I had a college friend in the 1960's who was a master
test-taker. He would score 99 on any machine-graded exam
that he took. But he was not that good a student. I asked
him once what he wanted to do after he finished school. I
shall never forget his reply: "I'm looking for a job that
will pay me to take exams." That made sense!
I have also known very smart people who never do well
on written tests.
What about you? How good a test-taker are you? If
you usually get high grades, you are probably smart. If
you don't get high grades, you may be smart. Or you may
not be very smart. But if you have read this far, you're
probably smart. Even if you're not, you're hard-working
enough to get higher grades on tests if you will follow my
instructions.
When the professor hands you the test, and you read the
first essay question, don't panic. If you're going to
flunk it, flunk it with style.
I once gave a make-up exam to a college student. Half
way through the exam, in panic, she handed it in. "I just
can't do this." I told her that she had another half hour,
so go back and write something. "Write anything that's
accurate, and you'll probably get a D, which is a passing
grade." She took my advice. She got a C+. That's a whole
lot better than an F.
Never forget, there are people in the room who aren't
so smart as you are, who are even more behind in their
reading, who didn't crack a book, and who are going through
a break-up with a boy-friend. These people will pick up
all of the F's and most of the D's.
To get a B, all you have to do is beat the C students.
To get an A takes some doing. Forget about it . . .
for this semester, anyway.
In other words, stop worrying about an F or a D. Stop
worrying also about not getting an A. The field has now
narrowed: beating the C crowd.
How many people in the C crowd signed up for my study
course? Of those who did, how many are still reading it?
If you become an A student, don't worry. You may think that
someone in 20 years -- or 5 years -- is going to care
whether you got an A or a B. You're wrong. Only you will
care -- maybe. You may imagine that some B+ student is on
your tail ready to shoot you out of the sky. You have
forgotten the obvious: the B+ student is worrying about the
B- student who is trying to shoot him out of the sky. So,
you will do just fine merely by showing up.
Be calm. Be cool. And be collected.
If you want to remain calm, prepare for the exam. This sounds obvious. It is obvious. But do you do this every time? Probably not.If you knew in advance what your weak points are, you would be better off. That's because you could get help in advance. But most people are so fearful about finding out their weak points that they refuse to do a personal inventory. They prefer to pretend that they won't get caught. This is foolish, but it's nearly universal.
That's why there are books on passing the SAT and ACT exams. These books usually include several practice exams. You can take them at home as if you were taking the real exam. If you take all of them -- hardly anyone does this -- you will get to the point where nothing in the procedure is new to you. You can then spend 99% of your time solving the tests questions. That's the whole point.
In short, get efficient early. Ask the right questions about exam-taking. Get correct answers.
That's another reason to join this Web site. Get the preparation you need before you need it.
https://www.garynorth.com/public/5.cfm ______________________________________________________
TRUE/FALSE TESTS
These are common for quizzes. They sometimes appear
as part of a longer exam. But if this is the only kind of
exam you ever get, you're being cheated. A T/F exam is too
limited to reveal much about what you know or don't know.
Let us begin with some basics.
If the answer sheet is separate from the question
sheet, meaning it's a machine-graded exam, the most
important rule is this: be sure that your answers are in
the correct box on the card. If you get these out of
order, you will fail the exam. Check two or three
questions and answers after you're finished. Make sure
they match. Allocate time for this final check.
Go through the exam fast, answering every question
you're sure about. Skip any questions that stump you.
Come back to them later. Go as fast as you can in the
first run-through.
Monitor your time. Know how much time you can devote
to any question. Look at the clock after your first run-
through. Then look again after every question you answer
when you come back to the tough ones.
Read each question carefully. There are probably more
trick questions in T/F exams than on any other kind of
exam. If your teacher has asked trick questions before,
pay attention to the wording of the questions.
If you see the word "always" or "never" in the
question, the answer is probably False. If you have to
guess, guess False.
If you must guess, go with your instinctive answer
when you first read the question. Don't second-guess
yourself.
Don't leave any blanks. Guess.
MULTIPLE-CHOICE TESTS
We used to call these "multiple guess." These are
more complex than T/F exams. They usually deal with
objective facts: dates, sizes, names.
Here are the basics. They will sound familiar.
If the answer sheet is separate from the question
sheet, meaning it's a machine-graded exam, the most
important rule is this: be sure that your answers are in
the correct box on the card. If you get these out of
order, you will fail the exam. Check two or three
questions and answers after you're finished. Make sure
they match. Allocate time for this final check.
