Tests, one thing many students dread at the start of every school year. But, they don't have to be that bad. With adequate preparation, tests can be a great opportunity to show your teachers (and yourself) what you've learned. These 13 steps can help you prepare for any exam, no matter how much you're dreading it.

1. Come to the test prepared and feeling confident in the material. Look it over the week before the test. Do not wait and cram the night before. Try to have all questions answered by your teacher the day before the exam and not right before the exam starts. Read your textbook, look through your notes, summarize main themes, or do anything else that helps you feel ready.

2. Make sure you're not hungry or

overly full and that you are well-rested. Avoid eating sugary or processed foods

before the test. Avoid items such as candy, carbonated soft drinks, junk foods, and fried foods. Snack on fresh fruit or veggies immediately before the exam to get your mind off the test and give you some sustenance.

3. Breathe. Relax. Imagine yourself acing the test. It is amazing what a little positive imagery can do for you.

4. Read ALL of the directions carefully. Reread them once you have finished. Look through the test to see what types of questions are asked, how many questions there are, if there are any major essays, if you have choices about which questions you can answer, etc. Make sure you know how much each section is worth, so you can budget your time.

5. If the test involves specific equations, conversions, dates or anything else that you must

memorize, write it on the top or margin of the test paper as soon as the test is handed out. Remembering complicated equations and dates before you have answered any questions is a lot easier than trying to remember them after you have answered half of the test questions, and your brain is starting to get tired.

6. Answer all of the easy questions first. This will help you get into the test-taking mood and build confidence. Circle the numbers of the questions that you really have no idea about. You can come back to these later. Questions you answer later in the test might trigger something and help you answer a question that you were previously stuck on.

7. Narrow multiple choice answers down to the two you believe might be correct by crossing off the ones you are positively are incorrect. This will improve your chances of guessing the right one.

8. True-False questions are often a favorite of teachers and can be quite complicated at times. Keep in mind that every part of a true-false statement must be true in order to answer it as true. If any part is false, mark the entire statement false; you may want to underline the portion of the statement that you believe is incorrect. If there are negatives in the statement such as “no or not,” and you are not sure whether to mark it true or false, try re-reading the question without the “no or not.” Decide if this statement is true or false, and then answer the opposite on your test. Words indicating absoluteness (never, always, entirely, every, only, none) often tend to be used in false statements but not always.

9. For essay or short answer questions, try to construct concise answers that target the

question and prove to the teacher you know the material. Get right to the point in the first sentence or two of your answer. The rest of the answer should contain proof that you know what you are talking about. Give enough evidence to support your thoughts but don't over-answer the question. Writing a lot of fluff usually leaves teachers thinking that you are writing for the sake of filling the space and that you really don't have a good handle on the correct answer.

10. Before you begin writing an essay, make sure you know exactly what the question is

asking. Try to restate the question in your own words. If you can't do this with confidence, make a quick visit to the teacher and have them clarify it for you. Once confident in what the question is asking, take a few moments to get your thoughts together and write some notes in the margin or even create an outline on scrap paper if you have time.

11. If you find that you are running short on time and still have some open-ended questions left to answer, write something rather than leaving the space blank. Create a brief outline to show the teacher that you do know the answer, but you didn't have enough time to write an entire essay. You may be able to say more in an outline than you can if you only write a few opening sentences of your essay. Partial credit is better than no credit at all.

12. Once you believe you are finished with the test, reread everything again to be sure that you answered every question fully and completely. If you have time, cover up your answers with your hand or another sheet of paper, and ask yourself what answer you would give if you had to answer it again. Compare this answer with what you have already written down. Only change the original answer if you find that you made a silly mistake or originally misinterpreted the question. It is usually best to go with your original instinct when you are truly unsure of an answer.

13. Be neat. The last thing a teacher wants to do while correcting mounds of tests is spend time deciphering what a student has illegibly written. Some teachers may label illegible work wrong regardless of if the answer is correct.