The Day Before the Test
Here is a quick checklist of things to do the day before the test:
1) Don’t do anything new – no last minute cramming, no new passages or problems
2) Review – Go back over old problems that you missed in practice. If you’ve done your previous work on a separate sheet, then you can just write down question numbers and go back and rework them as if they were new. If your old answers are right there in front of you, then try explaining why the correct answer is right and why your old answer was wrong (as if you were explaining it to another student).
3) Get your stuff ready – Put everything you need for tomorrow together in one spot (ID, ticket, pencils, calculator, snack, drink, etc. Even consider setting out your clothes. Make sure you bring a snack and drink for the break.
4) Gameplan – Spend about 10 minutes visualizing the test in your mind. What time are you going to wake up? What are you going to do when you wake up? What time will you leave the house? Do you know where your testing center is? Visualize standing in line, sitting down, filling out your personal information. Visualize each section of the test, in order, including breaks. Remind yourself of the pacing for each section.
5) Sleep – Go to bed at a reasonable time for you. If you usually stay up until midnight, don’t suddenly go to bed at 9PM. Go to bed on the early side of when you would normally go to bed anyway (maybe 15-30 minutes earlier than usual).
Morning Of
6) Do a light (10-minute) workout, just enough to get the blood flowing and wake you up. Physical and mental are linked. You cannot perform up to your mental potential if your body is not awake. Get the blood flowing. If you want to do more, do more, but not if you don’t normally workout in the morning. Again, you don’t want to change up your normal routine too much.
7) Eat Breakfast – Eat the healthiest thing that you would normally eat for breakfast. Don’t go get the Waffle House All-Star Special if you normally don’t eat breakfast, but do eat something.
