TIPS FOR TESTING : Students Pass On Studying Advice

Final exam time is here for most public schools around the country, and you can spend the time between now and the killer test groaning, or you can make up your mind that this time, you’re going in prepared to ace it.

Studying doesn’t have to be painful. It doesn’t even have to be boring.

To help, we assembled our own panel of test-taking experts, all of them with lots of experience. They are Orange County high school students, most of them honors students, all of them good at tests. Here they share their secret weapons for negotiating the multiple-choice and essay-question battlefield with style and sometimes even with fun.

Lia Marie Vales, 15, Esperanza High, Anaheim: “I stick sticky notes all around the house with answers to questions on them. I leave them in places I always go to, like the bathroom or the radio or refrigerator. It helps you remember a lot of stuff.”

Andrew Pena, 18, Irvine High, Irvine: “A good way to study is to rewrite your notes a couple of times. While you’re rewriting them you’re putting all the information into your head. It just stays in your memory.”

Nick Jensen, 14, Kennedy High, La Palma: “For English, I bought the book on tape. I like to draw in my free time, so I drew while I listened. That way, I’d read the book and heard it.”

Marianne Stewart, 17, Kennedy High, La Palma: “We had a group of people in the spa studying for Spanish. We would all quiz each other and if you missed one you had to jump in the cold pool. It worked pretty well.”

Jon Sampson, 18, Esperanza High: “We all went over to Border’s bookstore in Brea and sat around reading Cliff’s Notes and exchanging books. If we didn’t have a book, we could go over to the section and look at it. We bought coffee so we weren’t loitering or anything.”

Jared Shaver, 18, Brea Olinda High, Brea: “I always try to pretend I’m the smartest person in the class, because I think that gives you confidence. You just look around and you go, ‘I’m so much smarter than everyone else,’ and you can deal with the test. I’ve talked to a lot of people who do that.”

Nick Jensen: “The morning of the test I get up a little early and jog to get my blood moving. Then I go over my notes again so it’s in my mind when I get to school.”

Marianne Stewart: “I carry around a list of questions with me and whenever I have a few extra minutes I hand it to someone and ask them to quiz me.”

Hong Nguyen, 17, Ocean View High, Huntington Beach: “On an essay question I’ll do brainstorming before I write. I write down all the ideas I want to include in the essay. It only takes about five minutes and your essay is much more organized.”

Allison Jacobs, 18, Valencia High, Placentia: “I ask my teachers to give me copies of their old tests and I use those a lot.”

Devon Glenn, 17, Brea Olinda: “Groups help me because some people have paid attention to different things in class. It helps to share ideas and keep each other focused, because I have a short attention span.”

Hong Nguyen: “I make note cards for all my tests. I put the term on the front and short information about it on the back. Then I go over them a lot, like at night or I’ll take them to class sometimes too.”

Jared Shaver: “The trick to ‘true or false’ questions is to pick the outrageous ones first. Then you can work backward from there to get an even number of both.”

Brenna Veltre, 16, Esperanza High: “If you don’t know the answer to an essay question, try to be funny about it. If you write something funny, most teachers will grade you easier.”

Nick Jensen: “If I can take my notes into a test, I’ll draw key pictures instead of words sometimes so I don’t waste time reading through the notes. The pictures kind of remind you and the information pops into your mind.”

Brenna Veltre: “When I’m stuck on a multiple choice question I look back on my sheet and see if it makes a pattern. If it seems to be the right answer, I’ll mark it.”

Nick Jensen: “I think it’s important to ask for help. When you’re doing your homework and you don’t get something, ask the teacher. Then you’re sure you’re studying the right information.”

Jared Shaver: “Some people pray right before a test. I’ve had to do that a couple of times.”