Tip #10: Wisdom on practice tests

This is tip #10 in a series of 13 to help you pass the CAE exam. Pass along this tip to a friend.

There are practice CAE exams floating around. If you want some, just contact me offline. But be forewarned. Some of them really, really suck. Most of these practice tests were put together by well-intentioned volunteers who didn't necessarily have time to make sure the answers were right, or who wrote the questions without a whole lot of review, and who were not trained to write psychometrically accurate questions. As I always say about volunteer labor, "You get what you pay for." Unfortunately, even the tests you do pay for (you can buy practice tests from some state SAEs) are also riddled with bad questions.

I encourage you to take practice tests, but don't consider your results as a reliable indicator of how you'll do on the actual exam. You can read two previous posts about how I agonized over practice tests. Save yourself the worry and don't take the practice tests too seriously.

I remind you to check back often as we approach tip #13, which will be stealthy and cool.