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Step 1
Start studying well in advance of the exam. It's always a good idea to review your notes as you progress in the course, not right just before the exam. There are too many ways to suggest for you to study in general, so in the follow steps I'm going to focus in on how to prepare for an essay test.
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Step 2
Ask your professor for sample questions. You may not get them, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Remember to ask politely, and humbly. Nothing inspires a professor's contempt like a sense of entitlement.
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Step 3
Look for thought questions in your text. They're typically at the end of chapter sub-sections and the ends of chapters. I know I often modify these to create exam questions; sometimes I use them verbatim.
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Step 4
Write your own questions. This is the toughest one. Review your notes, the text, old exam questions, think like a professor. In other words you have think about a new situation in which you can apply the information you've learned. To be able to do this step, you have to 'own' the information: know it backwards and forwards so that you can not only remember facts, you can apply them.
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Step 5
Now that you have a working set of practice questions, answer them. Even if you haven't picked any of the questions that show up on the test, you'll get practice writing and organizing your thoughts about the info. Try doing a trial run where you time yourself. The next few steps are advice on how to write your answers to get the most points. These apply to both your practice answers and your answers on the real exam.
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Step 6
Use clear, concise, grammatically-correct writing. Don't try to flower it up. Don't write run-on sentences. This is easier to do when you're practicing than when you're really working on an exam, but try to keep from rambling and to write plainly.
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Step 7
Do not rewrite the question as part of your answer. Doing so amounts to 'padding' your question and will likely cost you points.
Here's an example:
QUESTION: "Why do most food safety experts condemn the continued sub-therapeutic (i.e., with no apparent illness as a cause) use of antibiotics in livestock feed and trough water? ANSWER: "Most food experts condemn the use of antibiotics in livestock feed and trough water when there is no apparent illness..." -
Step 8
Back up every statement you make. For every sentence making a statement of a fact or point, you should have another that explains why you are using or adhering to that point. Don't make any statement you don't support!
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Step 9
Use outside sources. If you have the time to read the primary literature, news reports, editorials, or the like pertaining to the subject you will be tested on and you are able to throw those facts into your answer, you'll probably impress your prof. (provide you use the facts appropriately)
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Step 10
Don't memory dump. I occasionally have students who have memorized quite a bit of material and use that information in a shotgun approach to answer the question. Since they're not exactly sure how to answer the question or what the correct answer is, they write down everything they can think of that has a remote chance of being the answer, in the hopes that the correct answer is in there somewhere. If you throw a whole bunch of wrong in your answer it won't matter much to your prof that there's a little bit of right.
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Step 11
Write a mini outline before you start. Jot down one or two words for all the points you want to make, and number them or arrange them in the order you think they should appear in the answer. This will help you keep from rambling.
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Step 12
Pace yourself and breathe. If you have time to review your answers, you should go back over them and tweak the spelling and grammar and make sure you hit all the right points. If your exam has multiple-choice or other objective questions, then make sure to leave time to answer them.
