What to do the Day Before and During TEST DAY!

So, you are sitting in your room. It is the day before test day. The day before the test that can make or break what you will be for the rest of your life.


Nervous?


That's ok. It is perfectly normal.


Before I continue on, I wanted to say that like most things in life, if you put in the time and work, you will get results. You reap what you sow ladies and gentleman (in most cases at least, I'm sure many of you have gotten away with procrastination on school work at some point in your lives or another, but I digress).




Some people (the super over the top overly prepared ones I'm guessing ;) ) prefer to spend the day before the test relaxing. Hitting the gym, hanging out with friends/family, playing video games, watching a movie, etc.


Some (like me) try to squeeze and cram as much information into their head as humanly possible the day before.


You should do what best suits YOU! Do whatever it takes (within reason) to make yourself feel better about yourself and build your confidence. Whether it be relaxing and unwinding most of the day before, or studying like a madman. To each his (or her) own.




So the day is over and it's bedtime. If you are like I was, and have an early test time, I would definitely recommend taking a sleep aid or something a few hours before bedtime to help you sleep, because most likely your body will be in the fight or flight response (I know I was and I only got a few hours of sleep before my test 0.o). All that adrenaline will probably be coursing through your veins during test day, so you will probably still be awake if you didn't get much sleep the night before, but having a few extra hours of sleep under your belt will only help.




So it's TEST DAY!
Here are some useful things to know:


-Eat a good, healthy breakfast. Eating healthy will enhance your mood and overall well-being. Don't drink too much water. Your bladder will already be overactive since your sympathetic nervous system will probably be activated.


-Arrive early. Make sure you visit the test center in advance so you know exactly where it will be and how long it will take you so you can schedule accordingly.


-Bring a set of earplugs that you like. You ARE ALLOWED To bring them in with you. If you are as unfortunate as I was to have someone pounding on the keyboard next to you during testing (and are sensitive to noise), these will help. They will muffle the sound, but if you put the headphones provided at Prometric testing centers on top of the earplugs, you get BEAUTIFUL SILENCE.
     *The headphones might hurt your ears after a bit, but the silence is worth it in my opinion




-Wear something COMFORTABLE. You will be sitting down for half a day. You don't want tight pants or an itchy piece of clothing, etc. to detract from your full scoring potential. Consider bringing a jacket as the room might be a bit frigid (mine was). 




-This is how test day went for me:
When you get to the center, you sign in first on a sheet, get a locker to put all your stuff in, than you wait till the workers process other people taking tests (People will be there for all kinds of tests, GRE, MCAT, LSAT...). They call your name, you go into the office, and they take a scan of your right and left index fingers (3x each). Than they take a picture of you give you your "Scrap Paper" and you are good to go. I don't know if all centers are like this, but instead of a whiteboard, I got laminated graph paper and fine tip sharpies as my "scratch paper". You are now on your way to acing the DAT 



Below is a video posted by Prometric on YouTube on what to expect during test day.