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Hello 7sage!
I've bombed my Feb test, got over it, rested, and now I'm back on the grind..!!!!! Yay!!! Aiming to take the test June/Sept. In my PT's, I've been scoring mid to high 150s and getting around -8 on games. I realized if I am going to enter into 160s I need to address my games section.
So I am planning to devote March and maybe part of April to foolproofing 1-35 and perfecting the games. My concern is that when I focus on games for a month or two I might be getting worse in LR and RC. What are your thoughts on that? Should I be doing a little bit of LR and RC on the side to keep the momentum going? Even if it means like one passage a day, or 1 LR section a week? Or is it safe to focus on perfecting the games for a while?
I am not too concerned about RC getting worse, because I realized I haven’t really improved in RC to begin with. But for LR, I am worried that I might lose my momentum and have to start from scratch again after I come back from foolproofing games. Do you guys have any ideas about how I can continue to practice LR on the side while foolproofing 1-35?
Thanks in advance :)
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8 comments
@ilikephilosophy993 Yeah, I know what you mean. Okay, thanks for your insight. Good to know different perspectives on how to approach studying for this exam.
@victorwu94115 said:
@ilikephilosophy993 Thanks! I'll definitely consider using this approach. I have heard of instances where people take a break and end up improving after the break. Did you find that you improved, stayed the same or got rusty when you returned to a section?
There was some surface rust when I returned to a section type, but that always went away after a day or two of studying that section type. Don't freak out if this happens to you--it's normal and does not mean that you've forgotten anything/haven't improved. For example, at one point in my preparation after I practiced only LG for a month, I returned to LR and struggled with reading how I had been when I left off. After two days, though, my accuracy and comfort with stimuli was higher than it had ever been.
For perspective on rust: I prepared from July/August 2016 to June 2017. At the end of January, I was scoring 160. I gave myself February completely off, took a PT on my first day back in March, and scored a 162. It takes a long time for 'surface rust' to turn to actual rust, you know what I mean?
@ilikephilosophy993 Thanks! I'll definitely consider using this approach. I have heard of instances where people take a break and end up improving after the break. Did you find that you improved, stayed the same or got rusty when you returned to a section?
I had the same question! What I did was that on days where I had more time, I would just do like one LR/RC section and BR it the next day. Really easy, just enough to not get rusty and to practice my bubbling technique. I'd do the ones from PTs 1-35 and do them fairly low pressure and sometimes untimed, just to keep the brain in shape.
@victorwu94115 said:
@ilikephilosophy993 said:
Drill LG until you get bored then switch to a different section type. Drill that section type until you get bored. Rinse, repeat.
Interesting. What's your reasoning behind this approach? I have thought about how to best approach foolproofing. My idea was to devote 1 day out of my 6 days of study to devote to LR, so that I don't get rusty.
The essence of a 'drill' is to repeat a process enough times that it becomes reflexive. For an example of this methodology, look at how the US military employs drill instructors. I think the brain learns better if you blast it with the same thing over and over, up until the point where you temporarily lose interest [precursor to burnout]. Once you're bored but not burnt out, you can switch to a different section type and do it all over again.
This process worked exceedingly well for me. The effectiveness of this approach also depends on where you are in your preparation.
@ilikephilosophy993 said:
Drill LG until you get bored then switch to a different section type. Drill that section type until you get bored. Rinse, repeat.
Interesting. What's your reasoning behind this approach? I have thought about how to best approach foolproofing. My idea was to devote 1 day out of my 6 days of study to devote to LR, so that I don't get rusty.
Drill LG until you get bored then switch to a different section type. Drill that section type until you get bored. Rinse, repeat.
I think that it would be a good idea to drill LR as well. IDK how much time you have but when I took 3-4hr/day to foolproof LGs, I got through 3 LG sections a day.
When I foolproof LG again, I will either take that same amount of time, 3-4 hrs, foolproof 2 LG sections, and drill+BR 1 LR section,
or I will wake up earlier giving myself an additional couple hours to drill+BR 2 LRs and then in the evening I will FP 3 LGs.
This does depend on how much time you have per day and how long it takes you to FP LGs.