Preparing for Your Test

Everybody prepares differently for tests, but here is some advice that we give to our students:THIS IS THE POST VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION

• Know the test location. If possible, visit the test site a few days before you are scheduled to write your test. Knowing the test site will lower your anxiety on the day of your test.

• Don’t study the day of the test. Last-minute studying usually makes people more nervous, and it sometimes confuses them. You need to be very well prepared by the time you show up to the test centre.

• An extra bit of sugar sometimes helps. Your brain required glucose to work. Putting a little bit of extra sugar in your coffee can provide you with a bit of a boost of mental energy. DON’T add too much! Too much sugar may make you jittery, and you may find it hard to concentrate. Also, eating sugar will not put information into your brain; you still need to study!

• Plan to arrive early. Plan to arrive at least 30 minutes before you are scheduled to write your test. You want to be rested, calm, and relaxed when they call you into the test room. Running into the test centre at the last minute will surely make you anxious.

• Ignore the people around you. There will be a lot of other people there when you get to the test writing centre. Many of them will be nervous, and might be in a bad mood. Don’t worry about them. You are calm and relaxed because you know that you have prepared well for the test. The test will not start until everybody is ready, so there in no need to hurry or push to get in the room. Let other people rush in. You can relax at the back of the line.

• Listen carefully to the test supervisor. You don’t want to miss any important information. Today, all information is important, so listen carefully.

• Before you begin, take a deep breath. Yes, this is an important test, but if you fail, there are other alternatives. No matter what happens, the sun will rise tomorrow.

• Preview the test. Before you begin writing the test, look over the questions. If you find a few questions that look challenging, you can be thinking about those questions as you do the rest of the test.

• Take your time. There are no prizes for finishing first, and 30 minutes really is a very long time for 20 multiple choice questions.

• Don’t be distracted by others. Some people talk to themselves when they’re nervous. Some people tap their desk. Some people click their pencils. Do your best to put those distractions out of your mind and concentrate on the work you have to do.

• Keep your eyes on your own paper. Whatever you do, even if you’re finished your test, don’t look at anybody else’s paper, even for a second.

• Don’t talk. At all. If you were giving a test, and you heard people speaking a language that you couldn’t understand, what would you think they were saying? Don’t give the people supervising the test any reason to think that you might be cheating.

• Nobody is trying to trick you. There is no secret system. Many students look for tricks or traps when they write tests. There aren’t any, so don’t look for them. Just read the question, be sure you understand it, and answer it. Trust us, there is no benefit to using a strategy like “If you don’t know, always guess C“. Tests just aren’t made that way.

• Remember that each question is worth one point. If you come to a question that you don’t know, or that you want to think about, don’t get too worried about it. Either make your best guess, or leave it for later, and move on. Whatever you do, don’t waste time thinking too long about one question.

• Make sure you answer in the right place. If you leave a question blank (without answering) make sure that you answer the next question in the right place. For example, if you skip over number 8, make sure that you answer number 9 in the right spot on your page; don’t put your answer for number 9 in the spot for number 8!

• Be a smart guesser. Sometimes, people get a question that they just don’t know the answer to. Even if you don’t know the answer, you can help yourself by figuring out which answers are wrong. If you can see that answers A and B are wrong, then you know that the right answer must be C or D. You’re still guessing, but if you’re only guessing between A and B, you have a 50/50 chance of guessing right, rather than a 25% chance, which is what you would have if you didn’t eliminate the wrong answer(s).

• Guessing is better than nothing. Even if you have no idea what the answer is, make a guess. NEVER leave a question blank. If you guess, you might get it right. If you leave it blank, you’re guaranteed to get it wrong.

• Don’t leave any questions blank. If you skipped over a question, be sure that you go back and answer that question later.

• Don’t change your answers unless you have a very good reason. Your first feeling is almost always the right answer. When people review their tests, they sometimes think too much about a question, and then change their answer. Don’t change your answer unless you have a very good reason, and you’re sure you’ve made a mistake. For example, if you re-read the question, and realize that you missed the word “not” the first time, then you should change your answer. Unless you realize you’ve made a mistake like this, your first answer is almost always the best choice. (Remember, we are teachers; we have seen people make this mistake again and again!)

• Before you hand your test in, check again to make sure you have answered every question. Check to make sure you have an answer beside every question.

Be calm, confident, and relaxed. You’ll be fine.