What to do if you don't feel prepared for an exam?
- Learn how to study efficiently. ...
- Study early and in similar places. ...
- Establish a consistent pretest routine. ...
- Talk to your teacher. ...
- Learn relaxation techniques. ...
- Don't forget to eat and drink. ...
- Get some exercise. ...
- Get plenty of sleep.
- Don't Procrastinate. Don't Cram. ...
- Plan Your Study Time. ...
- Watch for Clues. ...
- Ask Your Teacher for Direction. ...
- Arrive Early on Test Day. ...
- Review Early. ...
- Prepare an Outline. ...
- Use Visual Aids.
If at the end of those study blocks you feel like you've mastered 70%-90% of the material being covered on the test, you can stop studying. If you're still under the 70% mark, you start the re-learning process of that missed material again. You repeat this process until you get yourself up to 70%-90%.
Illness or injury, family emergencies, certain University-approved curricular and extra-curricular activities, and religious holidays can be legitimate reasons to miss class or to be excused from a scheduled examination.
- Helpful reflection. ...
- Facing the fallout. ...
- Self-talk matching exercise. ...
- Get curious about what's next. ...
- Final thought.
Suddenly, you blank out, freeze up, zone out, or feel so nervous that you can't get it together to respond to those questions you knew the answers to just last night. If this sounds like you, you may have a case of test anxiety — that nervous feeling that people sometimes get when they're about to take a test.
If you didn't study or prepare anything, always go for the easiest questions first. When you have reading time, it's best to identify which questions to answer first; therefore you don't waste your time. If your exam has different sections, try to answer the short answer questions first.
The information was stored in your current memory, but was not transferred into your long term memory. Try studying all along rather than just cramming the night before the exam. Take notes during lectures—concentrate on key words because objective questions (multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, etc.)
Ideally, studying should start at least five days in advance of the exam to allow students an ample amount of time to go over course concepts and materials, and reach out to their instructor or peers if they find they have any questions.
- Feeling exhausted or drained and unable to do basic tasks, like get out of bed.
- Insomnia. ...
- Forgetfulness or inability to concentrate and focus.
- Feeling empty or emotionally detached.
- Losing drive and motivation in parts of your life, like in relationships or work / study.
- Loss of appetite.
Why do I feel like I didn't study enough?
The reason is the subject you have studied has gone into your subconscious mind. You don't need to remember it all the time consciously. So whenever it will be required by you to write down the answers in your exams you will be able to access your memory which is there in your subconscious mind.
Student Burnout Symptoms
Feeling exhausted no matter how much sleep you get, resulting in fatigue and insomnia. Lacking motivation to attend classes or start assignments. Lashing out at others and increased irritability due to frustration. Lacking inspiration and creativity to bring to projects and class discussions.

- For example, if you know the answers to some of the multiple choice questions, answer those questions first and skip over the ones you don't know.
- Return to the questions you skipped only after you have finished answering the ones you know.
“I didn't pass the test but you did.” Most native speakers, however, would just say: “Unlike you, I didn't pass the test.” “I didn't pass the test, unlike you.”
- It Wasn't Me. Your parents were students once upon a time, meaning they know that The Legend of the Wrathful Teacher is a myth. ...
- They've All Got It In For Me. ...
- The Good Cop / Bad Cop Dodge. ...
- It Never Happened. ...
- You're a Secret Genius. ...
- Seen To Be Bereaved. ...
- It's All About Timing. ...
- Do The Ground Work.
Failing an exam doesn't make you any less intelligent or less capable of achieving success in life than those who got better results. Just think that the failure you had in exams was just another step towards success. Just have the courage and strength to overcome this failure and move on.
- Comparisons. It's really funny how comparisons are drawn. ...
- Sinking Confidence. If you couldn't do well even after strenuous preparations, it is obvious that you'd feel down. ...
- Take Selective Feedback. ...
- Think About Loved Ones. ...
- Re-Evaluation.
Many people cry during study time and their exams, because the anxiety and stress add up. It can be so that you cry because you are scared of the exam which you have the next day, or because you think that you have failed a certain exam.
Test anxiety can lead to poor performance on tests. Here's how to recognize the symptoms and find ways to manage the anxiety.
Glossary. Last paper syndrome: “A phenomenon wherein you know that you still have your last test tomorrow but your brain is already in vacation mode and you cannot concentrate on studying.” (Source: Reddit)
What is it called when your mind goes blank during an exam?
