Hey guys, I’m on the edge right now. I know I’m a smart kid, and I try my best in school, but I just can’t get good grades. My rank is 101/467 and that is not bad at all, but its going to drop soon. Right now I’m a sophomore in high school, and I just can’t do well on tests. I’ve tried /everything/ and still nothing. Hell, I’ve tried blessing objects XD but that didn’t work. I think my rank is going to drop this semester and I don’t know what to do. Can anyone please help me??
what worked for me might not work for you… having said that, taking tests well is a combination of a few things:
- comprehending the subject matter behind the test question
- interpreting the actual question properly
- recognizing question types and categories
- time management
- calmness and confidence
- revision
for 1, i made it my mission to be ahead of class in doing textbook questions myself. so while the class was still on say chapter 5, i was on 6 at home. whatever flaws i had in my self taught understanding of the subject were cleared up by class participation for chapter 5 as it was as though i was revisiting the subject matter with the teacher and peers. most kids keep playing catch up. try being ahead - not as hard as it sounds - and extremely empowering
for 2, whenever you see a test question, read it carefully, quickly jot down 2-3 short bullet points in scratch on what is the way to answer the question. helps to clear your mind and keep you on track
for 3, practice as many textbook and previous test questions as you can get your hands on. you will recognize question types subconsciously and start answering them without hesitation in many cases
for 4, there are multiple tricks:
a. say, if there are 25 questions and you have 2 hours, firstly assume you need 15% of the time (at the end) to revisit your answers and earmark 18 minutes for that. then of the remaining time, you need to calculate how much to devote per question. assume most questions are equally hard and some a bit harder. In order to calculate appropriate time/question this is what you do. so you have 260(1-15%)/25 = approx 4 minutes per question so give yourself 75% of the time allocated scientifically for each easy question or 3 min per question, If there are 20 easy questions and 5 tough ones, that will give you 8 min per tough one. There are many variations to this but you have to think about time per question as soon as you see number of questions in the test.
b. i cant stress this enough - if you get stuck on a question and by that i mean you are going nowhere in 50% of the allocated time for that question, abandon it midway and move on to the next. come back to it later - sometimes your mind needs a break. it is really dangerous to get stuck on 1 question for too long. plays havoc with your self-confidence in attempting other questions besides leaving too little time for them and to be honest sometimes when you re-attempt a few straggling questions after completing the rest of the test you will not be so flustered.
c. when you do come back to a question, revisit it carefully after re-reading the question. there is a reason you did not get it the first time. maybe you misinterpreted it. think carefully.
d. challenge yourself - make it a mission to complete the test well before the allocated time. if you see yourself winning (as in you realize you are on track to finish the test fast), the adrenaline will flow and make it happen for sure. this will help you solve the tough questions more easily too.
for 5, drink small sips of water during the test, (not before it) and look outside to see the trees for 4-5 seconds after every question to calm yourself then attack the next question. be confident, a test does not define you and everything they throw at you is for you to conquer. try for a low heart rate but high mental energy. people take odd supplements these days for concentration - i can not recommend any of those. in my case, just a very good breakfast, a proper night of sleep before the test and chatting about everything else prior to the test but for the test with your my buddies helped.
6… self evident - if you look through all your answers at the end you will always find a mistake or 2. But be careful - do not second guess yourself too much - you will find a couple of errors not 20 - don’t second guess everything, just take a look at the paper as though you are grading some other kid’s paper.
hope that helps. i am a generation older than you and was a notorious slacker but was extraordinarily good at taking tests.
Thank you so much, your advice really has made a difference in my test-taking. I’m happy to let you know that my rank didn’t drop, in fact it went up! I’m doing much better in school now because of your advice, so again, thank you.