Plan Your Travel

You might have to travel some distance to get to your scheduled exam. If this is the case, make all travel arrangements well in advance, including airline, hotel, and rental car reservations. Ensure that you have all the required documents for travel (including your passport and visa if you’re traveling to another country for the exam). If you’ll be traveling halfway around the world, also be sure to account for jet lag.

If you’re driving to your exam, you need to figure out how long it will take to drive to the exam site. Include the time necessary to find a parking place
(remember to bring money for parking fees!) and walk to the exam site. We suggest you allow plenty of time to arrive early and be bored - this is a much better outcome than arriving just in time and being stressed out, or worse yet arriving too late to take the exam.

If you live near the exam site, we suggest you go there a week or more before the exam so that you’ll be familiar with the driving route and know where you can park.

Don’t exhaust yourself traveling to the exam early in the morning. For instance, if you drive from Indianapolis to Chicago (normally a three-hour jaunt), don’t plan on leaving at 6 a.m. (Chicago and Indianapolis are now in different time zones), miraculously finding the test center before 8 a.m. somewhere in downtown Chicago during morning rush hour, and then driving back to Indy at the end of the day. Spend $100 for a hotel room the day before so that you can relax and enjoy the Windy City.

If you’re taking public transportation (bus, train, and so on), double-check the schedule for the day of the exam. Many exams are held on Saturdays, and often the transport schedules are lighter. Give yourself enough time to arrive extra early in case you miss the bus or train and need to take the next one.

We suggest you pack a day or two before the exam, even if you’re just going across town. Find and pack your exam letter, directions, transportation schedules, tickets, clothes, snacks, and so on. Don’t leave anything for the last minute; you might have too little time and become anxious, which can keep you from being your best.

The day before the exam, relax and plan for a comfortable night’s rest. If you’ve been cramming for the exam, set your study materials aside the day before the exam. (At that point, you’ll either know the material or you won’t!)

Most exam sites open at 8:00 a.m. and begin the exam at 9:00 a.m., so we recommend that you arrive the day before your exam (not just the evening before) so that you can relax and locate the exam center. You sure don’t want to be lost at 7:45 a.m. on test day. Also, be sure that you don’t schedule a departure flight for 3:00 p.m. on the day of your exam. You don’t want to feel pressured during the exam to rush so that you can make your flight. If possible, stay an extra night, review the material that you were tested on (regardless of whether you believe you passed or failed), and then have some fun!

We suggest you not make plans for the evening on exam day. Most likely, you’ll be exhausted from the exam and will be content to just chill and renew yourself.