New CBT Format Issues
I think you've got all the content covered, so I'll give advice more specific to the new format. Having to go to the bathroom can cost you somewhat significantly in some Pearson centers. You have to raise your hand, have your exam locked, scan your palm, walk down the hall, do your business, walk back, do a self pat-down, have the inside of your mask checked, have your license checked, scan your palm again, be let in and have your exam unlocked. At my center in Louisville, KY, I had to go to the bathroom during my FE and it cost me ~10 minutes. So, 7 and 14 days before my test I went through the same as my test day routine (not just practice exams). Two nights before each routine, I'd eat things I know won't upset my bowel routine on test day. Drink a lot of water the night before so you can sleep soundly, get up early and drink your normal cups of coffee and go to the bathroom when you would arrive at the test center, then take your practice exam and see if you need to end up either a) getting up earlier to pass your coffee before the test or b) get used to not drinking coffee. I don't really know what to do about afternoon exhaustion... but it may be something to consider. During the actual test and the full length practice exams that I took, I always got several more answers wrong that I wouldn't have in the morning. I took the full 50 minute break and that didn't seem to help, so I basically only used the bathroom and gave my eyes a few minutes rest before going back into the exam. With some pearson centers you can show up earlier than the open time. This is a good idea during covid. I didn't end up actually taking my exam until approximately 8:30 am, which probably added to my exhaustion when I was taking the exam later in the day. I got there at 7:20 and watched several people go in before entering because I wanted to review my checklist for not making stupid mistakes. I was #8 in line behind students taking other exams. Not fun. TURN OFF the line tool by going back to the cursor or selection tool. If you don't, you'll be trying to scroll through large swaths of the code and making lines every time you click the mouse wheel. Could cause confusion if you cover up some important text. Ctrl+Z didn't always get rid of the lines that I put in my references using the line tool. I'm not sure why, I had only drawn 3 by the time I couldn't erase them. Thought it had to do with me not clicking in the reference window, but that hadn't deleted them either. Don't expect to scroll quickly through any of their reference material. The pages won't load quick enough. You just gotta know what you're looking for and where it is, or where to find out where it is. You can buy an "MCAT Prep Erasable Notepad" and Staedtler non-permanent Lumocolor markers and practice your exams as you will in the test center. I did this as soon as I found out about the CBT. Everyone will know when you've been studying because the pinkie side of your hand will be black, but it will get you used to not using pencil and paper. It's difficult (and you're not supposed) to erase from the book, so if you make a mistake, it's there for good. At least until you spray the pad and paper towel the marks away, but that won't happen till your finished on the actual exam. The MCAT one has smaller grid lines than what I was given at Pearson on test day. Big ole squares messed up my ability to keep track of my confidence in answers using the 1-2-3 method. They also gave me the option of continuing to use the same pad... rules said they'd take your booklet after the first half and give you a new one on the second half. They probably ignored that to prevent disinfecting more pads in a short period.
