Performance Tips For Test Taking Strategies

Test Taking Strategies

Studying intensely for an upcoming exam is only one part of what you need to succeed. It's good to develop your own personal game plan for getting through your test with skillful confidence. Here are 5 other important elements you can use to prime yourself for earning that high score.

Get Plenty Of Quality Sleep

Give yourself time to rest between study sessions. A scientific study done in 2016 revealed that not only does better sleep improve information retention, but that taking a nap in between large chunks of learning periods is even better. Making rest a priority also increases the likelihood that you'll be able to show up well ahead of the test bright and early.

Show Up Early

Showing up early will give you much-needed time to get in the correct mind frame for taking an exam. Rushing in at the last minute can leave you feeling frazzled and unprepared. It's easy to forget important pre-test items you may need such as notes and writing implements when you are too tired to stand up. The chance to eat a good breakfast before leaving home is another benefit to setting an early time of arrival.

Review the Test

Try reviewing the test before you start in order to get a good idea of what you're dealing with. Even though you may have taken prep tests during your study time, seeing the real thing in person can be overwhelming. Flip through the pages to get an idea of the questions asked and to arrange your thoughts; you may need to jot down quick notes and outlines on a piece of scrap paper to help you do this. Leave the hardest questions for last so you don't waste time you could have spent correctly answering many other questions. Quality is more important than quantity.

Weed Out Obvious Wrong Answers

Using the process of elimination for multiple-choice questions is an excellent strategy for when you need a little nudge toward the right answer. Take time to read the questions and answers slowly to make certain you understand what is written and what is required. Most tests using a multiple-choice format will feature several wrong answers that seem correct except for one or two words. Careful consideration of every word and part of each sentence in each answer will help you avoid jumping to a conclusion and choosing the wrong one.

Check Your Work

Though you should never rush, try to work at a moderate pace conducive to leaving time to check your work. Go back through each page, question by question, to make sure that none were answered incorrectly or accidentally skipped. Now is also the time to go back and answer the tougher questions, reviewing the quality of each one as you finish it.

With these test-taking tools under your belt, taking a high-stakes exam need never again feel like an insurmountable task. Keep these suggestions in your notes and refer to them repeatedly during the last days before your test.

Lets get started on preparing now for your certifacation exam by checking out our practice exams.