Contributed by Marina Sun, Troy DECA
It’s Monday night, and suddenly you realize that your competition exam is tomorrow! You pull an all-nighter frantically Googling various marketing terms and hoping to remember every piece of obscure vocabulary.
Sound familiar? As we begin to prepare for our association and international competitions, don’t let this scenario turn into a reality. Here are four tips guaranteed to help you ace your cluster exam:
1. Use Quizlet to Master Vocabulary
The best resource for finding pre-made cluster exam resources is just a few clicks away! Search up your cluster exam category (for example, “DECA Marketing Cluster Exam”) and you’re sure to find a multitude of resources. Here are some sets for each career cluster to get you started!
2. Take Practice Exams and Understand Your Mistakes
While taking old DECA tests sounds obvious, the important part is to recognize your mistakes. Each test comes with a detailed answer key in the back, so if you get a question incorrect make sure to read the explanation and understand why a particular answer is correct. Take this a step further by making a Quizlet of all your incorrect test questions to double-check that you truly understand these difficult concepts!
3. Study Performance Indicators
Although we normally associate them with role-plays, exam questions are often pulled from Tier 1 and Tier 2 Performance Indicator (PI) concepts as well. Visit the DECA website to find your career cluster PI’s and identify any unfamiliar topics to further research.
4. Start Now
I’ll admit it – I’m a procrastinator. Aren’t we all? While it might be relaxing to push aside studying right now, your future self will thank you for getting a head start. Instead of scrolling through social media between classes, use Quizlet to test your business knowledge! Rather than taking 4 practice exams the night before, challenge yourself to complete and review 10 questions per day. Trust me, once you’re boarding a plane to ICDC, this will all be worth it.
The road to achieving a stellar exam score is challenging, but with a little hard work and DECAcation, I’m sure that you will be ready for the challenge!
