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[SpideyMD]

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First of all, I’ve never had anxiety before college. When I started college this became a problem for me.

My exam anxiety is absolutely horrible. The night before exams I just can’t sleep, and during the exam I get sweaty and cold and shaky and I make mistakes I simply wouldn’t have made otherwise. Following the exam, I get little sleep and am constantly worried about little mistakes I did that I wish I could fix.

I just wrapped up a genetics exam today and a biostat exam, and all day I’ve just been worried about my grade and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s now 4AM and I really just can not wait for these results to come in. I’ve literally plugged in about 20 different grade combinations into a grade calculator to see my chances of getting an A with every outcome I could have gotten just about.

I believe the reason I have such bad test anxiety is because I know the grades in my courses are, obviously, highly dependent on the grades.

Does anyone have any coping mechanisms? This is getting out of control.

 

[Aktak]

First of all, I’ve never had anxiety before college. When I started college this became a problem for me.

My exam anxiety is absolutely horrible. The night before exams I just can’t sleep, and during the exam I get sweaty and cold and shaky and I make mistakes I simply wouldn’t have made otherwise. Following the exam, I get little sleep and am constantly worried about little mistakes I did that I wish I could fix.

I just wrapped up a genetics exam today and a biostat exam, and all day I’ve just been worried about my grade and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s now 4AM and I really just can not wait for these results to come in. I’ve literally plugged in about 20 different grade combinations into a grade calculator to see my chances of getting an A with every outcome I could have gotten just about.

I believe the reason I have such bad test anxiety is because I know the grades in my courses are, obviously, highly dependent on the grades.

Does anyone have any coping mechanisms? This is getting out of control.

How many practice exams are you taking? The only exams I ever felt much anxiety about were the ones I was not well prepared to take. Most people will study questions, take notes, rewrite notes, do anki, etc but rarely, if ever, actually take simulated practice tests.

The first test is sometimes a crap shoot. I try to get past years’ tests to get an idea for the types of questions the teacher asks. Then, in a group of 3-5, we literally make practice tests. We try to stump each other and make the questions the same type as the teacher. Inevitably, there will be something we miss, but if I take 3 practice tests for “Exam 1” all with the same number and types of questions taken from prior questions or written in collaboration with peers, there is very little anxiety going into the test. There’s some level of excitement to perform even!

The same was the case with the MCAT. I took something like 13 full-length practice tests in the month prior to the real deal. When the real thing started, I definitely had a little bit of the jitters, but I took a breath and just treated it like every other practice test.

Anyway, my response is getting long in the tooth. The solution, for me, is practice tests - not any other type of studying... practice tests.

 

[bluepeony]

First of all, I’ve never had anxiety before college. When I started college this became a problem for me.

My exam anxiety is absolutely horrible. The night before exams I just can’t sleep, and during the exam I get sweaty and cold and shaky and I make mistakes I simply wouldn’t have made otherwise. Following the exam, I get little sleep and am constantly worried about little mistakes I did that I wish I could fix.

I just wrapped up a genetics exam today and a biostat exam, and all day I’ve just been worried about my grade and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s now 4AM and I really just can not wait for these results to come in. I’ve literally plugged in about 20 different grade combinations into a grade calculator to see my chances of getting an A with every outcome I could have gotten just about.

I believe the reason I have such bad test anxiety is because I know the grades in my courses are, obviously, highly dependent on the grades.

Does anyone have any coping mechanisms? This is getting out of control.

I highly encourage you to seek out your on campus free counseling services. It helped me immensely with my anxiety after seeing a therapist regularly.

 

[Rachapkis]

Over the long-term, there are no shortcuts. The advice a wise parent or grandparent would give still hold true: seek counseling, get enough sleep, meditate, exercise and eat well. Over the short term, I have found it helpful to focus on effort rather than results. Try your level best and let the chips fall where they may. I sincerely hope that you conquer your anxiety. Fear is a powerful motivator, but it does not make for a happy life.

 

[Cornfed101]

I agree with what @Aktak said. What I've noticed is the more prepared I am, the less nervous I am during the test. Learn the material inside and out, use some kind of spaced repetition like Anki, and do lots of practice. It's just like anything else. Whenever something is high stakes and novel it will be stressful. Your goal is to make it routine. Practice like a concert pianist would practice before a performance. If you have enough reps with the material and enough practice then muscle memory, in a sense, will kick in.

 

[SeaHusky]

How many practice exams are you taking? The only exams I ever felt much anxiety about were the ones I was not well prepared to take. Most people will study questions, take notes, rewrite notes, do anki, etc but rarely, if ever, actually take simulated practice tests.

The first test is sometimes a crap shoot. I try to get past years’ tests to get an idea for the types of questions the teacher asks. Then, in a group of 3-5, we literally make practice tests. We try to stump each other and make the questions the same type as the teacher. Inevitably, there will be something we miss, but if I take 3 practice tests for “Exam 1” all with the same number and types of questions taken from prior questions or written in collaboration with peers, there is very little anxiety going into the test. There’s some level of excitement to perform even!

The same was the case with the MCAT. I took something like 13 full-length practice tests in the month prior to the real deal. When the real thing started, I definitely had a little bit of the jitters, but I took a breath and just treated it like every other practice test.

Anyway, my response is getting long in the tooth. The solution, for me, is practice tests - not any other type of studying... practice tests.

This is what I did as well. I even went a step further and simulated test day for exams. For an 8:30am class, I'd wake up at 7:30am and do my usual morning routine before finding an empty classroom and taking my practice test under exam conditions (i.e. timing) in there. I'd do this for every practice exam.

Visualization is an extremely powerful tool, at least for me. Simulating test day conditions really helped me get comfortable to the point where I wasn't anxious at all for the real thing.

 

[Goro]

First of all, I’ve never had anxiety before college. When I started college this became a problem for me.

My exam anxiety is absolutely horrible. The night before exams I just can’t sleep, and during the exam I get sweaty and cold and shaky and I make mistakes I simply wouldn’t have made otherwise. Following the exam, I get little sleep and am constantly worried about little mistakes I did that I wish I could fix.

I just wrapped up a genetics exam today and a biostat exam, and all day I’ve just been worried about my grade and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s now 4AM and I really just can not wait for these results to come in. I’ve literally plugged in about 20 different grade combinations into a grade calculator to see my chances of getting an A with every outcome I could have gotten just about.

I believe the reason I have such bad test anxiety is because I know the grades in my courses are, obviously, highly dependent on the grades.

Does anyone have any coping mechanisms? This is getting out of control.

See your school's counseling center, stat, or talk to your doctor