Of course the questions are not in the study guide! Is it possible you just aren't studying effectively?
1) Listen brother or sister, some people can half ass this. They just don't really have to put all that much effort into it. They probably pass because of exceedingly developed testwiseness. You and I aren't that guy or gal - we've gotta grind it out. You're also gonna spend however much it takes on the AATBS practice materials. Sucks bro, but your future is on the line.
2) On Monday thru Friday, spend one hour from 7am to 8am studying content. Spend one hour at night reviewing flashcards you've made on Anki or Quizlet. The med students use Anki.
3) On Saturday, recreate the testing enviorment and practice taking the test. For every question, you need to figure out why you got it RIGHT and figure our why you got it WRONG. You also need to figure out questions for the other possible prompts. (e.g., "it cant be this answer because x is always associated with Y theory, if the question was talking about Y, then it would work).
4) Take Sunday's off.
5) If you cannot have the discipline to do this, then...
This is a good approach. Somewhat similar to mine.
I started my job as a staff psychologist with the VA just 1 month after finishing internship. I started my job on August 1st of 2021, I made a game plan to do the following from August 1st to November 12th:
1. Listen to audio files from PsychPrep and AATBS on my 40 min drive into work each morning.
2. Get home from work, have 30 min. to unwind, take dogs out etc., then take a practice quiz in a given content area for the first 10 min of studying.
3. Review relevant digital book content for 15-20 min., then take another practice quiz.
4. I would typically study no more than 1 to 1.5 hours each evening after work throughout the week, and I did not really do much on the weekends but maybe a practice test every couple of weeks.
5. I took the PEPPPO once in mid-September which I passed, and the second PEPPPO exam in early November which I passed.
6. I did a trial run of taking a practice test on AATBS under the EXACT conditions expected of me on my test day, meaning, my test was scheduled for 8AM, so I drove to work (I didn't schedule patient that day on purpose). I ate my exact same breakfast, and drank the same amount of coffee that morning on the drive in. I started the test EXACTLY at 8AM, and took a break about half way through the exam where I went to the bathroom and got a snack. Then I resumed the test.
On the morning of my actual EPPP, I did exactly this routine. I did not deviate in the breakfast or coffee I consumed, nor did I cram or anything the night before. In fact, I did about 45 min. of studying the evening before and really relaxed most of the evening the night before. For me and what I know about the cognitive neuroscience of learning and memory, I knew that I needed to ensure a uniformed approach in what I did. From the very beginning, I used practice tests and quizzes as a method to inform my study approach. It made zero sense to me to spend tons of time in a section (e.g., social psychology, test construction, etc.) that had the least amount of weight on the test. Rather, I would look at areas that 1.were a weakness for me, 2. had a significant proportion of weight to the overall exam to guide me in what content areas I reviewed more or more often, and would take tons of quizzes and tests. It also meant developing some comfort with being okay with not knowing stuff and guessing. It also requires you to select the best possible choice, and this skill can be learned over the course of 3 months of regular purposeful studying.,
I will echo what I said earlier, the EPPP is really 60% psychology knowledge and 40% test-taking approach. If you are approaching studying for the EPPP like you are trying to re-learn 5 years of graduate school, you will likely not succeed, and/or will be immensely stressed out. Study smart. I was fortunate that rather than do a post-doc, I was already in a psychologist job with the VA, alternatively, I did not really have protected time or resources that post-doc programs oftentimes provide their fellows, so I had to improvise. I was fortunate enough to have supervisors who were flexible and would allow me to carve out time during my week to do the things needed to get licensed, because it was to their advantage to make sure I get licensed as quick as possible.
