# For people taking long tests: how do you deal with bathroom issues? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 20, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600 "2012-11-20T10:19:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/21 "2012-11-21T03:09:03Z")
Wear a diaper. And have fun. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/22 "2012-11-21T03:26:35Z")
Back when I took the MCAT and USMLE exams, they both had scheduled breaks for bathroom/snacking. You were not allowed to leave during the actual test. Since you couldn’t use the break time to do any work on the test, there’s no reason not to take advantage of the break time to actually pee. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/23 "2012-11-21T03:32:04Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Four hours! That seems almost barbaric…and that was four-hour exams, _plural_? I wrote a 4 hour exam this summer. Barbaric? No. I figure most adults can go four hours without a bio-break. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/24 "2012-11-21T03:34:25Z")
The Series 7 exam is 6 hrs long with 3 hrs max allowed for each section. You get a break after the first section. It didn’t take me nearly that long to take it, I think 3 1/2 hrs total. I don’t remember what the deal was if we absolutely could not hold it and had to leave before the break. It wan’t a problem for me. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/25 "2012-11-21T03:36:56Z")
> [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](#): > > Yes, I agree with WhyNot about the “night before the night before” it really helps. Yep. This is the same reason Tuesdays suck so much worse than Mondays. On Monday, you’re all rested from the weekend, even though you probably didn’t get much sleep Sunday night due to screwing up your sleep schedule. It’s TUESDAY it all catches up with you. Most folks can do just fine on 4-6 hours sleep for one night. It’s just when it’s cumulative that it’s an issue. So, after the test…plan a good night’s sleep 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/26 "2012-11-21T05:08:52Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > But the very best piece of Big Test taking advice I got: Do \*not \*try to get a good’s night sleep before the exam. You won’t. Get a good night’s sleep the night \*before \*the night before the exam. If your exam is on Friday, forget about Thursday night. Get lots of sleep Wednesday night. Then your body is working on Full, and if you can’t sleep Thursday night, you’re only down a quarter tank and your adrenaline will carry you through the exam. And what most of us actually found was that getting rid of the pressure to sleep well Thursday night perversely allowed us to sleep well anyway! 😃 That’s great advice, thanks. If anyone else stopping by has similar tips, pls feel free to share! ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/27 "2012-11-21T05:58:53Z")
I took the BCBA exam, which is four hours, at a Pearson VUE testing center. Let me tell you, security at that place was tighter than Fort Knox. I was briefed on the bathroom procedure ahead of time. It involved raising your hand for a proctor, being escorted to the door, fingerprinted, being let out of the locked room and escorted to the bathroom, let back in, re-fingerprinted, and finally you could resume. Presumably the fingerprinting was to avoid any crazy twin-replacement hijinks. Long story short, I held it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/28 "2012-11-21T07:37:31Z")
If your exam is an all-day thing, all in one day, it may be divided up into three or four shorter sub-topic tests of two hours each, with breaks between. For example, if you’re taking a CPA exam, there may be a two-hour test on accounting math, then a two-hour exam on accounting principles and laws, then a two-hour exam on accounting ethics and business practices – for example. There would be breaks between the sections of the exam. But, as suggested above, you should really make discreet inquiries beforehand to find out how your exam in organized. Most likely, you’ll get some exam preparation materials as the day approaches, that will describe how the exam is carried out. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/29 "2012-11-21T16:20:57Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Four hours! That seems almost barbaric…and that was four-hour exams, _plural_? Yes, I had to pass nine of them to become fully credentialed. You take (usually) one exam every six months. I failed five times and so required 14 attempts in total. Not that big a deal–most professional exams are pretty arduous. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/30 "2012-11-21T20:57:10Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I wrote a 4 hour exam this summer. Barbaric? No. I figure most adults can go four hours without a bio-break. Not me. Our university exams were typically three hours. You were escorted to the bathroom if you had to go.\* \*I never had to do this since I typically finished the exams in under half the time. I test well. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600/31 "2012-11-22T03:12:34Z")
[QUOTE=Typo Knig] When I took the CISSP exam - scheduled for 6 hours - bathroom breaks were allowed. We test takers had to be escorted to the bathroom by a proctor. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=kferr] My CISSP experience was very similar to **Typo Knig’s** except we weren’t followed to the toilets. [/QUOTE] I’ve taken and proctored the CISSP exam, and yes, it’s awkward to have to escort someone into the restroom. While they do their business, I’m standing near the door and trying to think of anything other than the absurdity of the situation, especially since someone else does a sweep through the restrooms every hour to ensure nobody has broken into a small secured building and written the CIA triad or whatever on the wall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-people-taking-long-tests-how-do-you-deal-with-bathroom-issues/641600.md?page=1)