PhD/PsyD 495 on EPPP (74 NY), so discouraged...

[psychely]

Hello everyone,

I took the EPPP today (I suppose yesterday now) for the second time after spending 2.5 intensive months (following a break after failing in March of this year, which I studied lightly for about a month) reading AR/AATBS texts, listening to PsychPrep audios, and taking AR practice tests.

What really bothers me, is that I felt pretty good during the exam, and to have a score 5 points away from passing makes it that much more of a bitter pill to swallow. The problem for me is that I really think I know the material, but I have always struggled with multiple choice format, but this has not usually been a problem since most of my undergraduate and graduate studies focused much more on written evaluations.

After studying so intensely for the past couple of months, I feel exhausted, drained, and so disappointed that had I answered maybe one or two questions better, I would have passed. The idea of going to the testing centre and taking the exam for a third time is so daunting and depressing, not to mention the studying I'll have to do prior to that. I suppose there's some little part of me that is hoping that I can possibly appeal the score, or that my licensing board might accept the score anyway, but I highly doubt it.

The worst part is that I so anticipated to pass, that I preemptively booked a holiday which I now don't even believe I deserve or will enjoy

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[foreverbull]

Ouch. That is frustrating to be so close yet so far!

Are you looking for advice or just wanting to vent? My inclination is to suggest taking the practice EPPP at Pearson during your next study period to make sure you're prepared enough (and it uses the same EPPP question language), and to see the breakdown of how you do on the sections. Then you can review the low-scoring sections most heavily. That might be a more effective way to gauge readiness, and it will most closely simulate the test environment and similar levels of anxiety. Just a thought!

 

[psychely]

Ouch. That is frustrating to be so close yet so far!

Are you looking for advice or just wanting to vent? My inclination is to suggest taking the practice EPPP at Pearson during your next study period to make sure you're prepared enough (and it uses the same EPPP question language), and to see the breakdown of how you do on the sections. Then you can review the low-scoring sections most heavily. That might be a more effective way to gauge readiness, and it will most closely simulate the test environment and similar levels of anxiety. Just a thought!

Thank you for your reply! I think I will do that. I've taken the PEPPP once before, when I took the exam for the first time. I told a colleague about what has happened with the score, and they recommended that I call the testing centre to try to have the exam rescored... I've tried, but I've only been put on hold. Is there any possible chance do you think that this can help me? Or am I just SOL... I really am having such a difficult time swallowing the score being so close! I debated on a question for a long time, and I'm now wondering if that was the one that kept me from passing

 

[foreverbull]

I've never heard of having the exam "rescored" as an option. Most people who've talked about struggling with the EPPP in here seem to miss by a relatively small margin like you, so it is frustrating, but I think you might need to cut your losses and move on. You could agonize forever over that one question, but you'll never know the answer.

If you took the PEPPP before, was it helpful? You might need to change your study tactics and buy a different set of online practice exams or get different hand-me-down practice tests. My approach was to take notes of the written material to engage more during studying, listen to the associated audio section to reinforce it, and then take practice tests at regular intervals. Some people swear by flashcards, some people dig through youtube videos, some people use the Modern Psychologist EPPP study guide. I would suggest studying more hours than your last two tries and changing something about your study habits/methods. If there's a possibility anxiety is affecting your performance, you might need to address that as well. Best of luck!

 

[psychely]

I've never heard of having the exam "rescored" as an option. Most people who've talked about struggling with the EPPP in here seem to miss by a relatively small margin like you, so it is frustrating, but I think you might need to cut your losses and move on. You could agonize forever over that one question, but you'll never know the answer.

If you took the PEPPP before, was it helpful? You might need to change your study tactics and buy a different set of online practice exams or get different hand-me-down practice tests. My approach was to take notes of the written material to engage more during studying, listen to the associated audio section to reinforce it, and then take practice tests at regular intervals. Some people swear by flashcards, some people dig through youtube videos, some people use the Modern Psychologist EPPP study guide. I would suggest studying more hours than your last two tries and changing something about your study habits/methods. If there's a possibility anxiety is affecting your performance, you might need to address that as well. Best of luck!

I ended up calling, and apparently they stopped rescoring the exam a few years ago, so that option was out!

To answer your question, I recently took the PEPPP again, one month after the EPPP with no additional studying, and passed! I scored a 560. Do you think that is a good enough score to attempt the EPPP again? I have been studying lightly in the meantime, and have been able to acquire an extra hour for the exam and a water bottle, hopefully these will help with my anxiety!

 

[foreverbull]

Hmmm..that's a good sign. I'd continue to review; take a few more practice tests if available and review notes/audio... and perhaps it's time to set a test date for the EPPP?

 

[Social Butterfly]

I scored a 560. Do you think that is a good enough score to attempt the EPPP again? I have been studying lightly in the meantime, and have been able to acquire an extra hour for the exam and a water bottle, hopefully these will help with my anxiety!

Hey, I am curious how your outcome was after scoring a 560 on the PEPPP? Hoping you ended up passing shortly after that! I just took the PEPPP and got a 560. I first took the PEPPO and failed then studied more and then took the PEPPO2 and failed again. After I failed each time, I tried reviewing topics from questions that I remembered I struggled with on those exams to improve additional areas of study for me. For example, If i remembered struggling on one of the PEPPO questions about erickson's developmental stages, I made sure to review his stages more right after and used this strategy after taking the exam and failing both times. I ended up making a study guide of the topics i could remember struggling with just so I could build a stronger knowledge of the areas I felt I struggled with (obviously I had no proof since it doesn't tell you what ones I got right/wrong). But i did this in case to understand that topic again in the future.... and in hopes that if that topic came up again on the real test.... I would be more prepared etc. But i feel like this kind of screwed me over when I decided to take the PEPPP in person because the questions on the PEPP seemed VERY similar to the ones I had taken on the PEPPO and the PEPPO2. Now I am fearing that I just reviewed the topics I could remember after failing each exam the first two times and that was why I was able to pass the third time around. I'm not sure but i'm trying to continue to study my psych prep materials and other info. i am finding online. I am trying to stay confident and stay focused. But I am so afraid of failing. I have the test scheduled in 2 weeks and I really don't want to put anymore time or money into this damn test.

Any advice you have for me would really help!!!

 

[turtleburtle]

When I studied for the EPPP, once I found the content to be familiar (sounds like it felt familiar to you), I began to focus almost entirely on test taking strategies. I found that I had to have a very different approach to answering the questions than I would normally. Even when I knew the material, I would get questions wrong because I did not understand the type of answer they were looking for or struggled to compare two totally different theories in the way they wanted. I focused on practice tests and reviewed all answers and why each answer was correct or incorrect to focus on how to approach the questions and apply the information. Maybe a strategy like this might be helpful to you? I listened to the psych prep lecture on test taking a few times which was helpful.

 

[Social Butterfly]

Thanks that is helpful! I am DEFINITELY struggling with the test taking approach.