Whether it is the SAT or an algebra test, a basic skills test or a history exam, the CPA exam or a kindergarten reading readiness test, tests stand at the gateway of opportunity. Tests should accurately reflect our knowledge of particular subjects or predict our ability to perform in future circumstances, and sometimes they do. As students enter each new level of competition, they usually experience the apprehension of the unknown, the shock of higher standards, and the sense of inadequate preparation. Classic examples of this phenomenon occur each fall on American college campuses as freshmen face their first exams.
Students commonly have ambivalent feelings about tests.
Anxiety, avoidance, and anger can occur beforehand, while celebration, remorse, and relief can be the aftermath. The Nature of College Tests College tests, especially freshman level, should effectively sample your knowledge of the subject you are studying. Whatever the structure, a test should be balanced along two dimensions. Your first task is to determine the range of material each professor expects you to master for the test. The second dimension is somewhat more difficult to describe.