Doing better on tests isn’t about employing clever multiple choice strategies or managing anxiety with deep breathing. Those things can help, but they don’t have nearly as much impact as the one thing that does dramatically improve your performance: extensive preparation
“We don’t rise to the occasion, we fall to the level of our training.” –Ryan Holiday1
Most students learn until they reach understanding, and stop there. But if you want to ace your exams, you have to pursue mastery. That means practicing many times after you “get it.”
Most students study for tests just once – the night before. But if you want to build strong, lasting memories of the material, you have to study many times, spaced out over several days or even weeks.
Most students study in the easiest way possible – looking over their notes packet or clicking through a Quizlet. Effective studying requires far more active engagement: writing, speaking, explaining, and taking practice tests.
Most students do what the teacher assigns and nothing more. But if you want to do very well on your exams, you have to do more than what they ask of you. Watch more videos. Read the textbook. Take notes. Do extra practice problems. These activities don’t get you more homework points, but they do get you more points on the test.
Just as an athlete’s or musician’s performance depends on their training, so too does a student’s. So if you’re unhappy with your test performance, the answer might be as simple as this: Train harder.
1 Holiday, Ryan. Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control. Portfolio, 2022.
Chris Loper has been working as a tutor and academic coach since 2014, racking up over 13,000 hours of experience supporting students.
Along with Greg Smith, Chris is the co-creator of Parenting for Academic Success, a series of classes that create empowered parents, confident students, and harmonious families.
Chris writes the popular self-improvement blog Becoming Better, where he also offers habit coaching, helping busy adults with habit formation and productivity.
Chris’s most recent endeavor combines his academic and habit-formation expertise to help students thrive in college. Visit SmartCollegeHabits.com to learn more.
In 2021, he published a humorous memoir titled Wood Floats and Other Brilliant Observations, a book that blends crazy stories with practical life lessons.
He lives in Issaquah, WA, where he is the owner of South Cove Tutoring.