Go through the exam fast, answering every question
you're sure about. Skip any questions that stump you.
Come back to them later. Go as fast as you can in the
first run-through.
Monitor your time. Know how much time you can devote
to any question. Look at the clock after your first run-
through. Then look again after every question you answer
when you come back to the tough ones.
If you must guess, go with your instinctive answer
when you first read the question. Don't second-guess
yourself.
But you already knew this.
On any question where you're not sure, mentally
eliminate the obvious wrong answers. Then choose one.
Mark it lightly, so that you can come back in the last 60
seconds and either change it or darken it. A light mark
indicates "not sure."
ESSAY EXAMS
These are more difficult to grade. They are also more
difficult to answer well. A T/F or multiple-choice exam is
objective. A written exam involves rhetoric and style. A
superior writer has an advantage over the competition, even
if the competitors know the material just as well.
Get used to it. Or learn how to write.
Here are the basics of taking an essay exam.
Step one: time is of the essence. How heavily is the
written part weighted in the overall exam? What
percentage? You had better know in advance. Then you must
allocate this percentage of exam time to this portion of
the exam. (Who says fractions and percentages aren't
important?)
You can't write much. There isn't time. On a sheet
of paper, write down three or four important facts about
the question. "What are important facts?" you ask. The
ones you remember. You won't remember more than three or
four. What if you don't remember the really important
facts? Then you had better be a terrific writer, so you
can fake it with style.
Unless you are really skilled in this class -- an A
student -- don't start writing the first thing that pops
into your head. If you do, you will fill up space with
unorganized thoughts. This is what college professors call
"dumping." The student dumps everything he knows into one
unorganized paragraph. It's better to have three short
paragraphs, well organized, than one long mess.
After you jot down the few facts that you remember,
using a separate sheet, re-organize them in the order that
you think is most important for the essay. If it's a
history exam, use chronology. If it's a government exam,
use whatever categories of government that seem to apply:
branches of government, comparative power of governments,
or size of the budget. Or use chronology. If it's an
English exam, try to say something about the characters:
interaction, development, believability. As to such things
as "genre," "imagery," and "texture," you're on your own.
Then, looking at your very simple outline, divide the
facts into three broad categories, if possible. These will
be your paragraphs. Then start writing sentences. Try to
write at least three sentences per paragraph. Write one
paragraph per separate category on your outline sheet.
I don't know how your mind works under pressure. I
would recommend dividing your time per essay question into
one-half thinking, jotting, and organizing, one-half
writing. If you are working from a coherent structure,
your essay will come easily enough. In fact, you may go
overboard. Things will pop into your head as you write.
Resist the temptation to write down the new things until
you are finished with the basics. You can always add a
paragraph: "On the other hand...." "It could also be
argued...." "There is another factor...." Don't write:
"Hey, I just thought of something else."
Then close the essay with a brief summation. Wrap up
what you have written in two or three sentences. Leave at
least two minutes for this final addition, if
possible.
CLEAR HANDWRITING
If your teaching assistant can't read your handwriting, you're in trouble. Don't create a bad impression here.
Find a pen that lets you write as clearly as you can. This probably is not a ball point pen. Ball point pens are dirt cheap, but they don't offer the on-paper resistance that a good pen offers, especially a fountain pen.
Maybe you are allowed to use a pencil. Check with your instructor in advance. I prefer a #2 lead pencil. A pencil lets you erase a lot easier. This may take pressure off you. But don't be tempted to erase whenever you can just draw a line through a mistake. Erasing takes more time. Save time.
SUMMARY
Time-management is essential. Be
sure you spend your first two minutes allocating
your time in terms of the percentage given to
each section of the test. Keep looking at the clock. Don't spend too much
time on any one section, and surely not on a low-
weighted section. When a section's time is up,
move on.
Read the questions carefully.
Make sure the answers correspond to the questions
when there is a separate answer sheet.
Go through the objective parts of the exam as
fast as you can. Then come back to think more
carefully about the questions that stumped you.
When guessing, go with your first answer.
Don't write an essay before you think.
Don't write an essay until you have a short
outline.
ASSIGNMENT
Lecture to the wall concerning time management for essay exams.
If you want to make more money, keep more of
your money, and enjoy your money more, subscribe to my free Tip of the Week. The
subscription box is here: www.garynorth.com.
© 2005-2008 GaryNorth.Com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.