Test taking tips

I am pleased to report that "GRE: Round 2" went very well. What I have learned from the first experience to the second includes the following handy tips:

Do Not...

1. Treat a standardized test like a triathlon or 1-mile swim. Drinking coffee and eating Clif Bars with caffeine prior to testing is not only ill-suited for sitting at a computer for 3 hours, it is downright stupid.

2. Ruminate over the first problem for 7 full minutes, allowing the caffeine buzz to create something akin to math dyslexia.

3. Allow the little voices to continually rant, "You're running out of time! You're running out of time! Wheeeeeeee...coffeee....!!!"

Do...

1. Liken your test anxiety to the break-in phobia dreams; you know, the one where the guy is standing in the kitchen in the middle of the night, and you wake up in a cold sweat. In those cases, I imagine punching the smuckers out of the guy, and then kicking him in the nuts for good measure. This same visualization works for test anxiety too.

2. Get comfortable with making a best guess and moving on. (I would provide some choice vocab words here that I have NEVER seen before today, but then the GRE people would sue me and take away my nice score.)

3. Did I mention the problems with caffeine? The adrenalin will give you all the boost you'll need. Trust me.