Happy Tuesday! As y’all know, it’s currently one of the craziest times of the semester: midterms. Hope everyone’s doing well and taking care of themselves as much as possible in this season of exams. You might be focusing on how you’re preparing for tests or taking the actual tests, but do you know what to do after you take a college exam? People don’t talk about this much, but here’s 3 things to do after a test that will help you later in the semester.
1. Reward Yourself After a Test
My first suggestion would be to celebrate! You’ve just done something that took a lot of effort before and during. Even if you don’t feel very confident in how well it went, I think it’s important to recognize your hard work.
How exactly you reward yourself is up to you and a couple other things. Do you have a lot going on in your life, or even another test? Maybe get a coffee or nap and take a short break from studying. Just finished finals? You go, girl! Have fun with friends and enjoy the feeling of the semester’s end.
2. Review What Went Well
While the first tip applies no matter what point you’re at in the semester, the next two are for tests during the semester. Regardless of how much you studied, you might remember your general feelings about your test, but not much else. That’s important information that could help you prep for your next exam in that class!
Write down how you studied leading up to the test. Some questions you could ask yourself include…
- Did you rewrite notes, make flashcards, or practice with a friend?
- How many days before the test did you start studying?
- Was there anything you forgot to look over?
- What kinds of questions confused you?
Feel free to come up with your own questions to help you remember important advice for when your next test comes!
3. Revise Your Plan
Now that you’re more aware of what you did, think about how well it worked for you. If your test focused more on connecting concepts and you only knew definitions, maybe you should try a concept map or explain different subjects to a friend. Or maybe you talked to a classmate and found out that your professor had an online study guide you weren’t aware of. If you felt rushed in preparing for the test, plan to start earlier. And if the way certain questions were worded tripped you up, try making practice tests with similar questions!
Take all this information and use it to create a guide for the next time you take a test. Write it down somewhere! This could be as a sticky note in a place you’ll see it, as notes in your planner, or even as specific daily reminders on your phone. If you do this, you won’t have to stress as much over preparing for future exams.
It really is that simple! The 3 things to do after a test are first, reward yourself for putting in an effort. Then, review what went right and what went wrong. Finally, revise what your study methods so you’ll be prepared for success the next time.
Do you have any post-test tips for success? Share them in the comments section!
Until next time,
Emmalee