Preparing for an exam: Review Center or Self study?

While it is true that review centers can help you what to study for an exam but self study can help you save money big time.

Choose...

Review Center:

• if you can afford the expensive review fee
• if you have limited or no resources such as recalls, review materials, questionnaires
• if you need proper guidance and in-depth discussion from distinguished lecturers 
• if you're eager to attend each lectures, compre and mock exams for assessment
• if you can't manage time for studying

OR

Self-study:

• if you're out of budget for review centers
• if you can control your time and have discipline to stick to your schedule 
• if you have the essential recalls, books, and review materials 
• if most of your colleagues passed the test by doing the same thing 

In every exam that you're going to take, both of them have pros and cons so you have to weigh it for yourself but it all goes down to your effort while reviewing. Review center questions can be nerve-wrecking at times and they don't come out in the exams making it somewhat useless. On the other hand, self-study can have so many distractions so you feel like you're not productive on your study time.

Assess if you can make it by yourself or with the help of review centers. These exams should be taken once only. It's hard to fail so make the most of it count as you prepare for the exam. Listen to your gut feeling.

When is the right time to take ASCP exam?

I've received some emails coming from the new board passers asking whether or not they should take the ASCP exam sooner and my answer to this question is... IT DEPENDS.

I know that everybody is thrilled to have an additional title (ASCPi) after their names but here are some thoughts that you might consider before taking ASCP:

1. Make sure you plan to work in US in the future. Although ASCP is the gold standard of certification for laboratory professionals world-wide but take note that there are other countries most especially in the middle east that still require you to take their certification exams such as HAAD, Prometric,and DHA.
2. Speaking about American dream, hospital working experience is prioritized by the employers so take the exam when you are already working in a hospital preferably with at least 2 years experience.
3. In connection to the previous pointer, ASCP certification should be renewed every 3 years and the renewal costs another dollars so think about it. It would be better if you're already working abroad by the time you renew your certification. 
4. Better if you have relatives or friends in the US that could help you to find an employer so that you have the motivation to take as soon as possible. Some people could get out of the country in less than 2 years because they're guaranteed of a job already. 

Well, it may be an advantage for those who recently took the licensure exam because the lessons that they have studied are still fresh in their memory. As they say, 'Strike the rod while it’s hot'. They just need to recap the principles and theories. All they have to do is to familiarize the questions that ASCP gives. 

But those who decide to take the exam late, you need not to fret coz in my experience, it took me 3 years before I book the exam and I found it easier to answer the questions because I was able to put it into practice. There was one question there about the order of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) process and the answer is denaturation- annealing- transcription since I ran PCR in the laboratory sometimes.

My advice is.. take ASCP when you're financially and mentally ready. For me, it's hard to fail a 10000-peso exam so I earned it while I study my review materials and recalls bit by bit for a year to refresh my memory. This is not a competition guys. Walk with your own pace. Don't be pressured nor be envious to the ones ahead of you. Everyone has a break. Plan your dream now!