Test Taking Tips

oh yea he also recommended eating an orange before test. healthy and a lot of sugar to the brain. i just drink OJ instead. i can't peel on a nervous day! lol. no time. :chuckle

This is what I do to study.

I read the chapter before or during when we go over it. What teh teacher discusses makes more sense if I am a bit famaliar with the info. I highlight what I feel is important, and if I feel is real important then I write it down. I keep a seperate section in my notebook for just my notes from reading.

If I come across a word I do not know in the reading, I grab my dictionary and look it up, sometimes I even write it down.

The book has some text boxes with detailed information, I always read those and hilight trivial data. A lot of the little specifics come up on test questions. Especially with the order of doing a procedure.

At the end of the chapter are sample questions. Look up the right answer in the answer key first, and then rationalize why it is correct and the others are not. YOu really learn a lot that way cause you are looking at 4 scenarios and what they are and mean.

Keep a paper for relating things as you study for a particular test. Such as vitals. Everytime you come across something that is a vital sign, put it on there. If one thing lowers BP, put it on teh sheet. If another thing up BP, put on that paper. If it lowers heart rate, put it on there. Putting those little things together on one peice of paper can really make a difference. Should come in handy studying for boards too.

In the evening, I sit and look at my handouts and notes while teh family watches tv, even if the test is a week away. Everytime I see them it is more famaliar and I can anticipate what is coming and realize I may actually know the material. I dont glance at them, I really read it and think about what I am looking at. If one thing seems to have a relationshiop with another, I go to that item and look it up, may even write down the relationship on another peice of paper.

Know your anatomy or look it up. If the information says comes from posterior pituitary, put down posterior in your notes cause the test answer choices may have both anterior and posterior for a choice. Dont just write down pituitary gland. I read every question and every answer, even if I think I see the right one. . A lot of people have messed up from not catching hyper and hypo in an available answer. That one prefix can rule out an answer that otherwise appears correct. I always rule out the ones I know wont work and focus then on those I think might. I am a slow test taker.

Most importantly, I socialize with good students, not the ones that will bring me down by constantly complaining about their ex or other tradgedies in their life or how they got bombed this weekend so could not get their homework done. I have problems too, we all do, but am mature enough to leave them at home and do what needs to be done. Surround yourself with positive people, not whiners.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the awesome advice. Keep it coming....