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24 hours until the exam...the make or break factor

Haven't really seen many threads on this, but I thought its an important topic,

What is it that makes A* students thrive under exam pressure? Is there any way one can learn to thrive under this pressure of an exam that determines (to some degree) the rest of your life?

To paint the picture, I was a hopeful Medicine applicant who did reasonable, but not brilliant at their GCSE'S (1A* 9A's 1B). Although a degree in medicine wasn't really in the long term plan, it wasn't until getting all A's in the mocks and over 90% in Maths, Bio, Physics and Chemistry past papers until I really thought I could go into medicine. Academically and revision wise I was ready. I did everything by the books.

Then it happened...

Irrational thoughts of failure kicked in, and to sum it up, in EVERY exam I became frozen, mind blanked and depressed. It was as if my future was dissolving in front of me.

I managed to scrape a BBBC at AS level (don't get me wrong its they're still respectable grades, but with respect to a degree in Medicine....no. Just no)

So I'm now applying for Optometry (looks amazing, not quite Medicine level however), predicted AAA in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. But it leads me to the question:

What is the "best" way to mentally prepare for an exam 24 hours (give or take a few :tongue:

) before it, to prevent cracking under the pressure again?

And to regular A/A* students, what is it that you do to get mentally ready for an exam knowing that your Oxbridge/Imperial etc. place is on the line?!

Please feel free to share similar stories of triumph over exam pressures (or falls :frown: