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[prosdog]

12 hours from right now I'll be doing round 2 with the exam.  

When I applied the first time, I didn't expect the USPTO to qualify me under the science hours option, but I guess I made too good of argument and they sent me my 90 day notice.  Between work, family etc. I didn't have nearly enough time to study.  I was pretty confident going into the exam but didn't pass.

Seven months later I feel much more comfortable with the material, but I don't feel as confident as I did last time.  I'm hoping that its just pre-game jitters, but I feel as though the more I studied, the more I realize how impossible it is to know all this material to any degree of comfort.  I've been getting around 80% of the questions on the practice exams right, but I'm worried about the randomness of the question selection, I could get all the hard ones.  I'm also worried about the experimental questions, that I'll get one that takes 30 minutes of my time to answer and it won't even count.

I just have to think back to law school 15 years ago and remember that the exams you felt worst about were the ones you did best on.  At least that the way it was for me.

Anyway, between 10am and 5pm CST tomorrow, think a pleasant and encouraging thought for me.

[byte]

Get some sleep, acknowledge that you've done all you can to prepare, and remember that there are a lot of us who are still trudging along through study material and wishing we are where you are now. :>  Good luck!

[SciGuy]

Good luck Prosdog!  I feel your stress.  I'm scheduled to take it in 10 days.  I took 4 tests over the past week and scored bt/wn 85 and 92.  I felt good so I scheduled the test.  Then I took the Apr 2003 test and I dropped down to 76.  I'm freaking out.  76 would be fine on test day but it isn't enough of a margin for me to be comfortable.  I'll be hitting the books hard for the next week for sure.  In any event, let us know how it goes.  Again, good luck.

[prosdog]

Well, crashed and burned.    Looks like I'll be taking it a third time.  I'm wondering if going up to the PTO office and reviewing my exam might be helpful.

C'est la vie.

[Isaac]

Prosdog,

I don't know what study method you are using, but there is a limit to well you can do by simply practicing old tests without going back to restudy the material.   If you can identify some particular weak areas, you could restudy those, but you might well need to return to whatever course you were using.   If you were not using a course, maybe you should consider changing tactics.

[fingers crossed]

Prosdog,

It sounds like you know the material and now just need to work on your test taking skills.  Three things that made the difference for me were time management, familiarity with the electronic MPEP and being comfortable taking computerized exams.

Time Management - I quickly and carefully read every question and chose an answer spending approximately 2-2.5 minutes per question.  Mark the questions you are unsure about and note on the scrap paper what rule you think would apply and what chapter to look in.  The remaining time was first used to verify/confirm answers, second used to look up questions that I had a good idea of where in the MPEP the answer would be and Third to work on the random out of the blue questions that I had no idea where to begin looking.  Since every question is worth one point, no sense wasting time on difficult questions.  Also, by writing down which chapter/rule applies to each question, you can look up  answers to questions in groups.  

Familiarity With The Electronic MPEP - This probably is the most important thing to practice.  I went through several old tests and looked up every question in an electronic version of the MPEP.  Make sure you use Adobe version 5.0 since that has the same features that will be available on the test.  I downloaded each chapter individually from the USPTO website and saved them in a folder on the harddrive.  The files had the same labels that the exam had on the drop down menu, after clicking on the MPEP button, e.g. "1200 appeal", "2100 patentability", etc.  Knowing the main topics covered in each chapter helped immensely.  

Being Comfortable Taking Computerized Exams - Nothing beats taking computerized practice exams, except practicing them for free.  I bought the Patent Education Series exam simulator software for $100 and it was nothing like the actual test.  The only thing it was good for was breaking down the questions from six different tests into groups, e.g. questions on 102, questions on reissue, questions on 103, etc.  About midway through my studying I stumbled accross a free exam simulator that was almost identical to the actual exam.  
http://www.catprep.com/exams/patent-bar/index.html
The only thing they charge you for is grading and storing you test.  You do need to have JAVA enabled on your computer.  If you do not have a personal computer, go to your local or University library and take the practice exam there.  Since you can download the exam answers from the USPTO website, I used the software, but also recorded my answers on a piece a paper and checked them myself. Additionally, I used the downloaded MPEP copy (opened in another window) instead of the link they provided.  

Good luck, you will pass.

[prosdog]

Thank you all for your kind words.

I'm not really sure what went wrong, I was able to finish both sections with a few minutes to spare.  Generally, every question I looked up I found on the first chapter of the MPEP I searched.  I don't get test anxiety, I've taken everything from the SAT to the TX bar exam, no problems.

I took one prep course and I also bought the PES guidebooks and workbook for the second attempt.

I'm taking this week and the weekend off from studying, then I'm going to hit it hard.  I'll probably retest in 5 weeks.  

I'm going to pass this test or die trying.

[p@tent.guy]

Love the dedication.

Here's a confession: I was a former examiner and did not pass my first time either (67).  It felt like I was hit in the gut. I'm a strategy guy now and thought I had it knocked out of the park. They didn't have instant results so when I got my letter I was stunned.

I went to the Office for review and it was the best thing I could have done.

It turned out I systematically missed questions regarding patent examing functions. I uniformly answered with what is actually done vs. what is MPEP correct. I even challenged several questions for ambiguity - sadly to no avail.

Seeing what questions I got wrong made all the difference. I knew why they were wrong and saw several again the second time around. I would definitely recommend visiting the Office to review both of your missed exams.

Good luck.

[Visit the PTO !!!!]

Prosdog, All

Sorry to hear you were unsuccessful. I missed the exam my first try scoring a 65.  

Initially, I was hesitate about visiting the PTO, but now I am glad that I did.   I visited the PTO, because I needed to know where I screwed up, so I had a starting point for preparing to re-take the exam.

In reviewing my missed questions, I was shocked to see what questions I got wrong.  Basically, questions I thought were not scored, were actually scored !!!! Immediately after reviewing my missed questions, I went down to the PTO cafeteria and wrote down all I could remember.

When I took the exam the second time,  I counted around 10 questions that I missed the first time.  These questions were in addition to the repeat questions from old exams.

My preparing the second time, consisted soley of doing the repeat exams and the notes I created from my visit to the PTO.

Do your best not t obe discuorage.  Remember less than 60,000 people were EVER registered to practice before the PTO.  Needless to say this  exam is extremely difficult even for the best test takers.

E-mail me if you have any specific questions.

Hang in there !

 

[smgsmc]

Do you have to travel to the USPTO in Alexandria, VA?  What are you allowed to do?  Just find out the questions you got right or wrong?  Any explanations?  Any notes allowed?  

[Visit the PTO !!!!]

Reply to the previous post.

My firm is Research Triangle Park of NC, so I drove to the PTO.

I was only allowed to review missed questions and the corresponding Model Answers.  

I was giving around 3 hours for review.

No notes are allowed.  The attendants were nice but firm.   Moreover, the attendants are not registered persons.

The only thing I could do was read the questions and model answers.  The PTO does provide a MPEP for reference.  I read every question and model answer aloud.  The attendant may have thought I was crazy, but I'm convienced the action aided me in retaining the information.

At that time my weak area were 103 and reexamination.


As soon as  i was done,  I did a complete brain dump  in the PTO cafeteria by writing down everything that came to mind.  


If your considering visiting the PTO, I say go for it .