Test day, hour by hour

The principle. Every decision made in advance is working memory returned to you at the desk. This page is a script. Scripts are followed, not improvised, and the whole value of a script is that you stop evaluating it.

Times are stated relative to your appointment, so this works for a morning or an afternoon slot.

Wake, three hours before. Get up on the first alarm. No new material. Not one card, not one page, ever.

Minus 2:45. Eat the breakfast you have eaten during practice sessions, with protein in it. Nothing new, nothing heavy. Caffeine only in your usual amount, from your usual source, at your usual time.

Minus 2:30. Ten minutes of retrieval on the one-page card on page 80. Ten minutes. This is the last studying of your life for this exam, and its only job is to warm the machine, not to load it.

Minus 2:00. Dress in layers. Test rooms run cold and you will not be able to fix it once you are seated.

Minus 1:45. Assemble your identification exactly as your registration specifies, plus your scheduling confirmation. Check that the name on the identification matches your registration character for character, including middle names and suffixes.

Minus 1:30. Leave. Build in traffic and parking. Arriving early costs you nothing except waiting. Arriving late can cost you the appointment and the fee.

Minus 0:45. Arrive. Do not study in the parking lot. Walk, breathe, drink water, use the restroom.

Minus 0:30. Check in. Expect identification verification, a palm scan or signature capture, a photograph, and a locker for everything you brought with you. None of this is a test of anything. Let it happen.

Hour 0. Begin. Read every stem twice before you touch an option.

Hour 1:15. Take the first optional break whether or not you feel you need one. Stand up, drink something, eat something small, come back. You do not get to decide whether you are fatigued; you get to decide whether you are rested.

Hour 2:45. Second break if it is offered. Same protocol, same discipline.

End. The exam stops when it stops. A short exam and a long exam are both normal and neither one predicts your result. Leave the building. Do not reconstruct items with other candidates in the lobby.

THE NOT LIST

1. No new content, at any point, on this day.
2. No comparing answers with anyone, before or after.
3. No counting how many items you have had.
4. No change to your caffeine, up or down.
5. No post-mortem before the official result arrives.

Margin note: "a short exam is not a bad sign."

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Check-in procedure, permitted items, break structure, and identification requirements are set by the current candidate bulletin and can change without notice. Verify yours before test day.

Takeaway. Every choice you make before you walk in is one you do not spend working memory on once the first item loads.