Practice test mentality Vs. Real test mentality

[labtech312]

I find that when I am taking practice test I tend to not second guess myself and move more fluidly through the exam. However, when I took the real test there was this air of hesitation. This definetly made me second guess more, and had an effect on my timing.

I would'nt say I have test anxiety per say. But I do have a more cautious mentality on test day. My highest AAMC FL was a 508 but on test day I got a 505.... Im going to study over the summer and retake in Aug.

I want to be as comfortable on test day as I am when taking my practice test.

Any advice on how you guys go about this?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[lumya]

Going from a 508 to a 505 doesn't indicate that you deviated that much from your expected score. No matter how much you prepare, test day is always going to feel different than a practice exam.

Other than doing lots of practice exams in test conditions, there's really not much else you can do to feel comfortable and prepared. You could see if Princeton Review/Kaplan hosts any free proctored practice tests near you. I always get emails from them about that and it might be useful to take a practice test in a room full of other people.

 

[PapaGuava]

Going from a 508 to a 505 doesn't indicate that you deviated that much from your expected score. No matter how much you prepare, test day is always going to feel different than a practice exam.

Other than doing lots of practice exams in test conditions, there's really not much else you can do to feel comfortable and prepared. You could see if Princeton Review/Kaplan hosts any free proctored practice tests near you. I always get emails from them about that and it might be useful to take a practice test in a room full of other people.

I would have loved to do something like this had I known! A practice proctored exam with all the little oddities they make you do before checking in for the exam would have been nice to go through ahead of time haha.