Deconstructing Mid-Term Exams

You have been reading and listening to lectures. You have a syllabus and a stack of books.

You can control this content. You are not its victim. You can conquer it, dissect it, and break it into its component parts.

Before you get to that chair and blue book on exam day, you can lower your anxiety by outsmarting your test. But how? By remembering the following:

1. What did the syllabus say about the focus of this test? Is it your lectures? Readings? All of it? Some of it? Essay? Objective?
2. What did the professor say about the test? Pay close attention to this. Did you receive a study guide? Use it.
3. Create a study guide as you read. Your book may have a table of contents that makes a great start to an outline. Your syllabus may give you an outline in the form of your weekly lectures.
4. Don't forget details. Include 2-3 descriptors for each name, date, or main point. You will use them in your answers on the test.
5. Once you are in the chair, staring at the test, READ THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY AND DO EXACTLY WHAT THEY SAY. I put that in caps because it is the most important.
6. Make a plan. Include the time you will devote to each question, which you will do first (start with the "easiest") and quick notes on what you remember about each question.

Take the test apart, in order to properly put it back together. Get a good night's sleep, and go in with confidence.