necessity are unworthy.
In the week prior to the test, all decisions should be evaluated in light of whether they will help or hinder test performance. Get adequate sleep. If the test begins at 8:00 AM, then in the week prior, wake up by 6 AM every morning, and perform timed practice tests at 8:00 AM. It is crucial to be fully awake, alert and in optimum physical condition the moment the test begins.
A moderate level of caffeine--say, a cup of tea--is all right, but too much will hinder test performance. If you are addicted to caffeine, you had better take your usual dose in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
Leave nothing to chance. If #2 pencils are required, bring five, already sharpened and ready to work. Research everything that will be necessary for the test: photo identification, money, or extra layers of clothing (if the test room is cold). Is there any danger of a traffic jam delaying your arrival to the test center? Give yourself plenty of time to arrive. If you get there too early, you can always remain in the car napping. That's right, napping. In the moments just prior to a test, napping is a better option than studying, because stamina is crucial, particularly for a lengthy test. If you spend too much time studying right before a test, your brain is likely to suffer fatigue, leading to careless mistakes. I have taken tests that last many hours, and stamina is important on such tests. Time pressure results in careless mistakes, if your energy levels are low.
The goal of a test-maker is to deceive the test-taker by placing choices on the test that will exploit a test-taker's uncertainty and gullibility. You must accept that the test-maker is a great liar. He is not your friend, but your enemy. He places choices on the test that seem appealing, but are false. You will defeat him for several reasons. First, your studying has prepared you. Second, you are confident, because you have studied, and you know that you know the answers. Third, you hold the test-maker in contempt. Why? Because it is very difficult, if not impossible to deceive you. You have practiced so many times on different practice tests that you have grown wise in the ways of the test-makers.
In cases where you know the answer, make your choice, and then double-check it to make sure that no other choice fits. Sometimes, there is a certain degree of correctness among two answers; one may seem to fit the context of a question, but the other really does fit in every way. After you have double-checked, move on. I am not in favor of double-checking at the end of a section, because the questions are cold by that time. I like to complete a question for good while it is warm and fresh in the mind. I don't like to go back and double-guess. That is a bad habit to get into, because first hunches are more often correct.
In cases where you do not know the answer, eliminate as many choices as possible, and then guess from among the remaining choices. If you can narrow down the selection to two choices, then you have a fifty per cent chance of choosing right. Here again, make your choice, double-check it, and move on.
Even where you feel uncertain, a vestige of factual information may exist somewhere in the memory--maybe from many years ago, maybe from a television show you saw when you were a child. In such a case, the brain selects the right answer immediately. You may feel doubt over whether you are right. But something in your gut seems to favor one answer. Go with it. Trust your instinct. Your memories may not be very strong, leading to doubt and confusion. You may feel tempted to second-guess yourself. Don't. Always favor your initial hunch unless you have a powerful reason to believe it was mistaken. You may smell a trap placed there by the test-maker. One of the choices may sound similar to something you have heard or seen before, but upon reflection, you understand it is actually quite different. In that case, avoid it.
Beware of wasting time, especially on the math questions. Take shortcuts. Rather than working out a problem in its entirety, I often guesstimate the correct answer. I may say, "oh, that should result in an amount of about so-and-so." Then I survey the choices. If there is a choice that approximates my estimation, and if the other choices are far from it, then there is no need for me to do anymore work. I make my choice and move on. Much time and energy can be saved this way. Conserve your resources for the really difficult problems, where the choices are too close to permit estimation. Work smarter, not harder. In this way, you are at less risk of running out of time.
Always answer every question. Leave nothing blank. Don't be demoralized by difficult questions, because it is likely that other people will have difficulty with them as well. You do not need to make a perfect score. You only have to do better than a certain percentage of the others. My perfectionist tendency led me to conclude that I had bombed the exam, because some of the questions were extremely challenging. Some of the material had not been covered at all in my study guide. On some questions, I was guessing without the benefit of eliminating any of the answers. Even so, I scored very high, because scores are computed relative to others, not relative to perfection.
It is good to have adrenaline flowing during a test. Some people complain of test anxiety. You should want to have anxiety. Don't fight it. Own it. You should be nervous. If you aren't, then you may not be viewing the test with sufficient respect and seriousness. Nervousness is always good, when engaging in high intensity intellectual competition. Serenity is for later, when you pass the test with flying colors. Remember: it is war. You must prevail.
Adrenaline helps with speed, accuracy, alertness, and general energy levels. However, adrenaline brings with it certain disadvantages. A calmer state is better for tackling complicated math problems. If you have learned to be efficient at test-taking, you will conserve time and energy for the tough problems and breeze past the easy ones. You must be able to slow down, think things through, and be calm and patient with the more difficult problems. Use the extra energy wisely. Don't allow all the energy to lead you into hasty and incorrect decisions.
Sometimes it is possible to take breaks during a long exam. During the test, once the brain is primed and the adrenaline is flowing, my advice is to just go straight through with a minimum of breaks. There is a real danger of fatigue from adrenaline, if the test-taking is prolonged by frequent interruptions. A break should be taken only to use the bathroom or get water or caffeine.
Those are some of the habits I have picked up over the years that have proven beneficial. The main thing is to be focused upon success. Different people may have different opinions about what works for them. But all have one thing in common, a focus upon the final result. Smaller details, such as recreation, relaxation, or socialization, must be held subservient to the overriding imperative, to do well at school.
I have not known many people to succeed who are not willing to study. But studying should not be unpleasant. If it is, then something is wrong. Studying is most efficient if it is approached with a positive attitude. Approach it as a game, a challenge, a contest. Let it be less like work and more like play.
Now I will not argue with anyone over the observation that memorization is less important than creativity, ethics, empathy, and other important traits. But memorization remains important. The ability to absorb vast amounts of facts assists in every profession under the sun. Even a prostitute will benefit from a good memory. Making good decisions requires factual information. Without facts, people rely upon prejudice and whim and are often wrong. Many mental abilities can be cultivated and enhanced through exercise, and studying is excellent exercise. Without exercise, the intellectual faculties decay. The brain fossilizes, which is a sad fate for a human being.
The anxiety and nervousness generated by a test are detrimental and unpleasant feelings, but this is intended. A test measures how well you cope with such negative feelings, giving an indication of how well you will perform when you assume the heavy responsibilities of a real job. School is a cakewalk compared to the work environment, where millions of dollars or even a human life may be at stake. A test sorts out who can cope best with such stress. Tests may seem unfair, because they are unpleasant, but what is a fair measurement of student competence? No better system has been devised to my knowledge. Tests are fair enough, as long as everyone is given a test of similar complexity and permitted adequate time and study materials to prepare.
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