How to stay focused? :(

[spiritedaway]

For my practice tests I've been doing them at library to get a sense of the real test environment, but I find that I get distracted really easily especially in VR. Like if someone is coughing or even whispering, I completely lose concentration, my confidence goes down and I panick for the rest of the test. For the real test, will the headphones they give you be any good in terms of noise cancellation? Should I expect the room to be quiet aside from keyboard and mouse sounds?

[PastaInhaler]

For my practice tests I've been doing them at library to get a sense of the real test environment, but I find that I get distracted really easily especially in VR. Like if someone is coughing or even whispering, I completely lose concentration, my confidence goes down and I panick for the rest of the test. For the real test, will the headphones they give you be any good in terms of noise cancellation? Should I expect the room to be quiet aside from keyboard and mouse sounds?

 

The headphones that the test centers give are not very good. They may not fit your head perfectly, and as a result, they may not create a good enough seal around your ears. It would be best if you bought some noise cancelling ear plugs/hearing protection. They are available at Shopper's Drug Mart. Be sure to buy two packs of four. One pack is to be left unopened, and the other pack is to be opened for you to try out. You should try them out while studying a few times before using them on the actual MCAT. Some people get bothered by the ear plugs after awhile since they are compressed foam, and exert an outward force on your ear canals. They can be irritating, and even cause ear pain in combination with the headphones, but they are excellent at reducing distractions by sound.

[Angelia]

I've had the headphones the first time and I found them to be awful. And was in a room with a lot of people so there was a lot of movement. The second time they had earplugs which I found to work really really well (they made me able to focus so much more), then then there was only about 10 of us writing, so less noise. So I'd try the earplugs when taking your practice tests.

[lekarza]

I had the same problem when I was doing practice tests for verbal. Instead of using headphones I tried to block out all of the noise. I do practice tests at my house and I can here my family so I had to learn to block out the noise in order to concentrate. I have gotten pretty good at it and I find it beneficial so that way one little noise doesn't throw off my concentration anymore. This strategy may help you but if you need absolute silence I would just go with ear plugs.