Happy to say just got home and can post that I passed the EPPP on my second attempt this week with a 522! Lurked on this thread in the weeks leading up to the retake. Wanted to share a little about my practice scores, my strategy, what helped/what didn't first vs second time.
Have to say there is a TON of solid advice/strategy tips in this thread, a lot of people post about practice tests being a key part of their study strategy, I firmly am in that camp. Practice tests were probably THE most significant factor.
Sorry if this is long but pumped and hope others can get a little from my experience to help guide their success on this beast of an exam!
- Materials :
First time:
2009 old hand me down PsychPrep audio and books, PocketPrep Behavioral Health app, PEPPPO
Second time:
2020 hand me down AATBS books, 2020 updated AATBS audio, AATBS quiz and practice test bundle (only got to take 2 of 3 "tests" as one expired), 2021 PsychPrep Practice Test A-E bundle (that came with extra quizzes and some recorded seminar video about strategies), PocketPrep Behavioral Health app, hand me down flash cards from Mometrix Media.
- Study Strategy:
First time:
Read the written materials cover to cover twice after taking PEPPO. Had multiple start/stops due to pandemic. Listened to PsychPrep audio. I kind of jumped around and was not as consistent as I should have been.
Second time:
Started reading AATBS books while also going through some flash cards and quizzes. Alongside listening to AATBS audio on commutes and when cleaning. Kind of a haphazard approach. I mostly did this for 2 months before burning out, taking 2 weeks off and pushing the exam back about 6 weeks. Once back on the grind, I took the AATBS "first assessment" exam, got around a 59%. I also took the quizzes alongside continued reading material. About 3 weeks before the exam I bought the PsychPrep Test Bundle and began taking those quizzes and tests. I should note on quizzes I didn't always do them in one sitting (and had done some over the summer before the aforementioned break) and on the AATBS after first run throughs my lowest "domain" was 37% and highest was like 62%. I did not read through written materials (ie the books) more than once and hadn't looked at in months. Reading is very passive and I learned real quick the benefits of active vs passive learning.
I really hit the practice exams hard from about 20 days before the exam to 2 days before the exam (scores below). I did NOT follow the "recommended" order of the PsychPrep tests but took most in Study Mode and some in Retake Mode or Test Mode. My scores improved each time. When taking practice exams with Study/Retake mode on I wrote down the right answer and why - for any item I got wrong. Not necessarily to re-review but to use different methods of drilling this down. About a week before the exam I wrote a small study guide covering key "must know" type of things like standard curve, basic stats tests and calculations, stages of important theories (i.e. race identity, attachment, developmental), etc. I cross referenced this with looking things up online when I needed visual representations of concepts. Basically whenever I felt I wasn't "grasping" something I spent a few minutes online reviewing it more. Also watched a VERY helpful 2 hour video from PsychPrep (bonus with their Practice Tests) on how to actively THINK through a question.
Study considerations second time around that probably also helped:
- Time: I was working full time (from home due to pandemic) during first attempt. Second attempt I was working a flexible schedule where I would have some days of week with less or no work. If I could do it over again I would have spent less months out preparing because this time felt like most of my drilling down of what I studied happened in last 3-4 weeks leading up to exam. So most people could probably put in 2-3 months with last few weeks intensely. But you HAVE to make sacrifices and make the time to be consistent about the study. I put in so much more time this time around into my studying.
- Money : I hate this but I spent more money the second time around. I bought up to date audio, I bought practice exams. If money is an issue I would spend it on practice exams to be honest instead of books and other materials but that's just me.
- Confidence boosts and Mindset : I was watching more of my colleagues from my program crush this thing. Knowing they could do it (and across multiple cohorts) and knowing my program has a very high first time pass rate (maybe like 90% and 100% eventual pass rate for all who take it). This really helped me feel good about what I already knew from the materials. Also ditch the negativity. Many of us think this exam is a pointless hoop or that it doesn't really measure or reflect well clinical skills or competency to practice psychology, but at the end of the day you cannot avoid it. You have to pass it to get your license. So you can either go into it thinking it's stupid or you can look past it and see all you have to gain by getting though the damn thing with a 500 or higher. Not going to lie: knowing that income potential shoots up pretty significantly after licensure was a BIG motivator for me.
- Multiple ways of "taking it all in" and also talking out loud through examples I could relate to in remembering key information or situations in the questions.
- Study smart: The domains aren't "weighted" per se. So unlike your comps, you don't need to "pass X of X number of domains," you just need to answer enough items correctly. Some say study weak areas but I'd advise only doing that if the weak area is "heavily emphasized." ASPPB posts updates occasionally to the domains and rough percentage each makes up on the exam. For example, I really "got" I/O study for whatever reason and also have a lot of experience in neuropsychological (bio), diagnosing, and developmental stuff. All those are pretty heavily emphasized. I suck at Stats, Research, and Test Construction but fortunately they tend to be less emphasized. Leading up to the exam I MADE sure I KNEW my stuff in the areas I knew best that happened to be heavily emphasized. It's not about passing each domain, it's about passing the overall exam.
- Practice Quizzes: Seeing a trend here? I hit these HARD in the final few weeks.
Scores on Practice exams:
PEPPPO #1 - PASS
PEPPPO #2 - PASS (both taken weekend before exam took #2 first for some reason)
AATBS:
"Assessment first exam" - 59% taken about 3 months before exams
Exam Simulator Exam #1 (second one expired before I could use it): 67% taken about 1 month before exam
Domain Quizzes: All over the place, never broke 70% on any of them I don't think.
