Before beginning to answer any part of the examination, read it through, paying special attention to the directions. If it serves no other purpose, this act will at least encourage a more deliberate attitude toward the examination. In their eagerness to start writing, some students ignore important directions or confuse the number of questions they are to answer. It is a wise discipline to survey any task before beginning it, and this habit is especially useful when some questions are marked as counting more toward the total grade than others. If you are given a choice of questions, make your choice carefully but quickly, and then stick to it.
Procrastination steals confidence as well as time.
A student who shifts from one choice to another as soon as he strikes a snag is likely to have just as much trouble with his second choice. If any one of a choice of questions is definitely easier, that advantage should be obvious on first inspection. Determine how much time is available for each question. This advise is often more necessary for good students than for poor ones. The student who knows the subject well and is eager to demonstrate his knowledge sometimes cannot resist the temptation to let himself go on the first questions and to write four pages where only one was expected.