Taking Essay Exams
in this chapter
- Why Is Preparing for an Essay Exam Important?
- What Are the Expectations for an Essay Exam?
- How Can You Study for an Essay Exam?
- How Can You Make and Stick to a Plan of Attack?
Essay Exams
Preparing Mentally and Physically for an Essay Exam
Believe it or not, instructors don’t give essay tests to be mean. Rather, they need to find out how well you can prepare and write an essay in a limited amount of time without getting feedback from others or writing multiple drafts. They may also be checking how grammatically you write when you write under pressure. It’s a challenge to write an essay in a limited time without the resources you would normally draw on, but taking essay exams is a skill you can learn. In fact, learning a few simple strategies for essay-test preparation can help you write a better essay and earn a higher grade on your exam. One important way these strategies help is by reducing your test anxiety.
Test anxiety is that nervous feeling you get when you are going to take a test. Your palms get sweaty, you feel butterflies in your stomach, or—worst of all—your mind goes blank. Test anxiety affects most people to some extent. Many of us feel a little nervous before a test, even when we are well prepared. Some people, however, have severe test anxiety: They may hyperventilate, feel like they will be sick to their stomach, or be utterly unable to perform. If you have this type of anxiety, find out about test anxiety counseling resources at your school.
If your problem is the run-of-the-mill test anxiety that most people face, what are the best coping strategies? Right before and during the test, you can the same helpful strategies you use for any stressful life situation:
- Make sure you’re well rested and have had a good breakfast.
- Take some deep breaths.
- Tense and then relax each of your major muscle groups.
- Do whatever you might normally do to get “psyched up” for something like a big game, a big date, or a job interview.
What shouldn’t you do? Don’t sit out in the hall cramming right before the test—this won’t help, and it could hurt. Also, don’t talk about how nervous you are. You’ll only make the feeling worse. And definitely avoid any friends who are complaining about the test or going on about how nervous they are. You don’t need the bad vibes.
These dos and don’ts for coping with test anxiety really do help. But over the years, we have found that the very best way to reduce test anxiety is good test preparation. Many students seem to think that they can’t prepare for essay exams, that they have to just “wing it,” but really there is a lot you can do to make sure you’re prepared. So let’s look at some key strategies for essay-test preparation.