So you have your first exam today. Or maybe it’s tomorrow and you’re just an eager beaver. And maybe I did just use the expression eager beaver; get over yourself. Anyway, you want to be prepared. But what do you need to expect? (Guest post by a Dual Credit at Home student!)
First of all, the experience isn’t going to be entirely homogenous. Some dual credit students are going to have very different testing atmospheres than others. One testing center allowed me to have my phone in my pocket during an exam (I tried giving it to them, but they said “Oh don’t worry about it, sweetheart, we know you!”) and another testing center didn’t allow any hooded clothing, regardless of whether or not the student actually wore the hood. So the experiences are going to vary.
For this reason I’m going to dwell on the things that should be universal. And if it is your first exam, then you most likely haven’t built up a relationship with the proctors and most things will be universal.
1. Security Procedures
It’s not just a good idea to be aware of the procedures at your testing center, it’s the law. Just kidding! But really, know what they are. You may have a lenient proctor or you may have a former gym teacher who will grill you over your lack of a #2 pencil. Either way, having a #2 pencil is smart.
Determine what you can bring into the exam, and what ID you will need. And, as one former tester to another, memorize your Social. There isn’t any reason not to, and it will save you embarrassing phone calls to your mother at exam time.
2. Eat First
I’m not telling you this for the bazillion boring reasons other people have, i.e. you think better when you’re full, food helps your mind to focus, there are starving children in Africa, and so on. You get the idea.
No, I recognize that humiliation is one of the best motivators known to human kind. And testing centers are one of the quietest places imaginable. Think of a library and then remove ALL quiet whispering and page turning. Think about Tutankhamen’s tomb before Howard Carter stuck his nose in. That’s a testing center. Then put a roaring lioness on the hunt in the room.
That’s what your stomach will sound like. Need I say more?
3. The Preliminaries
Have you ever used a mouse? Do you know how to scroll down a page on a computer? Have you seen those things that kids are using these days, you know, the uh, the uh, the telephones?
For some reason testing centers still assume that their dual credit students have never seen computers before. You will be offered tutorials on how to use a mouse, to select something on a screen, and how to scroll up and down pages. On my first testing day, I was so nervous that I went through every one of them. But this is optional. Don’t do this unless you receive some sort of confidence boost from knowing how to click with a mouse or are just trying to buy time before the exam starts.
Once you have dispensed of these tutorials, you will begin the actual exam. At that point you’re on your own, and presumably you studied. So, uh, good luck with that!
Hope this helps. You'll do great, I'm sure!
