Finally passed my AD exam after failing twice — here's what worked

by James R. 73 views3 replies
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James R.OP
May 27, 2026

Okay so I've been lurking here for months and I finally have good news to share. Passed my AD exam last Tuesday with a 78, which honestly felt like winning the lottery after bombing it twice before. First attempt I got a 61, second time a 64. I was starting to think I just wasn't cut out for this.

What finally clicked for me was actually slowing down and building a real study guide instead of just highlighting my textbook like a maniac. I spent about 3 weeks going through each domain systematically — probably 2 hours a night after work. The AD practice test questions I found online were honestly the biggest game-changer because the real exam wording is so specific and tricky. Doing timed practice under test conditions helped me stop second-guessing myself.

For anyone struggling with the same sections I was — the pharmacology calculations and the communication/therapeutic relationship stuff — those two alone were like 30% of what tripped me up. Happy to share more exam tips if anyone's prepping right now. You've got this.

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Tom W.
May 27, 2026
Congrats!! I'm sitting for mine in 6 weeks and this is exactly the encouragement I needed. Can I ask which AD practice test resources you used? I've been doing the ones from my school's portal but they feel too easy compared to what my classmates who've already tested are describing. Also did you use any specific study guide or just build your own?
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Chloe W.
May 28, 2026
The pharmacology calc section got me too on my first attempt. What helped me was doing like 20 problems every single morning before I even looked at anything else — just raw repetition. By week three my accuracy went from maybe 60% to consistently hitting 85%+. The anxiety around the math was making me freeze up more than the actual difficulty of the problems.
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Kevin O.
May 28, 2026
Two fails to a pass is a real comeback story, don't undersell it. A lot of people quit after the second attempt. The exam tips about timed practice are spot on — simulating test pressure is the part most people skip and then wonder why they blank out on test day.

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