A friend just asked me what I thought about going in to take the PANRE without studying at all. As in, skipping the 3 months of studying and just going for it. I love this question because it forces you to think. It forces you to step back and see if the herd is traveling in the right direction. The answer depends on the individual. Everyone is different, and I don’t mean how much material you know.
What I mean is how well your ego can handle it.
Going in without preparing at all isn’t a bad plan. If you fail, you’re out a few hundred bucks; but if you pass, you save 3 months of your life.
The problem is that if you fail, you may lose more than the money. Most people can’t handle failing. Even if they know they didn’t study. Even if they know it’s just a test run. Still, it would wreck their confidence. Wrecking your confidence right at the outset is a bad, bad plan.
If failing won’t mess with your head, go for it. It saves a ton of time and aggravation, and there’s always a chance you’ll pass. Do it in your 9th year and you have plenty of chances to retake the exam. No worries.
For my PANCE, I did something similar. I finished school. Since I went to Rutgers and they offer a live review class right after you graduate, I signed up. I sat in for a week on the full review. I didn’t miss a minute of that course. I also didn’t take a single note. Didn’t try to work on anything.
For the most part, I did crossword puzzles and word searches while the lectures drifted past me. I wasn’t being rude or stupid. I spent 3 years studying for this exam. Killing myself now wasn’t going to change it. So I listened with one ear to anything I might think of as important, but I also rested and didn’t overdo it.
Then, I took a week off. No studying, nothing. I choose to rest my brain. A well-rested brain seemed much more valuable at that stage. So I went in and took my exam without ever really “studying” for the PANCE.
Now, for me, it didn’t make sense to do that for my PANRE. I took 3 months and hit the books pretty hard. It sucked, but I did it and did really well on my exam. I think it would have messed with my confidence had I failed (not to mention how would I was terrified of telling the PAER community that I’d failed my exam).
Nope, I say almost 98 out of 100 times, take the 3 months and do your best. No excuses. Study hard and get it done.
But I will finish the story and tell you that for my most recent PANRE, I only gave myself 10 days to study and one of those days was Thanksgiving. I’ll tell the whole story another time, but it’s certainly possible to pass with a little content knowledge and lot of test-taking skills.
For my first PANRE, I wrote The Final Step. For my second, I used the book and listened to the audio. I passed both times. Coincidence? You decide:
Brian Wallace