Beating test anxiety

Racing heart, blank mind, the answer that arrives in the parking lot. Three things that actually help, and one that makes it worse.

Some nerves before an exam are useful; they sharpen you. The problem is when the nerves take over: you read a question three times and nothing lands. That blankness is not a memory failure. It is your working memory being crowded out by worry, and it responds to specific fixes.

1. Practice under exam conditions

Anxiety feeds on novelty. If the first time you do a timed mixed set with no notes is the exam, everything about it is new. Do timed practice exams in Mathub at least twice before the real one, at a desk, with the same calculator. By exam day the format is boring, and boring is calm.

2. Write it out first

Ten minutes before the exam, write down every worry on paper for five minutes: I might fail, I will forget the identities, everyone else is faster. A large study found students who did this scored measurably higher. Getting the worries onto the page frees the working memory they were occupying.

3. Breathe on purpose, once

When the blankness hits mid-exam: put the pencil down, breathe in for four counts, out for six, three times. Twenty seconds. Then reread the question and write anything relevant: the formula, a sketch, the given values with units. Starting to write restarts thinking.

What makes it worse

• Cramming until 3 a.m. Sleep loss raises anxiety and lowers recall at the same time.
• Caffeine on an empty stomach right before.
• Talking to classmates about how hard it will be in the hallway. Put headphones in.
• Telling yourself you are "bad at math". You have evidence against it: every practice set you finished.

If it is more than exam nerves

If anxiety is affecting sleep, classes or life generally, MSU Counseling & Psychological Services is free and confidential, and the Office of Disability Services can arrange a quieter testing room or extra time. Asking is normal; thousands of Bobcats do it every year.