Institute of HeartMath Newsletter
Return to Main Page  |  Forward to a Friend Winter 2011 - Vol.10 / No.4
Test Relief Available for College Students

Test Relief Available for College Students

Oh no! Midterms or finals are only a couple of weeks away.

It always seems to be the same old pattern: First, you can’t believe it. Time is flying by faster than two bullet trains passing in the night. Then you panic. The semester’s nearly over and you wonder if you’ve learned anything at all. You just know you’re about to blow your exams, and do what millions of other college students do each year: Drop out!

This scenario is so common among college students that many relive it in their dreams years after they’ve graduated and moved on with their lives. It is all too real, however, for a huge number of other students who simply are not prepared for the rigors of college life.

In The High Cost of Low Graduation Rates: How Much Does Dropping Out of College Really Cost?, a report released in August 2011, the American Institutes for Research reported that "our colleges and universities are now graduating only slightly more than half the students who walk through their doors." Other sources say the national college dropout rate is even higher.

Test relief A Michigan State University study in which more than 1,000 students were surveyed found that in addition to transfers, increased tuition and living expenses and loss of financial aid, the remaining three of the top six events that led students to drop out were an unexpected bad grade, clinical depression and roommate conflicts.

Finding appropriate resources and the money to provide them have become top priorities at higher education institutions in recent years as college officials seek to reduce the alarming dropout rates on their campuses.


The College De-Stress Handbook

Tools for Overcoming Test Anxiety

"Most students experience test anxiety at some point in their academic careers," IHM’s Jeff Goelitz and Bob Rees write in the recently published book, The College De-Stress Handbook. "For a few, it can be a persistent problem because every test becomes a challenge to perform well and to keep their emotions under control enough to even show up for an exam."

The book notes that an estimated 25 percent of students experience physical, cognitive and emotional stress because of test anxiety.

"Anxiety causes your system to get out of sync, your brain to freeze and your memory of what you have studied to go out the window," Goelitz and Rees write.

The Institute of HeartMath, www.heartmath.org, has developed a variety of tools such as its Quick Coherence® Technique to help not only college students, but students of all ages to overcome test anxiety.

Although emotional memories of test anxiety that can date as far back as elementary school can seriously inhibit students’ test performance in college, "It is possible to weaken their effect by using the Quick Coherence Technique whenever you have an exam coming up."

Here’s a short adaptation of the Quick Coherence Technique:


Reduce a stress-producing reaction over a test

1. Heart-Focused Breathing

Calm yourself and reduce a stress-producing reaction such as anxiousness over a test by imagining that you are breathing in and out of your heart area, or the center of your chest. Breathe in slowly and deeply for 5 seconds, and then exhale for 5 seconds.


2. Activate a Positive Feeling

Activate a positive feeling such as appreciation, caring or love for a special person or pet. You also could remember an enjoyable occasion or a special place that made you feel good.


(Read the complete Quick Coherence Technique, including a detailed description of how it can help you.)


Replace Your Negative Patterns With Positive Ones

The human brain is similar to a computer that accepts input and then performs specific functions according to the instructions contained in the input. The emotional response patterns in our brains that can become so automatic we are completely unaware of them typically are the result of input from our previous emotional responses, sometimes over many years.

Replace Your Negative Patterns With Positive Ones If our first reaction to midterms, finals and other exams has always or nearly always been to stress, become anxious or exhibit some other negative emotion, our brain is wired to offer up that same response each time it learns that an exam is coming up. This experience of negative response patterns is more common than you might guess and in many cases can last all the way from elementary school through college.

Fortunately, these learned negative responses are only patterns, and patterns can be reined in, broken and replaced. Years of scientific research into emotional physiology at the Institute of HeartMath have shown that with practice you can intentionally change these negative emotional responses with healthier and more productive positive emotional responses.

IHM’s tools and technology have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to self-manage their emotions and reduce stress, and the Quick Coherence Technique is a good tool to begin with, especially for stress in the moment. The institute makes resources available as a service to the public on its Tools for Well-Being web page.

Test-Taking Tips from The College De-Stress Handbook

Test-Taking Tips (Adapted from The College De-Stress Handbook.)

  • Know expectations and test-taking conditions beforehand, including the material being covered and any test instructions or guidelines previously announced or handed out.
  • Plan and commit in advance to a study schedule, alone and/or in group discussions and reviews.
  • Practice good health habits, including exercise, healthy eating and 7 to 8 hours of sleep daily, especially the night before exams.
  • Eat healthy on exam days.
  • Review notes right up to exam times, if possible.
  • Practice the Quick Coherence Technique several times daily.

It’s OK to want to ace your exams, so be confident, but remember: Lots of things in life are more important.

Read more about The College De-Stress Handbook. Visit the College Resources section on IHM’s website.