Any Advice on Test Taking Fatigue?

[samman1994]

Hello everyone,

So I've done the 5lb book, and Magoosh as well, and have been able to increase my score by a consistent 2 points or so. My main issue previously was just being too slow, and I've slightly been able to speed it up just through practice, but I still have been unable to solve my second major issue, that being test taking fatigue. I just get really tired after 2+ hours of test taking. This has never been a problem in my classes because even during finals, I was always able to finish my exams within 2 hours (major problem in 3 hour classes though). Therefore, I usually do well on the first quant/verbal section, then I struggle with the 3rd and 4th sections. Initially I thought this was simply because if you do well on the first half, it makes the 2nd half harder, but after taking a pause on the practice test (took about an hour break or so), I was actually able to do the 2nd sections much better than I usually do (my scores jumped 6+ points when I took a long break). This leads me to conclude, it's not really the difficulty spike that brings my scores down, but the fatigue. Normally if I were to come across something like this (such as long studying hours), I'd usually just pace myself and that would work, for obvious reasons, that's not possible on this exam. 

Anyone have any advice on how you dealt with test fatigue? Any tips and tricks to help me out?

[ltr317]

I have the same problem with fatigue.  For a three hour class, I usually have an energy drink after the first hour.  This seems to revive me somewhat for the remaining two hours of class.  For my upcoming GRE, I'm planning to take a couple of practice tests the week before, and take an energy drink at the two hour mark to simulate the day of the test.  On test day you can take a ten minute break, so I plan to use the bathroom, wash my face with cold water, and have an energy drink.  You might want try that the week before to see if it'll work for you. 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Bring snacks, drinks, gum, whatever, and take your full break whenever available. Go to the bathroom, get up and walk around, stretch, etc. Do whatever you can to separate your mind from the test for a few minutes so that you can go back in refreshed. Remember to breathe between sections as well. A deep breath in and out is sometimes all I need to recenter myself.