Has this ever happened to you? Youve studied and researched and done lots of work, and yet somehow when the Prof gives you your test back, you dont always get the great results on your exams that you feel like you should be getting. If only you could figure out what is ruining your exam results

Here are the top Ten Things Not to Do, both during your exams and while preparing for your exams, plus a way to fix it, so you can consistently get the high level exam results that you want.

DONT 1. Start Preparing Too Late. Many people just dont give themselves enough time to properly prepare for their exams.

The Fix: Be sure to start earlier that you think you need to.

2. Stay Up All Night the Night Before a Major Exam. To perform at peak efficiency, you need your rest.

The Fix: Prepare early and get a good nights sleep before major exams.

3. Exaggerate the Importance of the Exam. If you give it too much importance it can get you worked up emotionally and interfere with good exam results.

The Fix: Keep the exam in perspective.

4. Get Scared and Give Up During the Exam. This often happens together with #3.

The Fix: Youre already there, so relax, take the exam, and who knows? You may do better than you think.

5. Minimize the Importance of the Exam. If you tell yourself it is not so important, you are unlikely to do what you need to do in order to acquire the skills to succeed on the exam.

The Fix: Remember the exams importance in the context of your goals.

6. Study What You Are Comfortable With Rather Than What You Need.

The Fix: Dig into the material you really need work on, so that you develop all the necessary skills for great exam results -- not just the skills you already have.

7. Plan for the Wrong Kind of Test. Have you ever done this? Prepared for an essay exam the same way you prepare for a multiple-choice test? Different types of exams require different preparation strategies.

The Fix: Prepare for the kind of exam you are taking.

8. Misread or Ignore Directions. If you want to compete with everyone else, you need to be playing the same game.

The Fix: Read carefully and follow directions.

9. Ignore the information a question asks for. This is a common mistake on essay exams, and the first thing the marker usually looks for.

The Fix: Answer the question that is asked.

10. Cheat. Do I even need to talk about this? No matter how desperate you may think you are, no matter how important you might think an exam is -- cheating is Never acceptable.

The Fix: Have faith and believe in your abilities, and prepare as well as you can. Respect yourself enough that if you cant earn a grade honestly, you would rather walk away.

Follow these fixes, and youre going to have great exam results in your future!

Copyright 2006 by Teresa Bolen. All Rights Reserved.