How do you quell last minute nerves?

Take a deep breath and get to work. You know what to do. Have confidence in yourself. Good luck :)

I assume you’ve been cramming all day. Turn off your computer now and go to bed and get a good night’s sleep. Maybe do a little refreshing tomorrow, but no cramming. Go to the exam rested and relaxed (as best you can).

I would focus on what you are reading as opposed to the exam itself and eat healthy and keep hydrated. Then get some rest. Exercising before the exam might be good too. As you approach 3:30 PM remind yourself that soon it will be behind you. Good luck!

I actually work well under stress, adrenaline and nerves. For you though, why not see how you perform just letting yourself take the exam all nerved up, maybe you can take advantage of that energy and let it work for you.

After all the work is done if I still don’t feel confident, then I expect for and plan for the worst. “What will happen if I blow this”...then I plot out what I’d do and how I’d handle it.

Then, I take a deep breath and plan for the best case scenario. “If this all goes well I’ll…” usually I’ll plan to treat myself to something (a movie, an outfit, a quiet walk -etc).

For me, it allows me to let go of most of the cause of the stress, the unknown.

Since you gave the specifics and this anxiety is building over a 100% grade, I’ll say this:
I doubt you’ll blow it. You have more than a 50% shot at getting a passing grade.
Wake up, have some protein and caffeine, calmly read over your notes then do the best you can.
Best Wishes!

As you have a lot of reading to do, make sure you have 5 minute breaks every 15 minutes. Trust me, they help. They give your mind a few minutes to digest all the info in, and they give the rest of your body time to refresh and stop it from getting stiff. Have a drink, eat some chocolate, look out the window, anything really.
On the morning of the exam, make sure you have a good breakfast, and drink lots of water, You might wanna go to the bathroom, just in case, and make sure your body is fully hydrated. If your body is even 2% dehydrated, than you lose the ability to concentrate by 20%.
Right before the exam, take 3 deep breaths, and relax. Good luck @stardust , wish you all the best, and hope this helps :)

@babybadger and @SpatzieLover are on the money. You have done all you can do at this point. Go to bed. Sleep as well as you can and then go in and do the best you can. The rest is now outside of your control. Breathing if you get very stressed and anxious is a good tip too. Just take a moment to breath and calm yourself.

Good luck with your exam. Let us know how you go.

You don’t, you just go ahead and go through with it in spite of the anxiety.

Stay away from caffiene; it’ll make the nerves so much worse. Take a brisk walk to burn off excess energy and clear your head.

When I am singing in a concert or for an exam I eat a banana about half an hour before I am due on stage. They are supposed to be good for easing nerves and I don’t know whether it is just a placebo for me but I have certainly noticed a different. I am a big fan of Bachs Rescue Remedy which basically got me through my driving test.

@stardust So? What worked for you?

Thank you all for the sound adice and well wishes. The exam didn’t go as well as I’d hoped but I have to more to go next week so all’s not lost. I went to bed last night, couldn’t sleep until the wee hours so had a lie-in, get up and has a nice breakfast and read over my notes without trying to cram anything else in. The breathing helped a lot. Thank you all. I shall be using these tips again next week.

Oh, something else I did. When the exam began, I jotted down anything of significance on the exam paper to give myself a sort of starting point. I found that quite helpful.

@stardust I like the idea of jotting important things down! Good luck next week!

The jotting down is a really good tip. I have suggested that to students in the past. You may have done better than you think. I always left exams feeling frustrated and like I didn’t do as well as I could have. I was always fine though.