16 Thoughts Every College Student Has Before and During an Exam

By Allie Caton on September 6, 2017

School is back in session, which means it’s time to start thinking about exams! Here are 16 thoughts that college students have before and during an exam.

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Pre-Exam Thoughts

•Should I go get snacks or should I study?

Boredom breeds hunger, and studying breeds boredom so it’s common to get the munchies while you are studying. To answer the question, take a break from studying and do something you like for a bit. If you’re still hungry while doing that, then maybe go grab a (healthy) snack. There’s no point in studying if you’re just going to be distracted by your stomach.

I wonder if this will be on the exam?

Whether you think it is or isn’t, study it anyway. It’s so much better to be safe than to show up to the test and realize you don’t know anything on all of page four.

If I get 44 questions right on the exam, I can still come out with a B on the exam and a B+ in the class.

Spending the time to calculate the minimum amount you have to know is a way better use of your time than actually studying, right?

I can save this to study on the walk over.

Not sure how effective this strategy is, but we have all been there. You can always tell when a class has an exam because all of the students are standing in the hall boring holes in their notes.

I wish the exam was now and just over.

After a week of studying, it’s always a huge relief to just get the test DONE. All the work and stress that you have endured for the last seven days will all be relieved after a 2-hour exam, so it’s not weird to wish the exam would come sooner.

I hope the TA hands out the test on my side of the room first; I’m going to forget what I just read outside the room!

Short-term memory is great but it’s exactly how it’s described: short term. Don’t cram too much in right before the test because you are sure to forget details.

During the Exam

I don’t even know the first question! I am going to FAIL.

We’ve all experienced this horror. No advice here, just a lot of sympathy.

The first question was so easy; I’ll be fine!

You know what they say about assuming. You might be right or you might be wrong. Get through a couple questions before judging the entire test. You don’t want to let your guard down and then get hit with the hardest material on page two.

The professor didn’t even teach this …

The age-old explanation for why you don’t know something on the test.

I think this was from the book that I didn’t read.

Honestly, sometimes reading the textbook does as much good as not reading it. It only becomes apparent when you’re sitting in front of the test and realize none of this information was covered in class.

Coffee!!!

Probably should grab coffee after an all-night study session so you can actually put good use to what you studied.

The multiple choice answers don’t match my answer at all.

This is a classic math exam thought. You work out the problem, put in the time and effort, and get an answer that doesn’t match any of the multiple choice answers. At this point, you can either just make an “educated guess” and move on or work the entire problem all over again. Either way, it sucks.

I wonder if there will be a curve.

This thought usually comes about halfway through the test. Whether you have thought it was easy or hard up to that point, there’s always the glimmer of hope that the exam will be curved.

How are people turning their exams in already?? I’m only on question 42!!! Am I going to finish in time? How did they finish so quickly??

Nothing like the panic of everyone around you starting to leave.

I don’t want to be the first one to turn it in.

On the flip side, no one wants to be the first person to stand up and turn in the test. This comes with its own set of doubts: why is everyone else taking so long? Maybe I did them all wrong? It was probably so easy because I did everything wrong!

DONE.

Ah, the sweet relief of turning in an exam. There are few states as euphoric. Finally, the stress and anxiety are over and you can enjoy your free time again (until the next exam).

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