Unexpected Study Tips from Straight-A Students The Princeton Review
Have you ever crossed your fingers or knocked on wood for luck? Some elite athletes have
lucky socks, or a lucky hat, or a lucky jersey — and they worry that if they don’t wear
their lucky item, they’ll lose.
Well, straight-A students have their own habits, and they’re not all superstitions. We asked
a bunch of super-smart students, and a few super-smart teachers of super-smart students,
about what they did to secure their straight-A records. Here’s their advice about habits
worth forming. They said you’re welcome to adopt any of these yourself.
“I’m a bubble-chunker,” this student writes.
“When taking a standardized test, I do each question and write the letter answer for each
question in my test book, instead of going right to the answer sheet and filling in the
bubble. Then once I get to the end of the page, I go to the answer sheet and fill in
the group of bubbles all at once.”
That could make sense. Saves time because you’re not going back and forth between
test and answer sheet. Plus, it could be more accurate because you won’t get one number
off for a whole string of questions.
Now if it were me, I wouldn’t wait to enter them all at the end, because then you’d
risk running out of time.
So the advice is: Be a bubble-chunker, and don’t dilly-dally.
“I always create images or pictures in my head to retain information. The more elaborate,
weird, and detailed, the better.”
OK, well that one seems straightforward enough.
Oh, well here’s one that flies in the face of all that “get a good night’s sleep”
and “eat a healthy breakfast” advice you’re always hearing.
“My tried and true method is similar to how athletes keep a streak alive or get ready
for a BIG game. I try not to change my routine. Since I’m a night owl (routinely stay up
’til midnight or later), I don’t try to go to bed earlier the night before the test.
Since I rarely eat breakfast, I don’t sit down to a full breakfast right before a test.
My philosophy is to keep as many variables constant as possible.”
Huh. Well, this student takes a different approach:
“Day of the test, have the breakfast of champions for brain energy!! My favorite is
2 eggs over-easy, 2 slices of rye or whole wheat toast, glass of orange juice (¼ juice
+ ¾ water), 2 cups of coffee w/regular milk and no sugar.”
Hm, I wonder if this student is an athlete.
“Exercise prior. Could be something quick like jumping jacks or jumprope.”
This one’s similar, but the workout is mental.
“Do some warm-up prior to the actual test. Loosen the cobwebs a bit and get into test-taking
mode. You don’t want to waste the first 10-15 mins of the actual test getting into
the zone. I’d do a couple practice math problems before going into a big math test.”
Here’s one about getting into your groove.
“On the test itself, bang out some easy questions first. Get your rhythm going and
your confidence boosted.”
Oh, smart students and their bad habits. Listen to this one:
“Chew gum. There is some evidence that it keeps your brain active.”
Oh, now this student’s getting right to it.
“I try to make sure I’m slightly physically uncomfortable before a big test — like maybe
a little cold — so that I stay edgy and alert.”
That’s intense.
I feel like I need to interject here: your mileage may vary, folks.
Oh, this one’s got advice about your prep. We like prep at The Princeton Review!
“Teach the subject. Prepare a brief presentation of a complex topic you’re struggling with,
and teach it to your parents, significant other — even your dog. The point is for
you to get comfortable with that knowledge. And if your ‘student’ asks questions,
you’ll determine your mastery of the topic by your ability to answer them.”
Here’s one from a teacher.
“I had a tutoring student once who performed very well on her ACT practice tests. Then
she took the real test and bombed. It was test anxiety. I had been telling her to start
training her body to calm down using mindful meditation/positive thoughts while smelling
lavender oil. Once a day, for at least 10 minutes, sniff a cotton ball dipped in lavender
oil while closing your eyes in a quiet place, relaxing, and thinking about performing well
on the ACT. Then, on test day, put a cotton ball dipped in lavender oil in your jacket
sleeve near your wrist. Whenever you start freaking out or feeling anxious, close your
eyes, revert back to your mindful meditation practice, and deeply breathe in the lavender
oil scent.
She did this. She took the ACT again doing this on the next administration of the test.
She surpassed her highest practice test scores and her goals.”
I think we’ve got to leave it there, folks. Can’t get better than that.
Hope these work for you, too. Comment and let us know YOUR secret habits for acing tests.
Thanks so much for watching.
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