:( :( I have finally stopped crying after a week of feeling like such an idiot. I took my prelims last week, a four hour test on seven subjects. I studied my
@#$ off and pretty much knew all of the material, but when I got in there I was so nervous I just couldn't handle it. I had brought some earplugs so that everyone else wouldn't distract me, but all I could here was my heart beating. I didn't finish 3 of the seven sections, I completely ran out of time. Now I have to go face my advisor (who I can't stand, I'm changing advisors after I take multivariate stats from him next semester because I know it will affect my grade if I do it before) and he gets to tell me I failed and have to take them again in the spring. The thing is, I don't know what I'm going to do differently in the spring so that I suceed!

That's a sad day. I'm sorry to hear you had such a tough go of it. Have exams always been a problem?
ian

Sorry to hear that!! If I were you would I would go talk to the professor and explain what happened and remember you not alone in this, we all can get through this!!

caj:
get accommodations..
see your disabilities department...
you can get extra time on testing..

i just did: and i can take the test by myself in the testing center instead of doing it in class..
and i have time and a half...just knowing that i have that makes me feel so much more comfortable..

I've actually never had test anxiety before this. The test isn't administered by a single professor, different questions are written by different proffessors and are cummulative across seven sujects. You know, I definitely could have done better with more time but I don't really want all of those professors to know I have ADD, I live in a small town and hope to teach part-time at the university when I'm finished. So that keeps me from going to DSS for accommodations... (I'm in the Educational Psychology department, so several people from my program work at DSS). Kinda feel caught between knowing what would be helpful and wanting to keep my personal life private...

I've actually never had test anxiety before this. The test isn't administered by a single professor, different questions are written by different proffessors and are cummulative across seven sujects. You know, I definitely could have done better with more time but I don't really want all of those professors to know I have ADD, I live in a small town and hope to teach part-time at the university when I'm finished. So that keeps me from going to DSS for accommodations... (I'm in the Educational Psychology department, so several people from my program work at DSS). Kinda feel caught between knowing what would be helpful and wanting to keep my personal life private...
Go to your profs and tell them the test wasn't indicative of your talents. Mention that testing isn't an accurate representation of your knowledge, for reasons that aren't that important. Ask them to quiz you orally, or get you to write a paper, or whatever format works best for you. If the prelims you mentioned were to get a grasp on what you know, they may be willing to bend a bit.

Other than that, there's little you could actually do beyond letting people know you have AD/HD. I understand your desire to keep it private; I'm an Honours student in History, just diagnosed, and the only people I've told are my immediate family. I may not tell my profs, and I don't want accomodations anyway (I'm lucky; tests engage my hyperfocus. I typically leave before 2/3 of the time allotted has passed, limited mostly by my writing speed; essay tests take me longer than multiple choice or short answer, and meds would be more helpful than any other accomodations. But I'm lucky that way, I know others have different issues). On one level, it's embarassing and humiliating to admit you have a mental disorder. And however much we in the AD/HD community might see in it potential advantages, that's how 90% or more of the greater population see it; a mental disorder. Or worse, a faked-up copout, either by the individual to avoid responsibility or by pharmaceutical companies to sell more drugs.

Not that I agre with any of that, but it's what many of us (me, at least, and I assume others) fear about telling anyone about it. It's like coming out of the closet about being gay; it doesn't change who you are, but many people will have a bad reaction, and some will think you're sick.

But, in a university setting, they're not allowed to discriminate against you or deny you accomodations. One thing that might help is if you don't take all the accomodations you can, but only those ones you need. This will make it look more like you're offsetting specific issues, rather than asking for as many concessions to make your life easier as are available, at least to any prof with a remotely open mind about it.

I simply dont get test anxiety because I dont care about my exams at all.

I can totally see where u are coming from about not wanting to ask for the accoms based on the small town u live in. But don't u think that if u don't do well u will not be able to teach down the line. Look at it like this. If u were teaching and had a student in your class struggling and had ADD but didn't tell u, and u knew they were trying but could not help them. Wouldn't it be so much easier if they told u they had ADD? Plus u say your in the educational psych dept. These are people who know bout "mental disorders" so to speak. They are not your everyday normal proffesor who is going to blow u off. They of anyone should understand where u are coming from and be more then willing to work with u. Plus, confidentiality laws so not the whole town will know. If u do decide to seek accoms do it SOON cause sometimes it takes quite a while to get into place!

GOOD LUCK

I have been there before myself. Last semester I tried to take all of my tests without extended time because I wanted to be just like everybody else. My grades slipped because of it. I got C's in classes that I know deep down I should of gotta A's or B's in. This semester I broke down and had to go back to the disability service office. It's better for them to know you have ADD then to end up having your GPA suffer.