The best way to do poorly on a test is to psych yourself out. If your mind starts thrashing about wildly, it will have a hard time settling on the right answers. There are a number of preventative measures you can take, beginning weeks, or even months, before you take the test. Buying this book was a good start: it’s reassuring to see all the information you’ll need to ace the test in a compact, manageable form. But here are some additional tips to keep in mind:

If you study at regular intervals leading up to the test, rather than cramming the night before, you’ll remember things more easily and feel more confident.

Get a good night’s sleep on the two nights leading up to the test. If you’re frazzled or wired, you’re going to have a harder time buckling down and concentrating when it really counts.

Don’t assume that the best way to take an hour-long test is to spend the full hour nose to nose with the test questions. If you lift your head occasionally, look about you, and take a deep breath, you’ll return to the test with a clearer mind. You’ll lose maybe ten seconds of your total test-taking time and will be all the more focused for the other fifty-nine minutes and fifty seconds.