So I’m going to be starting my senior year at Clemson next fall, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay. I don’t know what is wrong with me, but for some reason I cannot seem to get above a 70 on any test no matter what I do. I have tried every way of studying, I don’t study with my phone on, I don’t study where I can be distracted by friends, I go to class (even though it’s basically pointless because it obviously doesn’t help), I do my homework, I do extra study guides from previous years, I make my own study guides and practice tests, but no matter what I do or how long I study nothing seems to help. I have tried tutors but they don’t help because I always understand the information when I meet with them one on one, so I feel bad for wasting their time, but everything goes blank when the test is put in front of me. I was diagnosed with ADHD and severe test anxiety a year ago and thought that was the reason for my academic troubles but even with my medication I still can’t seem to get the right grades.
And it’s not like I am a stupid person either, if someone asked me how to explain a concept I’ve been learning- I can explain it to you from start to finish. But once the test questions are in front of me, I seem to forget everything. I don’t know what is wrong with me and way I can’t get the information out when it comes to test time.
Has this ever happened to any of you? If so, what did you do about it? I considered going and talking to my doctor again but I don’t see what else she can do besides prescribe me more medicine but I honestly don’t believe it will help anything… I don’t know what else to do
If you have been diagnosed with ADHD you may be eligible for a Section 504 Plan that would allow you to have testing accommodations. You might want to work with someone to help you figure out what types of testing accommodations might help you to cope better with your test anxiety before the plan is developed. Extra time for the test, oral testing, using relaxation strategies and other things can be tried to help you overcome this.
I suggest you also see your Dr to let her reevaluate the effectiveness of your medicine . There may be an alternative. Good luck.
Accommodations can include things like separate testing areas, longer times on tests, etc. You may need these. Contact Clemson’s accommodation office and find out what information they need to work on your accommodations. Start working on getting that information together now as some of it will have to come from your high school so you want to work on it before the high school staff is swamped with grading, graduation and then leaving for summer.
Don’t throw in the towel. Sounds like you may need accommodations and they really can help some students change the trajectory of their performance.
Someone I am close to was fine with written work, tests, essays, thesis, none of it a problem, but the final requirement to graduate was an oral exam, and for some reason whenever she was confronted with stern looking professors, she froze and her mind went blank. Because she had already flunked the exam twice and had only one more shot left to save her entire college career, she was prescribed Xanax for the one occasion. Surely being an emotional zombie was not a recipe for doing her best work, but at that point, she simply needed to be able to open her mouth and say enough in order to pass, and simply not caring at all about what was happening as opposed to being terrified enabled her to do that. Now that doctor explicitly called that Xanax an emergency prescription, not to be repeated, and for her, just as there would for you, there was no way round addressing her performance anxiety, but if there is a danger of flunking out before you are able to address it successfully, as an emergency measure, it might be out there for you.
You may have to write in a job as well, under pressure to perform.
All is not lost . . . you have made it this far.
If I were you I would spend this summer working with a really good professional (or two) to figure out how to better manage the situation. In my “mom” opinion it sounds like you get triggered into “freeze” mode by the testing context. “Freeze” is a reaction similar to flight or fight. Once your brain is triggered into that it takes time to talk it down from the emergency feeling. There are ways to work on this but it can take time. There are also drugs that can nip it in the bud (to be used sparingly and only under the advice of a professional, of course).
Have you talked to a dean or an administrator about taking a semester off from school, if necessary? If you can work on this it may help you in other areas of your life too.
Your education is there to serve you - not you, it. Perhaps part of your “education” is to learn how to deal with this very annoying problem. Probably not what you planned when you started at Clemson. Nevertheless, you will do yourself a huge favor if you can figure out what’s going on!
Wishing you the best. I’m feeling a “beat yourself up” tone in your post. Please don’t do that. You are an amazing person to make it to senior year at a good university with this problem lurking in the background. You are strong and worthy! Remember that.
Get help - it’s out there! If a professional doesn’t feel right to you, go to the next qualified one.
Thank you all so so much! Your replies are so appreciated you all have no idea. I’m going to contact my school’s academic disabilities center to try to have special testing accommodations and talk with my doctor again as well! Thank you all!!! <3