THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BIG EXAM:
Please try to relax, there is nothing you can cram into your mind in the last 24 hours which will determine if you pass or fail. I know it's much easier said than done, but try to get a good night's sleep. If you always find it hard to sleep before the exam, try to do some exercises in the evening so you tire yourself out. Eat your favorite meal, spend time with your family, pray/meditate or watch some movies and hope for the best. Know that you’ve done your best and that's all that matters. DO NOT stay up all night studying.
Arrange your transport, family, friends, UBER. Whoever it is make sure they know when to come and how to get to your exam center. This may be a little extra, but if you get scared or worried or anxious about being late or finding the exam center you can always go to the location the day before and figure it out. Reetu did that (: It's up to you, not at all necessary, but helps relieve anxiety if you are one of those people.
Make sure you have the following:
Confirmation pass- due to covid they stopped asking, not sure when they will restart, but keep a print out ready just incase. Better to be prepared than not.
Extra pencils
Erasers/ Rubber
Passport/ UK ID for verification
Snacks - something light and sugary, no more than 1 or 2 (you're only there for 3hrs)
Water
Light jacket/sweater- in case you get cold
Mask + Hand sanitizer
DAY OF THE EXAM:
If you are a person who sleeps in late, try for 3-4 days before the exam to start waking up early. So you are not extra sleepy on the exam day. EAT BREAKFAST, please don't skip this! You will get hungry and it's a long exam you need to keep your brain fueled up. If you drink coffee regularly do that, if you never drink coffee today is not the day to start.
If you like to flip through last minute concepts/ topics do that, if you don't open your books before that's completely fine too.
Get to the centre 5-10 mins early and don't get freaked out by the other people. If you need to wear headphones and play music to drown out the noise that works wonders for me. So whatever works for you. DON'T LISTEN TO ANYONE ELSE AND GET SCARED. Know that you have done everything you can and the rest is upto fate.
DURINGTHE EXAM:
Read each question carefully. Start with the last sentence first and read the question fully, now formulate what you believe is the answer in your head, before you read the various answer options given to you. When you see the answer you had in your head on the paper choose it.
If you don't know the answer at all, do process of elimination. Remove the answers you know could never be correct and when you have it down to 2 guess! You have a 50-50 shot of getting it right.
You will have approximately 1 minute per question. Therefore don't spend more than 1 ½ mins on any question. If you're still confused, mark something, anything and circle it. You can always come back to it, but in case you don't get time for that it’s better to have something filled instead of leaving it blank.
After every 10 questions, please make sure your question # in your booklet is corresponding to the question # in the answer key. DO NOT wait till the end to fill in your answer key. Fill it as you go. The last few mins go back and check those questions you were confused about.
ALWAYS make sure you have time at the end of the exam to review your answers! There was a tip that went around saying stick to whatever answer you first pick because it’s probably right! I personally disagree with that, there is a reason you are unsure, so go back and have a look and send a few minutes to think on it properly.
ONCE IT'S DONE:
RELAX. Breath. It is over. No matter what the results are you have completed a big exam, which in itself is an achievement. So go out and CELEBRATE! Go get dinner with your loved ones, finally watch that movie you’ve been dying to see or just go sleep like there's no tomorrow! Enjoy for a few weeks now, before the next step starts.
There are some things you can do to be even more productive and get a jump start on PLAB 2. We’ll discuss that in another blog- “The Wait - between PLAB1 + PLAB2.”
