Taking your First Exam

Taking your first exam can be a stressful thing for a freshman college student. College exams are much more difficult than those in highschool because highschool teachers help you prepare by giving your detailed notes and study guides, as well as daily classes. College professors, on the other hand, expect you to learn a lot on your own through reading and taking your own notes. However, there are a couple things that can do to help you to study and prepare for your first college exam.
First of all DON’T procrastinate; this can be the worst thing a college student can do because often times there is just too much information to cram the night before. It’s important to spread out the study material for at least a week or two. This way you can study small amounts each day, which will make the material easier to remember. Each day you study new material you should go back and look over the things you studied the previous day.
Another tip is get help from your TA, professor, or tutor if you need it. If you do not understand what you are trying to memorize, it will do you no good. So use your resources and make sure you understand everything. It’s also important to take good notes in class. If your professor is writing something out or has it on a power point it means they want you to remember it. Pay special attention to things highlighted or underlined because this information will most likely appear on the exam.
An easy way to help you remember things is to make note cards. This can sometimes be time consuming but they are a really good way to test yourself. You can also save these note cards and use them to study for finals. Some professors give you access to old exams from previous years, these can be extremely beneficial because you will find out what kinds of questions the test will ask and will help you figure out what you need to study.
It’s also important to be prepared the day you take the test. In the article “ Tips for Test Taking” it stresses the importantance of arriving early, being comfortable, and staying relaxed. It’s important to arrive early so your not stressed about being late and you won’t miss attendence. Also make sure you have everything you need to take the test, as staying comfortable and relaxed can help you stay calm during exams. It is really easy to feel anxious but try to stay calm because this will help your memory and ability to think through the questions. The article also talks about answering the easy questions first, this will allow you more time to think on the more difficult questions.
If you follow all these guidelines you should do great on your first exams. Just remember to study properly, get there on time, and to stay calm. Your will start to develop a rhythm for test taking and each exam will become easier. So, good luck and happy test taking.