Why do I always run out of time on professional exams?
Strict time limits make it nearly impossible to finish writing the overall conclusion or fully discuss why alternative options were rejected. Rushing through the exam also causes memory lapses and leaves essential exhibits unfinished, forcing candidates to cram thoughts into the final minutes.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Writing conclusions under each individual option instead of the overall conclusion section
- 2Praying for a marginal pass
- 3concluding in word documents instead of spreadsheets
- 4relying on past capstone case experiences to alleviate panic
- 5Drinking alcohol to cope with stress after the exam
- 6Closing the laptop and trying not to think about the exam until results day
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I honestly wrote as much as I can as I had only 10 mins for my OC (I know, I should have allocated more time).”source ↗
“The main issue is I did not have enough time to discuss why the other two options weren't chosen. I briefly wrote two sentences on one of the options on why it's not accepted, but the other one i ran out of time.”source ↗
“If u forget to conclude on a couple of excel exhibits but u do so in word, is it a fail?”source ↗
“Just its so hard to remember stuff when you are rushing through things”source ↗
“Felt like my brain was still writing after time got called. the day 3 cases weren't too bad overall but that last one had me staring at the screen for a solid 3 minutes trying to remember basic concepts”source ↗
“it was rough. I didnt have time to finish all the AOs, missed a few one because of time.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 20How do I stop stressing about the CFE accounting exam?
- 2How to study for professional exams when you don't know where to start
- 3Why are there so many surprise questions on professional exams?
- 4Why do students have to sit in the testing room after finishing early?
- 4Exam results missing and incorrectly marked as a no-show
- 23Why do professional certification exams use subjective best answers?