What is Test Anxiety and How Does It Affect You?
While it’s natural to be worried before an exam, test anxiety may be crippling for certain students. Physical symptoms such as a quick heartbeat, headache, or nausea might be combined with racing thoughts, inability to focus, or emotions of dread. Test anxiety may undermine weeks or months of hard study, whether it’s the ACT, an AP exam, or an essential history final.
What is Exam Anxiety?
Exam anxiety is the experience of feeling an intense moment of fear or panic before and/or during an exam or assessment.
There are two Types of Anxiety:
Low Anxiety: Students who have low anxiety may be apprehensive about an approaching test, but they can still concentrate on their studies or the questions presented during the assessment. Low-anxiety pupils are less likely to have intrusive thoughts or feel incapacitated by the exam.
High Anxiety: When exposed to the dreaded exam circumstance, pupils with high anxiety exhibit an instantaneous anxiety reaction. They may try to avoid the circumstance by not attending the test, or they may suffer it but with great trepidation. High anxiety can cause panic in certain people: “I just can’t do this!”
10 Best Tips for Test Anxiety
1. Learn how to study more effectively
Study-skills workshops or other resources offered by your school may be able to assist you in learning study tactics and test-taking strategies. If you study and practise the subject that will be on the test in a systematic manner, you will feel more at ease.
2. Prepare yourself
This may seem self-evident, but it is worth reiterating. You’ll feel more confidence stepping into the test if you know you’ve prepared well. Do you require assistance in reviewing difficult concepts or question types? The Princeton Review’s test prep professionals can give you that additional push you need to stay calm and composed.
3. Have a restful night’s sleep
Cramming is never a good idea, and pulling an all-nighter might make your anxiety much worse. It’s probable that getting enough sleep (9–10 hours each night) is more useful than reviewing a text till dawn. However, if you are studying late and have a query, our on-demand instructors are there to help.
Academic success and sleep are inextricably linked. Preteens and teenagers, in particular, require adequate sleep on a regular basis. Adults, on the other hand, require a solid night’s sleep for maximum work performance.
4. When studying, stay away from those that make you nervous
You may have friends or acquaintances that suffer from exam anxiety and are always outspoken about their anxieties. This isn’t to say you can’t be friends with them; it’s just that you should give them some space while you study or before the exam. You may be making an attempt to manage your own worry, but their anxieties may set you back.
5. Don’t dismiss the possibility of a learning disability
An underlying condition that interferes with the capacity to study, focus, or concentrate, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or dyslexia, may reduce test anxiety. A student identified with a learning disability may be eligible to test-taking accommodations such as more time, testing in a less distracting environment, or having questions read aloud.
6. Possess a positive mental outlook
Bring a photo of your happy location or a motivational slogan, such as “I can do this” or “I worked hard and deserve this.” Right before the test, take a look at your photo or say your mantra.
7. Keep your focus on yourself
Isn’t it true that everyone else is scribbling? Ack! What do they know about you that you don’t know? It makes no difference. Concentrate solely on your own test and pace, and ignore the other pupils in the room.
8. Keep an eye on the time
Knowing that time is running out and there are still a lot of questions to answer might make it difficult to achieve anything productive in the last minutes. Stay on track by taking a look at the entire test before you begin. Calculate how much time you’ll spend on each part in your head. Even better if you have time to double-check
9. Concentrate on being calm and Positive Thoughts
Deep breathing can help to calm a rushing heart or a speeding mind, so try it out at home. The process of concentrating on breathing and thinking might change those worried sensations biometrically.
10. If you require assistance, seek it
Anxiety symptoms can sometimes be so acute that they interfere with your daily life. Don’t be scared to get treatment if you’re experiencing anxious symptoms on a frequent basis.
Discuss your concerns with your parents, teachers, and guidance counsellors. Get aid as soon as possible. You can get a handle on your anxiety by seeking treatment early on, before it becomes a bigger problem.