8AM Exam: What to do to prepare to be alert at that time

[DeutscheJasmin]

Any tips or suggestions how to train our brains to become alert at 8am and ready to take the first most important exam of our lives? I am not a morning person. However, when I have to, I can wake up at 6....but be alert and ready to take an exam at 8am?? That's a-whole-nother story. Any tips or experiments you've done and were successful?
Thanks!
Jaz

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[Doc Henry]

I'm just like you, not a morning person! However, I found that I was so pumped up and nervous that it was all I could do to sleep, let alone worry about waking up! I was wide eyed and bushy tailed, ready to go.

 

[jamesrick80]

One word "oatmeal", u might hate it but your brain will be energized.

 

[MJB]

Any tips or suggestions how to train our brains to become alert at 8am and ready to take the first most important exam of our lives? I am not a morning person. However, when I have to, I can wake up at 6....but be alert and ready to take an exam at 8am?? That's a-whole-nother story. Any tips or experiments you've done and were successful?
Thanks!
Jaz

Best thing to do is get up at a normal time comparable to test day for at least a few days before.

Like, if you're testing at 8 on a Saturday, I would make sure to get up at about the time you plan to get up on test day at least 3 days prior (in a row), and get good rest leading up to the test day.

 

[SN2ed]

Yeah, I'm a night person as well. What I did was wake up at the time I'd need to be up for every single practice MCAT I took. If you're MCAT is coming up, just wake up early until you take your test. It's much better to get adjusted now, then on test day.

 

[Sillyshoes]

don't drink a diuretic to keep you alert...🙂

 

[DeutscheJasmin]

My MCAT is on June 13. I guess I can wake up at 6:30AM 2 weeks before? waking up part is not a biggie...being alert at 8 is the problem heh =/ but thanks for all your input..And, I am a coffee addict...as if I didn't have enough problems :]

 

[speeter]

My MCAT is on June 13. I guess I can wake up at 6:30AM 2 weeks before? waking up part is not a biggie...being alert at 8 is the problem heh =/ but thanks for all your input..And, I am a coffee addict...as if I didn't have enough problems :]

I would suggest scheduling 8am classes throughout undergrad or holding a normal 8-5 job during the summers so you are used to being on the same schedule as the rest of working America.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

don't drink a diuretic to keep you alert...🙂

OMG this is the best advice any man/woman can give you. 👍

 

[con1988]

I've been trying to get up at around 7 for my MCAT over the past week... at the same time, I find myself tired throughout the day and not sleep well during the night... leading up to my exam, this concerns me.

Is it true that the night before the night of the exam is the most important night of sleep?

 

[MJB]

I've been trying to get up at around 7 for my MCAT over the past week... at the same time, I find myself tired throughout the day and not sleep well during the night... leading up to my exam, this concerns me.

Is it true that the night before the night of the exam is the most important night of sleep?

2 nights before.

If you're getting up at 7, what time are you going to sleep?

 

[BitingPlates]

I also had a morning exam last year. What I did was wake up at 6am the week before the exam, and go to bed early. On test day I woke up around 6, and went to the gym and did some light cardio for 30 minutes, and I was fine for the test. If you want to fall asleep easier you can purchase some melatonin pills and take them 1hr before you want to go to sleep. I bought melatonin from Now foods, they are in 3mg pills. I take them before I lay down and it just makes me drowsy and I fall asleep really nice. When I awake I'm not super drowsy from taking them either. Just to be safe I would not take any the night before the exam, just use it to get you sleep wake cycle where you want it. Sorry for the long post

 

[halekulani]

simulate your test conditions
wake up at 6 or 7 then take a practice test at 8

 

[Oceano]

Honestly for me waking up at 6am for just a couple days before the test would not have been enough. I woke up at 530am for 2 weeks before the test, and it took my body a little more than a week to fully adjust to the cycle (i.e. for the first few days I felt tired waking up that early, but after a while I felt fully rested waking up that early)... keep in mind I was in bed every night and asleep by 9 though (I know that is not practical for everyone) and that worked for me

 

[RoyalFB]

I don't think you will have any problems being alert once you wake up for the MCAT. Your adrenaline will be running, because you know, it's kind of an important day. What I had more trouble with (which I was not expecting) was getting to sleep the night before. I had so much going on in my head that I didn't get to sleep until about 2am. If I had to do it over again, I'd go for a long run or something the night before. Maybe even go to a movie to get my mind on something else. 👍