Exams are always stressful, especially if your entire career is hinging on it. It seems like your entire life is always hinging on tests, no matter what stage in life you are at. Schooling from Kindergarten all throughout high school is structured around testing so that you will be able to make it into college and therefore have a career that will make you money.

SAT, ACT, PSAT, AP, CLEP;  it’s overwhelming and this is just the testing required to get into college. This doesn’t count the career tests required once you graduate. Every career is going to require that you take and pass a different exam, so it’s crucial that you learn tricks now on how to prepare and make sure you’re ready to take on whatever test comes your way.

Create Good Study Habits

The most important step in passing exams is to create good study habits. In your earlier education you might have been able to get away with little to no studying, but this is the real world now and the tests that will be thrown at you are no joke.

You need to know what your learning style is. It will only cause you hours of frustration if you’re unsure of how you process and retain information. Once you’ve nailed down this aspect, you’ll learn things much faster and you’ll find that studying is not as dreadful as you once thought.

Another tips for creating good study habits is writing down realistic goals. If you know you only have a certain amount of time to study every day, budget out that time and be diligent with it. Are you shooting just to pass the exam, or do you want to ace it? These questions and more are ones you need to establish in order to realistically pass your exams.

Get Enough Sleep

This is a college student’s lament. Life is busy and there is a lot to do and not a whole lot of time to do it. This doesn’t mean there is an excuse for not getting the amount of sleep that you need. Sleep is crucial for brain development and basic bodily functions. You might be able to skirt through work on little to no sleep, but that doesn’t mean you can make it through life on this habit.

You especially need to get at least 8 hours of sleep the night before your exam. Do not cram last minute. Contrary to what most may think, cramming is not a good study habit. You need to get your study habits in order far before the test comes, and spend the night before resting up so that your brain is fresh and able to recall what it is you have learned through healthy studying.

Take Practice Exams

Some people are just bad test takers. It doesn’t matter if they have great study habits and really know their material, they just get nervous and seize up every time they take an exam. The way to combat this is to take practice exams.

By doing this, you’ll familiarize yourself with the test structure, and you’ll even further cement the content into your brain. Practice exams are available for a wide variety of tests. If there doesn’t happen to be one available, make up your own and have someone verbally test you.