Tips for The Exam Day

The center will be cold.so dress up in layers.If you do not need them you can always take one layer off.There is place to hang or lockers to keep stuff)
Check in: some one will check your ID,take photos,few finger prints.You can not anything with you inside-except for your reading glasses(no coolers or shades).everything else must go in your locker-water,food,watch,pencil grip,ear plug that you brought from home,lucky charms...
Then a computer system is assigned for you.
 Take time to
 read the tutorial even if you know how to do-it relaxes you a bit.

• Read each and every word of the question-understand,think of an answer BEFORE you read the given answer choices.
• Read all the answer choices-even if you are 100% sure that the first choice appears to be the correct one!
• if you do not know the answer to the question or do not understand it,just select any one answer and mark it for review,then MOVE ON to the next.Do not spend more time(not more than a minute).
• you can always review the marked ones at the end of each session.
• Okay,there are two similar answer choices,you have selected one.but you are a bit unsure.what to do?mark it come back at the end of the session.BUT never change the answer that you selected first unless otherwise you are 200% sure of the alternate choice.
• Most of the times,it turns out the first choice is the Best choice.(It happened to me!)
• Take the scheduled compulsory break-eat something (few slices of orange-instant glucose,cookie) empty your bladder,sip some water-sip not gulp down a 16oz bottle.Stretch.or just close your eyes and sit out side the testing room.
• The second hour of the exam is tricky as the power to concentrate decreases(mental fatigue)
• Be sure to read,re-read the questions and the choices.
• Sometimes it is difficult to understand the question or you just don't like it-select an answer,mark it for review,move on to next easy one.Later come back and review.
• See how much time you have left before beginning your exam after the scheduled break.depending upon your speed,do take a 3-5 minutes break if you feel fatigued or find it difficult to concentrate.It helps.(the clock keeps ticking though)
• After every 10 questions or so,look away from the screen at something far away(ceiling or clock on the opposite wall) for 20 secs while you are thinking about the q and ans.this decreases the eye fatigue,prevents head ache and so helps you concentrate better=more correct answers!
• Do not leave any question blank.Even if you are clueless,just select one answer.there is a 50-50 chance for that to be the right one.
• Do not fret over finished sections.Ones you locked and moved on to next section,forget the previous section.Focus on what is in front of you.

I took 1 hour to finish the first half. But the second half took me two hours!mental fatigue-my thought process was slow and i had to refocus,shake my head and bring my self back to the question monitor.If that was too much,i took a 5 minutes break-just sat there with eyes closed doing my neck stretches-that helped.
After the exam,as hours pass by you'll (may)realise that how you have gone wrong with simple questions even for the ones you knew very well...
Now do not be upset or blame yourself.When thinking under so much pressure such as exam,this is likely to occur.This does not mean you are not a good therapist.We don't have exams in day to day clinics.Do We?!