This thread is for any tips in approaching and handling the JLPT!
To start things off, I'm going to give a few effective test-taking skills that most people brush off.
1. Time management - For most people, finishing the test in time is not possible, which means that you are possibly going to have questions you 100% know that you don't get points for because you simply didn't reach them. In order to minimize this, try the following:
If you ever reach a question that you cannot get in <20-30 seconds, write a little x next to the question number, then answer randomly, and keep going.
If you ever answer a question that you are not 100% sure about, but a triangle next to it.
Try and make it all the way through the test. Only once you are finished, go back and focus on the X questions and the triangle ones.
You may think you will remember which questions you had trouble with, but without marking them, your mind can play tricks on you, especially in such a high-stress situation.
2. DO NOT change answers unless you are 100% sure that you are a)wrong, and b)you know the correct answer.
There's a lot of that "second guessing" that we all do in tests, but on average, the first guess is more accurate than a correction that isn't backed by 100% confidence. I unfortunately do not have the data to back this up, as this comes from information I read decades ago, but it makes sense to me. Unless the first answer was a random choice, then you should stick with it unless you have compelling evidence that shows otherwise.