PsychPrep: (in order of Study, Retake, Test Modes): *
Exam A: 49%, 73%, 81%
Exam B: 50%, N/A, 89%
Exam C: 61%, 73%, 70%
Exam D: 55%, 76%, N/A
Exam E: 56%, N/A, 78%
Domain Quizzes: Never broke 67% except on the Retake and Test Mode (of all domains in one test (70% and 94% but likely huge practice effect)
* On these I did not take in order, I tried to space out retakes/test modes to dull practice effects and I'm sure I glanced at stuff on the internet during Exam A and B until I realized that would give me false hope on scores.
Test Day and Approach to Managing the Test:
Made sure I was prepped and planned night before. Outfit picked out ( comfortable layered clothing), everything I needed for day of packed and ready (two forms of ID, masks, snacks, water, magazine to read in case long wait, more snacks, eye drops, mints).
Did only a quick maybe 30 minute review day before the exam of some key info and multiple choice test strategy then spent most of day before relaxing and some gaming. Avoided alcohol day before.
Went to bed early but slept like crap. Woke up multiple times in and out of sleep (made sure had caffeine on way to test center). Also ate a GOOD breakfast. Oatmeal is a great source of sustained slow burn energy.
Drove to test center and got there 20 minutes BEFORE recommended arrival time. Glad I did. Chose a different test center from first time and there was a good chunk of people taking various exams. Didn't sit down to the computer until about 30 minutes after the scheduled "exam start time." - This doesn't necessarily matter as you will get the full exam time as long as you arrived reasonably on time. In this case THEY were swamped with test takers, but bottom line: get there EARLY!
Positive talk and reminders: I actively reminded myself when getting ready, as well as reminders on my phone before exam. During the exam I actively reminded myself I will pass, it's ok to flag questions, it's ok if I hit a string of questions I have no idea on, it's ok to not know how I'm doing during the exam. But kept reminding myself I was prepared and deep breathing moments as needed. And took time to talk through a question if it was confusing. When I got frustrated on some questions I'd ask myself "do you really want to go through all that studying again or are you going to focus and work through to the answer to the question?"
Breaks: Someone on here talked about the strategy of a break AFTER you get through most of the questions then review flagged items. I tried this and it felt good. Took a bathroom break, ate a snack and had some water, stretched, came back.
A problem emerges: Nothing goes as planned. And this time I felt like I had plenty of time and i did not. I flagged too many items and to my horror, realized in the flow of focus I had left a bunch blank. Don't do that. I actually ran out of time before all the items were answered (I think 6-10 were unanswered). But I stayed positive and when I saw the timer under 12 minutes with like 30 questions to review , I shifted focus right to the unanswered ones instead of just flagged ones. Don't panic if you are short on time: you got through grad school, high pressure interviews, high stakes exams, extremely difficult clinical situations...you can think on your toes and shift strategy under time pressure to get what you need finished....finished.
The Test Itself:
Multiple versions of this thing. Can say that I felt my first failed one had question designs more comparable to what practice tests look like; this second one had very few bizarrely worded questions but a lot more strangely worded answer choices. Definitely changes from 2020 to 2021 in this thing. I strongly recommend against using old material (especially DSM-IV era stuff). This time around I felt my mind relying more heavily on my own clinical experiences and my own academic experiences, so I think a VERY helpful tip here is to ensure when studying you make meaningful connections in your mind to the content itself. Also as others said, it is totally normal to feel like you have no idea where you're at score wise on the exam. There were some really oddball things on there I had never heard of. DO NOT PANIC if the questions seem "very different" from practice exams and materials. Key: Be able to connect many of these questions to key psych info you learned in studying and if not then it's probably a "experimental not counted" question.
Test Prep Companies:
I represent none of them and this is just my own personal experience with them. In general I found written materials less helpful than audio and practice tests and quizzes.
AATBS vs PsychPrep:
Written materials:
Both kind of overly detailed. The depth was appreciated but not necessary.
Audio:
PsychPrep'a audio I had before was too long, too meandering (it was recorded at their live seminars). I enjoyed AATBS audio better. It was concise, cheaper, and short enough to listen to multiple times.
Practice Quizzes and Tests:
AATBS had more quiz questions but their rationales for correct answers were wordy and sometimes confusing. Their Exam Simulation was a little more like the real thing than PsychPrep. BUT overall liked PsychPrep Practice Tests better. Study mode was a huge help, the explanations were short and sweet, a good mix of "real" type exam questions and more helping you learn content, and the bundle of tests was a better value.
Also worth it take PEPPPOs. While they don't give a score they give a visual breakdown of strong versus less strong areas. Many of the questions have the same wonky wording and phrasings as the real thing. And just like the real thing, I often had no idea where I was at in terms of score or passing/failing. So a pass on them is a huge confidence boost to trust the process.
Misc materials:
Some written notes to firm up key concepts was helpful. Flashcards I was given were too dense and wordy but ok for early prep. Quiz app on phone was decent for learning basic stuff , but the questions were rarely even close to the real thing.
TL;DR:
Practice exams are immensely helpful. For me they created an interactive and multi-method approach to studying. They made the experience more active. Not only did I feel like I knew more going into the EPPP, I felt ready for some really bizarrely worded questions and answers.
Good luck for those who haven't taken or passed yet, and to those who have, thank you for the tips and motivation!