Introduction. An examination session is a stressful situation, which may result in an increase in the level of anxiety and irritability, sleep and eating disorders, as well as general emotional exhaustion of students. The study of the features of coping strategies (coping methods) with exam stress used by students of Russian universities acts as an important and requiring in-depth study topic aimed at increasing the level of satisfaction with the lives of Russian citizens. he purpose of the study is to study the peculiarities of experiencing exam stress and the use of coping strategies during the examination session among students of psychological and medical faculties. Materials and methods. The study involved students (N=113), aged 16-40 years. Students of psychological direction (N=72) studying in bachelor's degree (n=65), master's degree (n=7). Medical students studying in the specialty (N=41).Within the framework of the phenomenological approach, a study was conducted using the method of content analysis of texts of retrospective reports of students about their experiences during the examination session. To study the features of coping strategies, an author's questionnaire was developed. The results of the study. Common reasons that cause stress during the examination session are: the level of complexity of the discipline being taken, the risk of expulsion and the fear of losing the scholarship. Students of the psychological direction are more likely to experience stress on the eve of the exam, while students of the medical direction had stress symptoms throughout the session. The most frequent symptoms of stress in students of two areas of study are: sleep disorders. Medical students are more likely to be affected by eating disorders and the work of the gastrointestinal tract, the appearance of cutaneous neurodermatitis than psychological students. Successful passing of exams makes it possible to reduce or completely stop the symptoms of stress, which was noted by 71 students, 12 students of the medical direction and 17 of the psychological direction felt the effects of exam stress for some time after the end of the examination session. Conclusion. When coping with exam stress, students most often use coping strategies: withdrawal-avoidance, problem-solving planning, search for social support, positive reassessment and self-control. Experiencing exam stress, students of two directions need emotional support from their immediate environment, while its absence can aggravate the experience of exam stress. The obtained research results can be used to develop programs to reduce the level of exam stress experienced by students of Russian universities and improve the quality of life of young people.