Self-study
Hello! As the June test gets nearer and nearer, I have been trying to refine my studying to the basic concepts I seem to be missing most. The good news is, the more PTs I do, the more my scores are consistently above 162. The bad news is, the more PTs I do, the more my scores are consistently below my highest scores. Honestly, the last three I completed were all the exact same score. My score graph essentially looks like a funnel- my results are way more consistent, but my potential for a higher score has seemingly decreased. I am both happy and discouraged about this -on the one hand, my score isn’t improving. On the other hand, the chances I absolutely bomb are dwindling. I can feel with my intuition how I did on a PT without clicking the reveal score button. Is this a good sign and improvement is my next step, or am I doomed to stay with this score forever? Thoughts?
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2 comments
I'd say it's neither a good nor a bad sign. There is a lot of random variation in PT scores. The standard error is 3 points either way meaning that roughly 68% of your scores will be within the 6 point range surrounding your true ability and 95% will be within a 12 point range surrounding your true ability.
If I had to guess, your highest scores were a little lucky and your lowest scores were a little unlucky. And right now I would say you are roughly at the level of ability indicated by your PT scores. But, it could also be true that you've improved between the last three tests at the same score and on the first of those you got a little lucky and on the latest you got a little unlucky.
Overall, I would say that short-run variation in practice test scores is not a good indicator of whether you are improving. In the short-run the natural variation between tests due to luck or how that test suited you or how you woke up that day is greater than any improvement you could make. So what you want to focus on is whether you are finding questions that are hard for you (whether in your drilling, untimed sections, or timed sections) and figuring them out and getting it to click why the right answer is right and the wrong answer is wrong. Those clicks of understanding should be your guiding star, not your PT score on the next test. If you are getting lots of clicks on questions you found hard, that's a great day of studying.
Then, over longer time periods and a bigger sample size, look at your PT average and see if it is improving.
In my admittedly limited personal experience, this is a very normal part of the process and isn't indicative that you've "topped out." It obviously depends on what score range you're plateauing in, I'm inferring that you're around the low-mid 160s, but it mostly indicates that you have a good grasp of foundational skills but haven't yet arrived at the level of speed or accuracy to break through into higher ranges. Changing study habits or simply taking some time off could be beneficial in getting there, but no need to worry about being stuck here forever lol