JUNE 20, 2016
The photo above was taken when I had a simulation test in AHEAD Tutorial and Review Center that’s why we had those wide smiles showing that we’re not nervous in taking exams yet. And oh, I learned these life hacks I would like to share in this article in the said tutorial and review center. It was really great!
By the way, college Entrance Exams for those high school students in their fourth year who want to spend their college life in universities are on their way, well, except for those secondary schools that didn’t had grades 11 and 12 these past few years because they won’t be able to produce graduates this year. However, I know that most students, especially from high school, regardless of what curriculum they had, will find these life hacks for test takers useful because someday, no matter how long that someday is, they’ll be applying for college and will be taking college entrance exams.
On the other hand, for the college students out there, maybe you’ll also find this life hacks for test takers helpful because final exams are also coming in a brief time, well, except for those students who attends universities that shifted their academic year, like us. We just begun our first term last August and our finals are kinda far. Nevertheless, we, college students, regardless of what academic year we follow, will still experience the hell final exams give. So generally, all of us students are test takers. All of us should be aware of these life hacks.
1. Read and follow the exam instructions carefully. Listen to the proctor attentively as he or she gives instructions. Pay attention to key terms. Interpret questions as they are – not as you think they should be.
2. Read each question well. Overview all the work to be done and plan your time to do it.
3. Budget your time. How to do it? Work fast but carefully. If you occurred a hard question and you think, you’ll stay too long for that item, skip it. Answer the easy questions first and if you have time left, go back to them and review your answers.
4. But when you skip an item, leave a small mark beside the number so it would be easy to find once you have time to get back to it. Make sure you do this on the answer sheet because it may be disastrous if you mark the test booklets which has more pages.
5. If you do not know the answer to a question, make an educated guess. Eliminate the impossible or obviously wrong answers then choose the best possible answer among the remaining choices. But you have to be careful because it’s sometimes tricky.
6. If you really have no idea on which letter to choose after thinking, solving or even having an educated guess, choose letter C. It somehow works for most takers.
7. Do not write anything on the text booklet. Do your computations on the scratch paper provided. Also, mark your computations with the number of the item because you may be needing it for some reason for example, checking.
8. Change your answer only if you have a basis for doing so because most of the time, your first answer gets the point.
9. Do not glance on your seatmate’s paper. In short, do not cheat. I always bear in my mind whenever I’m tempted to cheat that the punishment will be more than I expect. Instead, Just look straight on the black board when thinking so you won’t be disturbed, too.
10. Do not leave the room until you are finished and the time is up. If you finish the test early, take your remaining time checking your answers even if you are the only one left in the room. Do not let this situation intimidate you.
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