Hey all, I'm making a post with a few handy tips for Test day that I haven't seen posted yet.
1. During your break (or extra time), raise your hand to get a new whiteboard and trade in your used ones. The Prometric centre I wrote mine at had non-erasable laminated paper and sharpies. The sharpies dry out if you leave them uncapped and they're horrible to write with. Since physics and QR is such a time crunch, and your page will have stuff from Gen chem and Orgo, you will want to make sure that all your pages are brand new so that there's no chance of you getting confused, or wasting your time to raise your hand and wait for the proctor to come give you a new one. I did this even though I hadn't filled up the page because it made everything neater and more organized for the next section.
2. If you do find yourself needing new paper during the middle of a section, raise the whiteboard itself (or the marker if you just need a marker) instead of your hand. This way, you don't waste any time and can keep doing questions, and the proctor will know what you need. If you just raise your hand, they will need to come ask you, then go back out, get the paper and come back, and they don't do it quickly.
3. If you have extra time after a section like Bio or RC, start jotting down formulas on a clean page instead of going straight to the next section. You are not allowed to make notes during your break (even if you haven't left yet), so it is not worth potentially being caught for cheating over it. Make your notes during the sections if you have time. I wrote down my kinematics equations, some simple harmonic motion, electron theory, waves, Newtonian forces, centripetal forces, etc. I also drew out all of my special triangles, made a table of all the sine and cosine values, and my multiplication tables (I'm just really bad at multiplying in my head, so being able to quickly refer to the table helped a ton). The paper they gave me was grid paper so it was easy to do.
4. You get a small bit of time between sections (I think it's 2 minutes, before it automatically forces you to go to the next one). I used the time to take a breather, relax, and get ready for the next section.
5. The number pad on the keyboard will work for the calculator (may vary depending on centre). Including the simple operation buttons. Test it out because it will save you time from having to click the buttons with your mouse. The calculator will close after each question (which is different from the sample simulations of the program).
6. Test out your markers before you go in to do your test. I had to get my markers changed twice because they were dried out and wouldn't write. It was a bit of a hassle, so make sure you have fresh markers going in.
I know these all seem like small details, but I had a lot of trouble with timing for physics and QR in the practice, and doing these really added up in saving time and stress. Hope this helps! And let me know if you do end up trying these!
1. During your break (or extra time), raise your hand to get a new whiteboard and trade in your used ones. The Prometric centre I wrote mine at had non-erasable laminated paper and sharpies. The sharpies dry out if you leave them uncapped and they're horrible to write with. Since physics and QR is such a time crunch, and your page will have stuff from Gen chem and Orgo, you will want to make sure that all your pages are brand new so that there's no chance of you getting confused, or wasting your time to raise your hand and wait for the proctor to come give you a new one. I did this even though I hadn't filled up the page because it made everything neater and more organized for the next section.
2. If you do find yourself needing new paper during the middle of a section, raise the whiteboard itself (or the marker if you just need a marker) instead of your hand. This way, you don't waste any time and can keep doing questions, and the proctor will know what you need. If you just raise your hand, they will need to come ask you, then go back out, get the paper and come back, and they don't do it quickly.
3. If you have extra time after a section like Bio or RC, start jotting down formulas on a clean page instead of going straight to the next section. You are not allowed to make notes during your break (even if you haven't left yet), so it is not worth potentially being caught for cheating over it. Make your notes during the sections if you have time. I wrote down my kinematics equations, some simple harmonic motion, electron theory, waves, Newtonian forces, centripetal forces, etc. I also drew out all of my special triangles, made a table of all the sine and cosine values, and my multiplication tables (I'm just really bad at multiplying in my head, so being able to quickly refer to the table helped a ton). The paper they gave me was grid paper so it was easy to do.
4. You get a small bit of time between sections (I think it's 2 minutes, before it automatically forces you to go to the next one). I used the time to take a breather, relax, and get ready for the next section.
5. The number pad on the keyboard will work for the calculator (may vary depending on centre). Including the simple operation buttons. Test it out because it will save you time from having to click the buttons with your mouse. The calculator will close after each question (which is different from the sample simulations of the program).
6. Test out your markers before you go in to do your test. I had to get my markers changed twice because they were dried out and wouldn't write. It was a bit of a hassle, so make sure you have fresh markers going in.
I know these all seem like small details, but I had a lot of trouble with timing for physics and QR in the practice, and doing these really added up in saving time and stress. Hope this helps! And let me know if you do end up trying these!
