Self-study
Hi y'all, I have been studying on and off for a couple of months, and don't seem to be improving much. I began with a 168 diagnostic, and have been consistently scoring in that range on drills and sections, as well as PTs with the exception of some outliers. My practice doesn't seem to be showing improvement at all, and I'm wondering if anyone has any advice for what to work on. My goal for the August exam is 172.
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4 comments
@maxwellmoose45 Hey I posted something very similar to you a month or so ago. I was stuck at mid 160s for months. I don't know where your main struggles are, but if it is LR - 7Sage users pointed me to the book "The Loophole for Logical Reasoning" by Ellen Cassidy - and it was a massive help!
I do not have a "math brain" at all, so the typical way with heavy diagramming, memorizing a massive list of indicators, translation rules, etc... for a lot of LR, just did not click for me. But in The Loophole, she focuses way more on language, and breaking down the stimulus, which I found to be incredibly helpful. She also has a system of identifying and using "Powerful' vs "Provable" language in the answer choices for each question type. She also breaks down how to identify a typical correct answer trait, vs Trap answer trait, but way more in depth (almost like how you would learn the Classic Flaws for example). And that was invaluable to me. Suddenly questions where I used to have to focus on every answer choice to rule it out, I only had to do 2 or 3 - massive time savings!!
If your problem is in RC - I might have other suggestions, but I always feel like how to improve on RC depends mostly just on how you read specifically and then figuring out a strategy to maximize success.
I'd echo the below! That's a high diagnostic, and points are higher to come by in that range. You're probably improving a lot more than you think; it's just obscured by question distribution variation.
At this point, most of your studying should come from drills! Sections and tests are great for uncovering question types that you should be working on. Reviewing why you chose wrong answers is a great start, but if you're not hitting 100% in drilling that question type, there's something that's not quite clicking. A PT/week + maybe a section/week is enough: the real gains at this point will come from specific, targeted drills. I'd also recommend elimination drilling: rather than just picking the right answer, you also have to eliminate every other AC and explain why they don't work.
Last thing: the high 160s plateau is real, and very common. The dam will break; you've just got to grind a little while longer.
Good luck, and happy studying!
Heyy! Congratulations on achieving such a high diagnostic score! I think you're pretty close to reaching your goal. Personally, at the point where there's less room for improvement, I find that thoroughly reviewing your PTs and individual sections works best. Identifying your mistakes and figuring out how to eliminate them is the ideal approach when you're already scoring that high.
@jvrodrigues Thanks for the tip! I also seem to do well on blind review (consistently scoring -1 or -0 on br sections), so it feels like I know how to answer the questions I just mess up when I take the real thing. It feels frustrating because it doesn't feel like there is much I can do other than just keep grinding.