College Exam Tips

Learning how to score high on a college exam is an important skill to master for all college students. The common practice for most students is to try to 'cram' as much information into their mind as possible the day before the exam itself. This often leads to poor performance on the exam. Yet there are ways to increase your performance on college level tests. Mastering Multiple Choice Exams This type of exam is usually given on a weekly basis by the instructor to gauge the retention rate of the course information by students. To score high on these types of exams, a student has to know the right terms or "buzz words,” and important concepts covered in the book along with daily lectures by the instructor. By knowing the highlights of the week's instruction, a student can more easily eliminate the wrong answers in multiple choice tests and then choose the most relevant answer from the remaining choices. It is important to attend every class. Instructors require certain books for reading, yet they usually have their tests made up in advance. The tests are based on the concepts covered in the book, but the specific multiple-choice questions are usually taken from the instructor's lectures. This is something most students don't pay attention to. They think that if they read the book assigned by the instructor, they can pass the test easily. The truth is that the answers to most test questions are covered in the lectures. Exams may focus on concepts from the book and lessons by the instructor. Be sure to ask your instructor politely about what material they will expect you to know during the course. Most instructors will be glad to discuss this with you. Most weekly exams are predictable to a certain degree. Instructors usually give the same type of tests on a weekly basis to save them time. Pay close attention to the instructor's test format. You will be able to increase your accuracy each week by simply repeating the study habits that produced favorable results for you in the previous weeks. If a question seems to pose a problem, simply 'mark' the question and return to it after you have answered all the other questions. This will give you more time to think about the answer to this question later. Remain calm and collected. Use all the time allotted for the test. By answering all the questions that you know first, you can go back and complete the other questions with more certainty. Sometimes the answer to one question will lead to an obvious answer to another because they are related. The best way to approach your success in college is to read all required materials, make certain you attend class every day, and keep copies of your returned tests if possible so you can refer back to your previous mistakes. Sometimes a prior question will show up on a mid-term or final exam. The best review for a final exam often comes from previous multiple-choice exams.