Many of us are preparing for the very surreal experience that is taking an online final. Because of the whole pandemic situation, many exams we were expecting to take on paper have now been moved to an online format. And I’m right there with you, already I have had to record myself speaking over a powerpoint presentation (don’t ask me how torturous it is to listen to your disembodied voice, hearing yourself say “diagnositic maturity” countless times). Watch my Virtual Grad School vlog if you want to see more of the digital horrors I've been subjected to.

Doing anything virtually is different than doing it on paper. It’s a novel interface for a lot of us, not to mention we have the added pressure to perform our best. So, if taking a test online is different from taking a test on paper, the way we study has to be different as well.

I’ve taken a few online exams in my day under various different circumstances. Probably the most intense was when I had to take my GRE in a huge computer lab at Temple University. I remember it vividly – I had to get downtown wicked early, stumbling through Center City Philadelphia into a nondescript university building where a security guard sat under flickering lights (very eerie to see first thing in the morning). She directed me to a top-floor computer lab where I was only reassured I was in the right place because I found a recent Columbia graduate who looked equally as confused. We locked all our stuff in lockers, handed the test proctor our slips and driver’s licenses, and sat ourselves in front of ancient looking computers with blinders on either side. Not necessarily the environment that would be most conducive for test-performance.

When I booked my GRE slot, I hadn’t realized that I scheduled it for the day that was coincidentally the start of the Fall semester at Temple, so when I left the building after taking the test I was immediately thrust out into a sea of freshmen in cute outfits trying to find their next class. What a day.

The ironic thing about this unnecessary tangent is that I didn’t even need to take the GRE to get into the grad program I’m in now. But hey, I took it and I did pretty well, and now I’m here to tell you how to prepare for your online testing experience (hopefully it will be a little less traumatic than mine).

Here are some tips I’ve come up with that will help you prepare for online exams. Some of them can be applied more generally to any test-taking, but there are some specific things you have to consider when taking a test online:

Get familiar with the format of the test

You can know all the material to a tee, but if you don’t know the format of the test, you’ll likely waste time and stress yourself out trying to figure out how to answer the questions. Try to get a handle of how the exam is going to be formatted (how many multiple choice questions? how many open answer/essay questions? how much material from each section will be covered?). Once you’ve found out all you can on the format, make several mock tests for yourself so you can take them and familiarize yourself with the format.

We employ different cognitive strategies when we answer different kinds of questions, so doing practice tests will help you strengthen these cognitive pathways and be able to pivot from one strategy to another as the format of the test changes. When it comes to taking the actual test, this will save you time as you’ll spend less time wrapping your head around each individual section of the test. It’ll also help build your confidence so you’ll be less likely to overthink certain answers.

Time yourself

This goes hand-in-hand with practicing. As you take the practice test, make sure you’re keeping an eye on how much time it takes you to complete each section. This will help you delegate your time so that you can spend more time on the sections that take a little more brainpower and less on the sections you know you can breeze through.

We’ve all been caught up in tests where we get way too invested in filling out the multiple choice section carefully only to realize we have five minutes left to write an essay. This is a particular stressor during online tests (at least for me) because more sections are likely to have their own time limits, and you can sometimes see the little timer in the corner which is very distracting and very stressful.

As long as you time yourself beforehand to get an idea of how much time you need on each part, you’re set. You don’t need to set yourself strict allotments, just be aware of how much time you have and how much you actually need on each section.

Use sensory cues

I think I’ve made up rhymes and mnemonic devices for every test I’ve ever taken. Yeah, it sounds silly but it helps me remember information when all else fails. For every piece of information you know you have to memorize, try to come up with a verbal cue that will help you remember it. This could be an acronym or an expression you come up with, or just some kind of rhyme that somehow includes the information.

Don’t underestimate your other senses when it comes to memory – specifically, scent. I know this is talked about a lot but you can definitely use certain smells to your advantage if you’re studying, especially if you’re going to be taking a test from home and have the ability to surround yourself with the scents you had when you were studying.

Making a certain type of coffee or tea every time you study is always a good one. Not only will it make you more alert, but it will trigger memories associated to the information you need to know. If you don’t like the caffeine idea you can always use scented hand lotions, sprays, or hand sanitizer (if you have any left). Just make sure to use it every time you sit down to study or take a practice test so that you’re conditioned by the time it comes to take the test.

Make sure you have a comfortable place to take it

Not all of us are lucky enough to have a quiet area to study in, but do your best to find a space that is quiet, comfortable, and free for distractions. Ideally, take the test in the same space you’ve been studying in because then you can take advantage of all those sensory cues.

Make sure you have everything you need within your reach so you won’t have to scramble to get something in the middle of the test. Also make sure you have a drink and a snack if you’ll need one and anything else that will make you more comfortable. But don’t get too comfortable! Make sure you’re sitting upright so you’ll be more alert throughout the test.

Relax, you’ll be fine

Out of all the tests I took in my college career, not one of them turned out to be as big a deal as I’d made it up to me. Like I said, my GRE scores didn’t matter at all. So I guarantee whatever you’re preparing for, it’s not really as big a deal as you think it is.

If you feel yourself getting overly anxious about a test, take a step back and try to put it in perspective. Chances are, it won’t really matter five years from now. The most impressive thing will be that you were even able to take a test in the midst of the pandemic. So go easy on yourself, being able to sit down and concentrate for an hour straight is an impressive feat in itself.

And remember, you’ll crush it!

Let me know if you’d like more study tips from me (undergrad, grad school, test-taking, psychology, whatever – I’ll do it all unless you wanna know how to do well in high school cause I barely graduated). Let me know down below what kind of online assessments you’re preparing for and how you’re doing, I’d love to hear! 

Be sure to check out my YouTube video below to see how I've been managing online grad school.