3 Am.

This is another middle-school-perspective post so if you didn't take kindly to the last one.

Yup.

Excuse any grammar or vocabulary misusage as it is three in the morning just after finishing a set of homework and earlier today I was thinking, so I kind of saved it for now.

Well of course in these posts I have to give you background information before I explain my theory.

Our school began to give us students quarterly assessments this year, and to most people, in their opinion the tests were designed to make us fail. Well here's the plot twist. There's always this wingnut that makes everyone look bad.

Here is the real background statistics.
Average for math, 50 - 65 range.
Average for history 40 - 65 range.
Average for science pre 20 - 65.

Now, let it first be known that I don't study for any standardized test, or almost anything in that matter. But frankly I happened to score almost 10 - 30 % higher than my gifted and advanced class counterparts when I'm taking the same classes as them. My scores were 100 in math (highest heard of) 80 in history (highest heard of) and ~82 in science, (teacher confirmed highest grade so far.)

Here's the theory part. The key to taking tests is test taking strategies correct? Well to be honest, the real factor and actual represented outcome is determined by your mindset. "Am I ready to take this test?" Well common sense probably tells you the ones who study and know the material inside and out will do the best, this assumption is bull-shit.

Let's pretend I did actually study for these tests like how a real A student should. Lets say I was the most confident person in the world and I thought I knew what I was doing. That doesn't mean buckets, I could mark all the wrong answers that seem right all because of my ego. Common misconceptions include that people who don't prepare won't "do too hot," people who study and smart people will score high. For a fact we all know this is false, smart people do have that occasional C on exams and end up beating themselves up over it.

The reason these assumptions are unrealistic is that people forget they are taking a test and limit their answers on the test to what they've studied. Never do this, ever.

The real mindset one should have when taking a test is not whether it is fair or reasonable. The mindset should be "whatever I had done to prepare is done, I can't change what I did anymore. No sense in regretting it." "I will do what I can and accept that this test will evaluate what I really know, therefore I must do what I can to score my highest." The reason this mindset is ideal is that frankly if you are following this mindset all nervousness should be gone, this means any extra emotions blocking your logical tract of thought is nonexistent. This allows your mind to use the extra emotions of "oh I'm gonna do gr8!!" Or "sh1t y didn't I study this instead of..." To turn your regretful mind into one flourishing with logical answers to the trivial texts provided.

So what I'm saying is, if you really want to perform your best on standardized tests, be as modest as possible, don't think cocky, and do your best / believe you will do your best. When the moment comes when those questions pop out of the cart it doesn't matter what happened before hand, you have to accept you can't change it anymore and that your results are based upon your actions, and you deserve your retuned grade. Never underestimate the power of the written text.

Signed Andrew, the overconfident.
For real, test taking strategies will save your life.