How do you ace tests?

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I might fail nursing school. I am failing one class so far with a 78%. To pass, you need an 84%. Does anyone have suggestions on how to ace tests? I almost always arrive at the correct solution via logic but then change my answer due to neurotic thought patterns. Should I write on the top of the paper "Do not doubt your logic" as well as "Use ABCs" and other things I must do for the tests? How do I make sure I no longer doubt my own thought process? I need a 90 percent or above on the next exams. I'm finally getting how these tests are set up halfway through the first semester. I was sadly caught off guard and it took far too long to adjust.

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We've taken 3 tests so far. 1st one I got an 88, the 2nd I got a 90 and the 3rd, the grades aren't up yet. I honestly don't know how I'm doing so good and I wasn't expecting this. The tests are so hard and I always walk out and think I failed it big time....although this 3rd test was tough, I wouldn't be surprised if I did. Anyway... I read the chapters twice and do the pre and post tests on the website we have to study from. Good luck!

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Make flashcards of as much info as you can and diligently use them. That is one trick that I read works for some people.

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Thanks for the advice. Have any advice to stop myself from changing the answers I get correctly through use of logic? Should I think of every question as a patient and remind myself that if I don't take the logical (not intuitive) answer, he or she won't make it?

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Specializes in LTC.

take the eraser off your pencil if you can, on my midterm I changed answers for the first time and got 5 wrong! I ended up with an 85 and should have had a 92. A few people in my class do not have an eraser on thier desk during the test, so they have to go up front amd get one, its worked for them. Good luck!

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

I had an instructor who, for the first test, came around and "removed" the erasers from our pencils. She was that emphatic about us not changing our answers! You could do what a girl in my class does - doesn't work, studies almost 24-7, and gets up at 2:30am on test days (our class starts at 1pm) to study some more. I believe she's gotten an A on all 3 tests we've taken.

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Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

IME, at least, more studying doesn't necessarily translate into a better grade on the test. I think that in nursing school, especially, test taking skills count for more than knowledge. I mean, I do study a LOT for nursing tests, but the questions I get wrong rarely come down to lack of knowledge--it has to do with not reading or interpreting the question correctly.

Take the time to really think through the question, and read each answer choice carefully. I can't tell you how many times I got questions wrong because I missed out one crucial word in a question or word choice. Also, if two answer chioces sound similar to each other, you can eliminate them both and choose the one that's opposite to them.

Good luck!

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Specializes in Emergency Room.

An NCLEX book like Saunders covers the material and offers review questions with rationale. I think that's your best bed. Practice the questions, review the material in Saunders and look over the chart/tables in your own book. Good luck

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Specializes in Home Care.

When I write nursing exams heres what I do:

Read the question, underline the key words in the question and understand what the question is asking of you.

Read the answers, eliminate the obviously incorrect answers.

read the key words you've underlined again and look at your last 2 available answers, pick the one that most pertains to the key words.

Do not change your answer!!!

Take your time!!

I was an A student in school.

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DO NOT CHANGE YOUR ANSWERS...

THINK ABC

THINK NURSING PROCESS

I read the chapters and sometimes put notes into my own words. I also do pre and post test and any other practice test questions I find. Im a low A high B students.

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I had an instructor who for the first test, came around and "removed" the erasers from our pencils. She was [i']that[/i] emphatic about us not changing our answers! You could do what a girl in my class does - doesn't work, studies almost 24-7, and gets up at 2:30am on test days (our class starts at 1pm) to study some more. I believe she's gotten an A on all 3 tests we've taken.

That would tick me off. Maybe I'm the odd one out, but when I change answers, I'm almost always changing it to a correct one. I've also made mistakes on bubble sheets that I catch when I check through my answers.

To OP: just stop changing your answers. It's clearly not a working strategy for you, so just stop. Use the logic that you use to figure out the answers to reason yourself out of changing the answers. If writing yourself reminders on the top of the test to not change your answers seems like a good idea to you, do it.

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My instructors always say "DON'T change your answers!". For the 1st 6 months of school, I found that to be so wrong. But now that I'm further along and seeing more advanced and difficult questions, they are so right! Our tests allow us to go back through questions after we've answered them (unlike NCLEX), mark questions for review if we need more time to think about them, etc...I just go through the test, think as minimally as possible, because I'll overthink everything, answer, and move on.

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