Previously published Feb. 4, 2021

Every BISV middle schooler who has already spent a year here clearly knows what time of the year it is now. But for those who haven’t – pre-comprehensive exams have taken place, where all the knowledge accumulated over the past 5 months is put to the test over the duration of three days.

In a normal year, the week leading up to pre-comps would feature motivational posters on BASIS’s walls, teachers reminding noisy students that exams are in progress, and multiple “Exam in Progress” signs on classroom doors. While we won’t be seeing the quintessential reminders of an ongoing exam, pre-comps occurred this year as well, just in a different format.

Although pre-comps have ended now, here are some studying tips and lessons that will apply to comprehensive exams in May, as well as any exam you might face in the future!

During the stressful times before exams, above all, it’s important to remember that one exam doesn’t define your knowledge. Don’t get too stressed out – as long as you know the material and do your best, you will be fine. However, it’s also not a good idea to just wing pre-comps, since it’ll help in the long run to get your exam preparation and test taking skills in shape before entering high school since there will definitely be a lot of use for that there. Make sure to NOT cram -whatever you do, work on your study guides, Quizlet sets, and practice tests over the weekend (if you haven’t already) and not the day before the exam. What you should do the night before the exam is to go to bed early and take lots of rest, so that you can take the exam with a calm and focused brain!