The best way to prepare for any type of exam is to study and practice until you get better. You can take a full day or two to get the proper amount of practice. If you have not taken the test that day, start studying by getting some notes so that you know what your goals are and what areas you need to focus on. Make sure to make a list of your objectives so that you do not leave anything out on the test.
Most people get very nervous when it comes to tests. This anxiety affects their concentration and takes away from what they should be focusing on – getting better grades. A lot of students go ahead and take the test the day before they are supposed to. If this happens to you, do not worry. There are a few things that you can do before the day exam to help you calm down.
In your spare time, try to play something nice and slow. Calculus classes can be very tough, especially the ones with heavy prerequisites. Do not pressure yourself to get through the entire course of the first day. Spend the day playing with your friends, exercising or listening to music. This will help you relax and eliminate some of the stress that you will experience on the exam.
After your day exam, look over your grades and evaluate where you stand. Are there areas where you can improve? You might notice that you got a couple of marks wrong, but did you also get one or two extra marks that could have been given to you if you had worked harder? This is definitely going to affect your score, so find out what areas need to be improved.
Before you submit your exam, spend at least a day working on problems and practicing them. This will get you ready for what to expect on the actual exam. It is always easier to study and prepare properly for something before actually trying to do it, so make sure that you do this.
If you find that you have forgotten a question or piece of information, try rechecking it. If you forget an answer on the first try, go back to it and look for the right words. There is no such thing as a stupid question. If you have not bothered to get practice questions before the exam, then you are going to have a very hard time finding the answers on the test, so make sure that you get plenty of practice and questions.
There is also a big change to the scoring system for the test. In the old system, students could make up answers wrong, but this was OK since the calculator was doing it for them. In the new system, answers must be typed in correctly or a mark is given. This can be very frustrating, but is easier to learn. Make sure that you practice this a lot before the test. This is probably the last big change but is worth giving it a try before you turn in your calculators.