ASCP Boards
Just took my MLS ASCP boards for the first time and passed. Here is what i did to prepare for anyone stressing about it.
I graduated from my MLS program and then studied all day for 3 days after before taking it. I would highly recommend not waiting to take it, but maybe hive yourself a week not a couple days because I definitely did not have enough time to cover everything I wanted to. If I had waited even 1 month after graduating, I dont think all the little details that the questions seemed to focus on would have stayed in my head. That said, I did not feel prepared enough, but after taking the exam I dont think I would have covered anything extra that would have been on the exam if I had taken more time to study. The questions are just hard and so random. I gelt confident in about 20 of the 100 questions on the exam, so I definitely thought I was failing, but everyone says that is pretty normal. If you feel you are doing bad you are probably passing. I definitely needed all 3 days of studying! Some people said you could go in and not study, but DONT DO THAT. You DO need to study.
I bought the purple 7th edition BOC study guide to do practice questions on and that saved me for sure. The questions in that book aren't the same ones you will see on the exam, but they are the same material and worded the same way. A couple of my questions were almost word for word the questions in that book too so.... I consistently got about 50% on the questions, and then I went back and reviewed the topics that I got wrong. I didnt study mycology, parasitology, lab oporations, coag, or immunology at all so if you are in a rush I would recommend skipping those sections (or just dont rush yourself. That is probably the better advice). I didn't use any other tools besides my school notes, so I dont know how LabCE stands up to the exam. Our program paid for access to the BOC online practice exam, and the questions in the book and on that were mostly the same. I would recommend the online practice exams over the book if you have to choose one because it simulates taking the exam better and you can go back and only study the ones you got wrong.
For anyone taking the exam soon and freaking out, you will do fine! If I could do it, then you definitely can too. Lab people are smart. Don't stress too much!