Simple (But Effective) Ways To Overcome Exam Anxiety

Exam anxiety — and anxiety in general — can be a challenging obstacle in life. And if you’re a college student, you might know all too well how this feels. According to the University of Michigan Healthy Minds Study, 47% of undergraduate and graduate college students reported significant depression and/or anxiety symptoms last year.

Fortunately, there are ways to manage your anxiety, find balance, and tackle exam time with confidence.

Below, we’ll talk about why anxiety is so common as a college student, as well as some tips to beat exam anxiety and boost your confidence in test taking.

What Causes Anxiety in College Students?

As a college student, you probably lead a busy life. Taking all those classes while prioritizing work, friends, family, sleep, and your health can be overwhelming. And if you find it challenging to balance your life without stress, you’re not alone.

Anxiety is common in college students for a few reasons. During any type of schooling, you're going through a significant transitional phase in your life. You’re making hefty decisions about your future and working on who you want to become. On top of that, you’re faced with tons of coursework and other responsibilities.

While mental healthcare is the best way to tackle persistent anxiety, there are also some simple and effective tips you can use to make exam time a little less stressful.

4 Simple and Effective Ways to Overcome Exam Anxiety

We’ve all heard how important it is to sleep and eat well before tests. But beyond that, the tips below can help you feel even more confident on the day of your next exam.

1. Arrive Early

Getting to your testing site early can help you settle into the test-taking environment before diving into your work.

2. Be Prepared

Being prepared for your tests seems like a no-brainer, but it plays a huge role in calming down anxiety.

When you’ve spent ample time learning the test material and have done all the prep-work to do well, your mind will naturally be more at ease the day of the test.

3. Just Get Started

When you first receive your exam, it can be easy to feel worried, doubtful and even forgetful before you begin.

To combat this, just start! Break the first question down into tiny steps and go from there. Do your best to focus on one thing at a time instead of getting overwhelmed by the test as a whole.

4. Stay Positive

It’s easy to get caught up in worrisome thoughts before or during an exam. So, try to keep an optimistic state of mind. Where your thoughts go, your feelings will naturally follow.

When you make it a point to stay positive, you can squash some of the self-doubts that make it difficult to get going.

The Bottom Line on Overcoming Test Anxiety

Beyond just fueling your body properly and getting enough sleep, you can combat exam anxiety and boost your confidence by:

• Arriving early

• Preparing well

• Taking it one step at a time

• Staying positive

When you give yourself the right tools, your confidence in test taking can grow in ways you may have never expected. You’ve got this!