I’ve failed the BCBA exam 3 times and I really need some advice.
I’m in need of some assistance because I honestly don’t know what else to do. I’ve taken the BCBA exam three times now. I’ve used Pass the Big ABA Exam, ABA Exam Review on YouTube, Understanding Behavior, and I even worked with a tutor for 13 one-hour sessions.
The frustrating part is that I do pretty well on my mock exams. I’m usually scoring in the 70s, and based on my studying and mock performance, everything seems to point toward me being ready.
But when I actually sit down for the BCBA exam, it’s completely different. My heart is beating out of my chest before I even start. I usually have to use the bathroom before I begin the sign-in process. During the exam, I can literally hear myself breathing through the noise-canceling headphones, my leg won’t stop shaking, and I feel extremely anxious the entire time.
My scores have been:
Attempt 1: 329 — I ran out of time.
Attempt 2: 341
Attempt 3: 345
Between attempts 2 and 3, I took three months to study. I went back through the entire task list and really tried to learn the material and strengthen my understanding instead of just memorizing information. I genuinely felt more prepared going into my third attempt, so seeing a 345 was incredibly discouraging.
At this point, I don’t know if my biggest problem is still my knowledge of the material, my test-taking skills, my anxiety on exam day, or some combination of all three.
For anyone who failed multiple times before eventually passing: What did you change? Has anyone dealt with severe test anxiety like this specifically with the BCBA exam? What helped you finally get over that 400 mark? I’m not ready to give up, but I really need some guidance on what I should do differently for attempt #4.