Psychological Counseling Services

How to Take Exams

Read and understand the question first.
Know the weighting of exam questions, and put more energy into questions with more weight.
Beware of time:
1. Focus on questions weighted heaviest
2. Before test begins break the test down into time segments that correspond with weighting
If there are pertinent facts or formulas that you are afraid you will forget, then write them down (i.e., do a "brain dump").
Find out if you will be penalized for guessing:
1. If you will not be penalized for guessing:, NEVER LEAVE ANY QUESTION BLANK.
2. If you will be penalized for guessing:, then you need to decide your "calculated level of risk." For example, on a multiple choice question with 4 possible options, it would probably be worth guessing if you can narrow down your options to 2 -- i.e., you have a 50-50 chance of guessing correctly.