Testing Anxiety

[lexinonomous]

Seeing that it's finals week in my neck of the woods, I thought this would be an excellent topic. Majority of the people I know deal with testing anxiety. Even when knowing the material, it's hard to not freak out about the future. While taking the test, you might second guess your answers and re-evaluate everything you've done thus far. Once you turn in the test, the anxiety sets in for getting the results back.


It's very difficult to calm yourself down while testing. In my experience, I've had full on anxiety attacks while sitting in classrooms. It doesn't help that the teacher is standing at the front of the class, watching your every move.


How do you deal with testing anxiety?

 

[fuzyon]

It's not easy, the only thing that should help is having a little bit of confidence. Recently I had to take my theory exam for my driver's license and I definitely would've been stressed out if I hadn't studied for it a few months before. Learning properly beforehand is the best thing you can do to diminish anxiety, I was still a little nervous but I was sure I was going to pass, there was no way around it. I successfully passed with 26 points out of 26.

 

[kgord]

Yes, this is a problem that many students suffer from. Blanking on tests, or knowing the answers and not being able to come up with them is a problem for many. I think realizing one test is not going to be the end of the world even if you do poorly on it is something to remember. Some kids and even adults who are high achievers suffer terribly from this, and proper preparation does play a role that is for sure.

 

[HappyKoi]

This is a good one to post. It's not just young people, either; I have a friend who is a nontraditional college student and over 50 who still gets test anxiety that makes him completely blank out on tests sometimes. Fortunately, most colleges have good resources, in the form of tutoring or counselling services, to help students. This is a fairly common problem, and I'm sure even a lot of professors, if you talk to them in private, would be understanding if you've already proven that you're a good student.

 

[John Snort]

Even those who are fully prepared suffer from some anxiety before they start taking their exams. The best way to deal with such anxiety is by reminding yourself that if you've been doing well enough in tests before there's a high likelihood that you'll do just as well in the exam you'll be taking.

 

[misszerable]

Knowing that I have prepared adequately for the exam takes out most of the anxiety involved in testing. I've taken two important tests so far: the college qualifying exams and the CPA board exams. I had a six months classroom review for the CPA board and part of the preparation involved taking simulations of past board exams. Seeing how different they can be from test to test, I've conditioned myself for the surprise that the exam would bring. Still, some anxiety is expected. In my case for instance, I'm a woman and knowing how an uncomfortable a period can get, I was anxious that I'll have my period in one of the 4-day examination and it somehow affected my confidence.

 

[janemariesayed]

Relax. If you fail an exam then you can either take it again or try something else. Too much pressure is put on youngsters to pass exams and that is causing a lot of stress. This leads to panic and anxiety disorders and depression.

You have all your life ahead of you. You may end up changing careers anyway. You can go back to study at any point in your life. Study well, revise well and if you pass you pass, and if you don't pass then it was not meant to be. It helps to learn a subject that you are really interested in, in the first place.