how to sleep the night before MCAT

[chuckhusky]

Obvious i failed to get a night of good sleep, that's why i am retaking my MCAT next month. I am hoping to hear what techniques you all have to put yourselves to sleep. my difficulty sleeping the night before exams started in the second quater of my senior year in college, before that i never experience anything like it. my first mcat was preceded by < 4 hours of sleep and was broken up into 4 one hour interval with one hour in between each segment. so are there anyone with similar stories who eventually overcame this? i need some answers

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[Forkit]

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[easyrock]

Do you run or go to the gym? I was concerned about sleeping well before my exam as well. The day before I took the exam I met up with my rugby team and played a few games of touch, spent most of the day doing things I enjoy, then went to the gym for about an hour before dinner. Needless to say, my body was exhausted, but not my mind. I slept like a baby and woke up feeling fantastic.
So the day before just do something active and stimulating. Avoid scouring the forums for reassurances because when all is said and done, nothing will help or detract from your performance except how your body and mind feel.

 

[yousafob]

Pop an Ambien or 2 Tylenol PMs and you'll sleep 8 hours easily.

 

[Marjan Islam]

well, make sure you consistently sleep about 10 hours before your exam starting 2 weeks or so before test day. So by the time it's test day, you'll sleep and wake up like any other day.

Also, physical work outs would make you sleep well. Don't do this if you hardly ever work out, cause you'll wake up the next day sore. And that might be distracting.

If worse comes to worse, keep a bottle of Night Time Nyquil in your medicine shelf. If you find yourself not sleeping within 1 hour of going to bed the night before, take a small dose of it, and it should knock you out!

 

[SamScribe]

I wouldn't take any sleeping aids unless you've tried them before.
I just got on a sleeping schedule about 1.5 weeks ahead where I was waking up at about 6am. And then night before the MCAT I went to bed very early. It still took me a while to get to sleep, but because I went to bed so early I still got a decent amount of sleep.

 

[marele86]

When I really need to sleep, I'll end up taking a NyQuil, but it puts me out for 10 hours straight. And then even when I make myself get up, I'm groggy and slow. That would be pretty disastrous for the mcat. Try it multiple times beforehand if you're thinking about it.

For marathon training, I've read that the advice is to give up on the idea of sleeping well the night before the big day. It won't happen and there's no need to beat yourself up about it (and if it does happen, then that will be a nice surprise). Just get a great night's sleep 2 nights beforehand. Sounds solid to me.

 

[physics junkie]

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I did this and had a very pleasant sleep.

 

[MaryLennox]

When I really need to sleep, I'll end up taking a NyQuil, but it puts me out for 10 hours straight. And then even when I make myself get up, I'm groggy and slow. That would be pretty disastrous for the mcat. Try it multiple times beforehand if you're thinking about it.

oh wow, I was going to post on this exact topic but hadn't gotten around to it yet.

I also get horrible pre-test insomnia . . . my plan was sort of what Marele alluded to, which is to take a sleeping aid but 'practice' a few times beforehand. I was thinking maybe i'd try it the night before a practice exam and see whether it affected my score.

Fortunately, I signed up for the noon test, so I think that may help. part of the reason I have trouble sleeping sometimes is I have the fear that i'm going to sleep through the test, so I start jolting awake at 4 am, 5am until I have to get up. it's the worst!! ugh. but if i know i dont have to be there til noon, i figure maybe i'll sleep better. plus i'm going to stay at my mom's and take the MCAT out where she lives, so I think i'll sleep more soundly knowing I have my mommy there to ensure I don't sleep through any mcats due to alarm clock failure

is tylenol PM the best OTC drug to help you sleep??

 

[HastetheDay2010]

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2nd that