First, before you begin taking any kind of exam, you need to make sure that you know how to actually answer questions. This means that you must have a good grasp of both how to find the answer and how to find it in a proper way. If you have a hard time answering a question, then chances are good that you will not be able to get the answers you are seeking. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that you hire an experienced tutor to come to your exams and show you how to correctly answer questions.
You should also spend some time thinking about what types of answers you want to give, as well. If you know that you’re going to need to justify the answers you give to the test, then you’ll want to start planning ahead. Be sure that you can explain your reasoning carefully to your tutor, and that you know how to properly take notes so that you won’t miss anything important that you might read on the questions.
Finally, make sure that you take plenty of notes. You want to be able to remember everything you read, and you also want to make sure that you understand everything you’ve read. However, it can be difficult to remember everything when you are so focused on taking the exam. Therefore, if you find yourself taking lots of notes after reading, chances are that you aren’t remembering everything that you read. Instead of just writing down everything you read, take a few moments to jot down a few key points and then review those points before answering your next question.
It is also a good idea to go back over your answers. Some students have a tendency to reread their answers when they are trying to figure out the correct answers. You want to be able to follow the directions, and when you’ve found the answer that you think is correct, read it again. This will help you learn the information more thoroughly, and it will also help you remember the answers better.
Make sure that you have all of your materials with you when you study for the exam. In particular, make sure that your calculator is turned on, so that you can double-check your answers. You’ve probably learned the most by using your calculator, so make sure that you take the time to do so whenever you can. You’ll find that it will really pay off when you have figured out the answer on the calculator. You’ll probably be surprised at how much easier it is to do well if you double-check your answers, as well.
Be prepared ahead of time by saving all of the questions that you might get on your test in advance. That way, when you sit down to do the actual exam, you will have an answer ready to go. If you’ve saved the questions already, make sure that you can review them prior to sitting down and taking the real test. This will allow you to get the feel for the types of questions that you will face on the actual exam.
Finally, practice your response to each question. This means that if you spend the time before answering the questions reviewing the material and gaining familiarity with the types of answers that you will face, you will have a much better chance of answering correctly. In particular, consider how you will react when you are presented with a multiple-part response, a complex problem, or when a difficult question comes up. As you gain experience answering problems in this manner, you will learn to not only know how to answer the questions correctly, but to also understand why the answer is correct.
