Test-Taking Anxiety?

[barcotta]

I don't worry much, but to the extent that I do (and I expect I will worry more as I get closer to the end and the failure of one exam means I have to choose another or, God-forbid, wait six months!) here's how I approach my exams.

I skip the questions for which I don't have a clue.

I find that the more I think about something I can't answer--the more it seeps my confidence. These CLEP and DANTES tests are unique amongst everything else I've experienced in life in that you can get MANY questions wrong and--not only pass--but pass with a pretty good score. I believe this is due to the percentile grading process. In any event, look at it this way--you can be clueless on 15-20 questions--and you're probably not yet even in the danger zone. So, just skip the ridiculous questions, mark them to return, and keep going to the end. I also keep a tally on paper in three columns. Column one is for questions I know I've answered correctly. Column two is for questions I'm pretty sure I've answered correctly (usually I've been able to narrow it down to one of two answers). The third column is for question for which I haven't a clue. As long as that third column doesn't go north of 20, I don't worry. Usually I have 40-50 (less than half) for which I'm certain of the answer--then a bunch that I have at least a 50/50 shot at--which has given me the grades you see in my signature. Once I've been through the test once, I go back and give the tough questions one more try. At this point, I'm usually certain that I at least passed, so--no worry!

As a caveat, I'm now getting into exams that are much tougher for me--so my method will be put to the test much more in the coming months.