What to focus on in the last week before your exam

What to focus on in the last week before your exam

You made it! One week before the exam. You have been studying for months and finally have made it to the home stretch. Although it feels good to know you’re almost at the finish line, don’t stop pushing just yet! There is still a lot to take care of in the last week before the exam. We have compiled a little list to help you sort out what you need to focus on during this last week!

Master anything you have not yet mastered

Ideally, you will have everything mastered long before it comes time for you to take the exam. However, even the best made plans go awry. The information that you just do not quite yet feel perfectly comfortable with should be your top priority. As you already know, the key to acing the EPPP is mastery of terms and critical application of theories. Ensuring the mastery of these topics will be your best bet to making sure you have an excellent test day.

Practice your “brain dump”

Since you are allowed scratch paper during the exam, it is to your benefit to use some of that scratch paper to “brain dump,” or quickly write down all the information that you are holding in your working memory. This allows you to free up space in your working memory and ensure that you have visual prompts for yourself later in the exam. Most often, this information includes rote things, like dates or key names that you struggle to remember. “Brain dump” information also often includes diagrams that would be tricky to use directly from memory, such as the bell curve chart.

Take care of all the arrangements of the test day

You are going to be under a great deal of stress come the day of the exam. It is important to alleviate as much of that beforehand as possible. Try to take care of as many things for the test day ahead of time as you can. Make sure all the smaller work deadlines are already met. Fill up your car with gas the night before. If applicable, be sure to have childcare and a backup childcare situation in line. It might even be nice to plan your evening meal ahead of time, whether that means making a favorite dish to pop in the oven when you get home, making dinner reservations at a favorite restaurant, or even scheduling your favorite take-out meal to be ready when you arrive at home! Having all the minor stressors of the day out of the way will help you focus more of your attention on the exam.

Arrangements for the day should also include things such as packing snacks and having an outfit that is both comfortable and makes you feel confident. Although it might not sound important, it is vital that you keep your energy up during an endurance exam such as the EPPP will help you pass the exam. It is also important to prepare yourself for the temperature of the room in which you will be testing. Since you will not be able to see the room ahead of time, you will not know if the center will be cold or hot. Dressing in layers can help you feel comfortable in any temperature room.

Have at least one practice exam day

In the days leading up to your exam, things will certainly feel a little more strange than usual. Having a practice exam day can help you make things feel a bit more normal. What we mean by a practice exam day is actually going through all of the motions that you will go through on your actual exam day. Wake up at the same time that you will, get ready on the same timeline that you will for exam day, have the same breakfast that you will have on exam day, and even drive over to the exam location! It is important to get a feel for what the day will be like. In this way, you can find out what things might need to be tweaked or if there is anything that could be done better. Finding out the subtle nuances of the exam day, such as how much traffic there will be on exam morning and how long you will need to be ready, will help you breeze through the day of the exam.