Also, a memory lapse is not a sign of being unprepared or not having studied enough for your exam. Actually, memory lapses can affect everyone at some point. Therefore, we would like to give you some tips on coping with a lapse of memory during oral and written exams.
In most cases, it's better to avoid an all-nighter. If an all-nighter feels unavoidable, think strategically about when it makes sense to lose sleep. An all-nighter might make more sense if you need to submit a paper to avoid a late penalty. It might backfire before a big exam or presentation, though.
- Get informed. Don't walk into your test unprepared for what you will face. ...
- Think like your teacher. ...
- Make your own study aids. ...
- Practice for the inevitable. ...
- Study every day. ...
- Cut out the distractions. ...
- Divide big concepts from smaller details. ...
- Don't neglect the “easy” stuff.
- Read every question carefully.
- Ignore the hard questions for later.
- Pay attention to word clues.
- Avoid extreme choices.
- Rule out answers that aren't correct.
- Consider elimination strategy.
- Use studies' strategies.
Exam stress can cause you to feel anxious or depressed, and this might affect your sleeping or eating habits. so they can be there to support you, encourage you and offer a listening ear. You don't have to go through this alone.
Symptoms of test anxiety
Emotional symptoms: Feelings of stress, fear, helplessness, and disappointment, negative thoughts (rumination about past poor performances, consequences of failure, feeling inadequate, helpless), mind going blank, and racing thoughts.
The day before will be a full revision day, then count backward two days from the last revision day and that will be the next revision day, do the same for the next 3, 5, and 7 days and you'll have a perfect revision calendar.
With discipline and focus, you can still succeed on your exam with only one day to prepare. While it is always best to prepare for a test at least a week in advance, sometimes life gets in the way. There are a few ways to guarantee your best performance on your test with only one day to study.
In general, plan to start about 7-10 days in advance to make sure you maximize your study time. Remember, it is better to space your studying out over a period of days rather than clustering your studying just before the exam. Ten hours of studying over 5 days is better than 10 hours of studying over 2 days!
Feeling uninterested in activities that you usually enjoy. Experiencing increased irritability and frustration and maybe snapping or lashing out at others. Struggling to concentrate and meet deadlines (which results in being unproductive). Feeling constantly exhausted (even if you are getting enough sleep).
How common is student burnout?
A systematic review of 2021 on the prevalence of burnout syndrome in university students showed estimates of 55.4% for emotional exhaustion, 31.6% for cynicism and 30.9% for academic efficacy.
What Is Burnout? If you're feeling exhausted and sluggish, and even simple tasks feel overwhelming to complete — or you find yourself so stressed out that you're quick to get angry or frustrated — you might be experiencing burnout.
- Being afraid that you won't live up to the expectations of important people in your life; worrying that you will lose the affection of people you care about if you don't succeed.
- Believing grades are an estimation of your personal worth.
- Placing too much emphasis on a single test.
People might not be feeling well, ambience might not be adjustable, distractions might creep in or anything could happen which makes us slip into laziness. But, it goes on to be a serious issue, if people are consistent about it.
Test anxiety is a common occurrence in classrooms, affecting the performance of students from kindergarten through college, as well as adults who must take job- related exams. Estimates are that between 40 and 60% of students have significant test anxiety that interferes with their performing up to their capability.
In response to the stress of taking an exam you'll have an adrenaline rush. When you come down from any adrenaline rush you usually feel tired. Your body and your mind have been hyper-stimulated by the fight or flight hormone and now it needs to recharge.
It takes an average time of three months to a year to recover from burnout. How long your burnout lasts will depend on your level of emotional exhaustion and physical fatigue, as well as if you experience any relapses or periods of stagnant recovery.
If you need to study quite a lot, you may be wondering how many hours you can study in a day. Most people recommend studying for 3 to 4 hours every day on a set schedule that allows your brain to work at its full capacity.
For a normal course, 1 hour per subject will be a good strategy, whereas preparation for any competitive exam demands proper management of time and schedule for each day. One should be regular and stick to the schedule made for each day. For competitive exams at least 6-7 hours study is mandatory.
- You know your material. This one may seem obvious, but you should stop studying when you know the material. ...
- You are exhausted. Of course we are all exhausted. ...
- You have already been studying for an hour.
What's considered too much studying?
If your study takes up more than a third of the total day (therefore more than 8 hours) you can rest assured that you are going too far. In the week leading up to an exam, it can seem almost normal to spend more time on books than usual, if only because you want to review everything correctly.