One quick note on UPCAT crammers – unless you haven't reviewed for very long at all, I'd argue that within the week of the UPCAT, it's tough to "get smarter". Today, tomorrow…you can learn some new things. But the week before UPCAT? You only risk wearing your stamina thin or wrecking your confidence by stressing about something that you're struggling with. I'd say that your emphases this week should be on:
1) Reducing silly mistakes.
Here you CAN really improve because you want your common mistakes to be top of mind on August 6 or 7.
Do take a practice test this weekend (e.g. Review Masters Simulated UPCAT), but don't study anymore from August 1 to 5.
Take time to determine which questions trapped you and WHY they did. Any silly mistakes that you tend to make or systematic mistakes (assuming something about a variable; answering the wrong question; etc.) you can probably eliminate by just noting those on your notebook. Make sure that during UPCAT, you avoid those "common mistakes".
2) Reminding yourself of the best test-taking strategies.
Think of the thought processes that lead to success for you and drill those into your mind. "In Math, I can find the solution faster by working backwards"; "for Reading Comprehension I need to read the questions first before reading the passage"; etc. Focus on the thought process and that will be your guide on the UPCAT.
3) Sustaining confidence.
The above strategy helps because you're reminding yourself that you do most things well. And please stay away from new practice sets the day or two before the BIG day so that you don't accidentally hit that rough patch of monster questions that makes you doubt everything you ever knew.
4) Resting and relaxing.
The UPCAT is an endurance test – you'll spend over 4 hours at the test center. Don't do any heavy lifting the day before. Relax your mind, get some sleep, and remind yourself that you've worked hard for this…UPCAT day is the victory lap!
Don’t underestimate the power of a clear mind. “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose”.
Being mentally prepared for a task and ‘clear eyed” with a rested, relaxed mind will provide you your best chance for success on the UPCAT. In the final 48 hours before you take the UPCAT, you’re not going to learn anything new that revolutionizes your score (unless, of course, you’ve only reviewed for a week, in which case thanks for using a few minutes of that precious-little-time you spent reviewing to read this note!).
You can do yourself some severe damage if you’re cramming in another practice test or pulling an all-nighter with your “10,000 vocabulary words” list (boy, I hope that doesn’t exist, but I fear that it does…) and blowing your chance to rest and build confidence. In that last day before the UPCAT, rest assured that you won’t “give back” to the UPCAT any of the points you’ve earned through hard review – you won’t succumb to silly mistakes or poor pacing.
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