The word exam itself sends a shiver down our spine. When the exam fever grips us, we rarely get any sleep or peace, till its over. During my student days, the night before an exam was always sleepless. I used get horrible nightmares. Before a mathematics exam, I remember getting dreams all about numbers. I am sure; most of us have come across such situations. Here is something I found on the Internet, which might help students do well in an exam. Hope it helps our readers get rid of exam stress.

1. Overprepare. It’s much wiser to take an exam too seriously and find it easier than you expected than to wish–when it’s too late–that you’d studied more.

Don’t confuse overpreparing with cramming. Literally cramming means filling something by force with more stuff than it can easily hold. So , if you prepare for an examination by memorizing forcefully more information in a short period of time , you will end up gaining nothing. Best way is to overprepare, in advance so that you have ample amount of time in hand and  you can get a good night’s sleep before the exam.

2. Bring several writing instruments. If your one pen or pencil fails and you need to borrow a replacement, you’ll lose time, annoy others, and look silly.

3. Use your time wisely.

Wear a watch so that you can manage time on your own terms. Many professors and proctors will mark the time on the blackboard, but glancing at a watch is better than depending upon the click of the chalk–distracting at best, stressful at worst–that lets you know that another chunk of time has vanished

Map out your work. When your professor talks about the exam, make sure that it’s clear how each part will count toward the whole. If, for instance, you have two hours and an essay that’s worth half the exam, give yourself an hour to plan, write, and review your essay.

It’s not unusual for students in the blur of exam week to lose track of when an exam has started and will end. So map out your work not only in minutes but with starting and ending points. Then you can’t lose track of where you are. For instance,

2:15-3:15: long essay
3:15-3:45: short essay
3:45-4:45: identifies

You can work out these details beforehand and write them discreetly in the corner of an exam booklet when you begin.

Don’t rush. This advice is especially important if your exam falls late in exam week, when many students have already left campus. Just take your time; your vacation will be waiting for you when you’re done.

4. Elaborate. If you have a choice between making a point briefly and elaborating, choose to elaborate. A professor reading a final exam is reading to “get to done”–to assign a grade and move on to the next exam in the stack. So you should show your knowledge and understanding in all appropriate ways. This suggestion assumes that whatever you’re elaborating on is relevant to the question at hand. Irrelevancies won’t help your case.

5. Don’t panic. In the worst-case exam scenario, an exam-taker goes on automatic, misreading questions, skipping key directions (e.g., “Choose only one”), and producing verbal babble as the time zooms by. It’s important to stay calm enough to focus on the work there is to do. You might visualize yourself sitting down, reading the questions, planning your responses, and doing well. Another way to avoid panicking is to remind yourself how much time you really have. That way, you will not get nervous.