Test Take Strategies

• Approach the test confidently, take it calmly.
• Remember to review in the weeks before the test.
• Don’t “cram.” Be careful of your diet and sleep…especially as the test draws near.
• Arrive on time…and ready.
• Choose a good seat. Get comfortable and relax.
• Bring the complete kit of “tools” you’ll need.
• Listen carefully to all directions.
• Apportion your time intelligently with an “exam budget.”
• Read all directions carefully. Twice if necessary. Pay particular attention to the scoring plan.
• Look over the whole test before answering any questions.
• Start right in, if possible. Stay with it. Use every second effectively.
• Do the easy questions first; postpone harder questions until later.
• All CST program questions are currently weighted the same.
• Determine the pattern of the test questions. If it is hard-easy, etc., answer accordingly.
• Read each question carefully. Make sure you understand each one before you answer. Re-read, if necessary.
• Think! Avoid hurried answers, guess intelligently.
• Watch your watch and “exam budget,” but do a little balancing of the time you devote to each question.
• Get all the help you can from “cue” words.
• Rephrase difficult questions for yourself.
• Choose the “best” of all the possible answers
• Refresh yourself with a few well-chosen rest pauses during the test.
• Use controlled association to see the relation of one question to another and with as many important ideas as you can develop.
• Answer all questions.
• Now that you’re a “cool” test-taker, stay calm and confident throughout the test. Don’t let anything throw you.
• Edit, check, proofread your answers. Be a “bitter ender,” stay working until they make you go.

Remember this is an open book exam. Bring at least the following:

Surveying and Mapping text book(s)

Dictionary

Safety and first aid book (Red Cross)

A loose-leaf binder with sample equations and your review notes