5 Things You Should Not Do Before Taking a Board or Bar Exam

This is a no-no. Drinking alcoholic drinks and getting drunk spell trouble for you on the day of the exam. Your head will feel the hangover headache and you would not be able to concentrate on the exam questions. And much worse, you might not be able to get up in the morning to go to the examination site.

Waking up tipsy and having a drinking spree hangover affects your mental conditioning for the examination you are about to take. Your examination is a life changing event. Passing the exam could the difference between a good paying salary or not. Why not just pass a night of drinking for something that could benefit your future.

The day before the exam is a time for relaxation and to rest and prepare your mind for the tough grind ahead. The time for review is already over. A day before the exam is already a done deal. Doing some more studying would just make you nervous and tire your mind. You should have done much of your study time months before the exam.

When I took the CIA exam, my seat mate has lots of review materials on her desk about 30 minutes prior to the start of the exam proper and she is still reading hastily some of them. This is not a good practice, if you have not done enough review, then cramming everything to your head minutes before the exam would not do you any good. It is better to just relax and let your stock knowledge take over.

Waking up early is very important. You should have an alarm and set it at a time necessary for you to have prepared yourself in going to the exam. You should have eaten your breakfast already before travelling to the exam venue. Allow ample time for possible traffic congestions. Remember, being late causes you to get nervous and this wastes a lot of energy. If you are late for the exam, you are at a disadvantage because you have lesser time to answer questions than the total alloted time. Exam proctors do not allow additional time for late examinees.

All the things you need during the exam should be prepared a day or the night before the exam. Put them in an envelope, preferably transparent, so that you just pick them up in the morning. You may check them though again before leaving the house to ensure that they are complete. What are the usual things you need to prepare?

• Exam Permit
• Pencil or Pen (always bring at least two extra)
• Sharpener if necessary for your pencils
• Drinking water (usually proctors allow you to have your bottle of water below your seat)

A good night sleep before the exam shall help you on the exam proper itself. It would help you think more clearly while undergoing the exam. Sleep is one necessary thing for thinking well during an exam. When you lack sleep, then you are most likely to get sleepy during the exam which is not good for your chances of passing.

Multiple subject exams are common during board and bar exams. Avoid comparing answers in between subject breaks. It will cause you anxiety if you have a different answer with most of those who took the exams. Most likely those who have the same answers are the ones with the wrong answers, why? Because only few passes the board or bar exams (like the CPA board exam), thus, it most likely that most examinees had it wrong, so stop comparing, most likely if you gonna pass you have a different answer.

And even if you realize that you have an incorrect answer on a previous subject taken, there is no use dwelling about it, thinking about a wrong answer will not make it correct. Better focus your energy on the next subject. Good luck to everyone who would be taking an exam! :)