Just a quick note to wish you all good luck for the final push. I hope everyone who’s put in the time and effort to nail this exam gets rewarded for their efforts. And in any case, you’ll get your life back in just a few days and remember what it’s like not to be constantly stressed about the exam. If you pass L3, and live in the US, Memorial Day will always have a new sweetness to it.
Some thoughts for you:
-
if you are an active participant here, you are already in a self selected group of people who are taking the exam seriously, and (for the most part) helping each other. I don’t have the statistics, but I feel comfortable saying that your chances of passing are above average compared to the rest of the world.
-
You may be freaked out by the questions being asked in the L1, L2, and L3 forums. Remember that these questions tend to be the harder ones, or they wouldn’t be asked. It’s natural to fear showing up and finding that the exam has nothing but questions that you can’t answer or find difficult to answer, especially if you are answering questions on these forums. There will be questions that stump you or confuse you, but most will not be that bad.
-
You can actually miss a fair number of questions and still pass. Ultimately, passing is the only thing that matters, and people who passed with a perfect score get the exact same letters and privileges as people who just barely squeaked by. So if a problem stumps you, just let it go, and come back to it at the end.
-
The real exam tends to have better worded questions than the study providor study banks. That will help you on exam day.
-
Maintaining calm and focus is often the biggest challenge for people. Just stay calm. If you need to take 15-45 seconds to stop and breathe and re-zen yourself, that is often a good idea.
-
Five minutes before the end, fill in all empty bubbles with guesses. Don’t get caught doing it in the last 30 seconds. Once you’ve done that, if you can figure out one or two last problems, it’s better to take a second to erase an answer than to risk not having a guess filled in or, worse, get caught filling bubbles after time is called.
-
When the exam starts, take the first 30 seconds to write down any formula you think you might forget on the first page of the inside of the exam booklet. You’re allowed to do that once the test has begun. I did that, and never ended up needing the formulas I wrote down, but just knowing they were there was a big help.
-
Listen to and don’t mess with the proctors and invigilators, no matter how funy the word invigilator happens to be.
-
Catch up with your family and loved ones when it’s all over, although you may need to take the first night to sleep and de-stress.
Go get 'em!!