This is only my second PT I've ever taken and I'm taking my first test in August (welp - it's grind time!), but I'm super excited about how much I've improved in LR!
I am planning to take the exam in August, September, October, and November (I am for sure applying to schools this year, hence the back-to-back tests), and my goal is to get a 166-168 on the actual test now.
I definitely need to work on timing for RC, though. I had ~3 minutes for the last section and completely guessed by barely skimming the passages. Any tips for budgeting time on RC? I also recently finished the RC core curriculum and have spent no time practicing RC passages so that is probably a good start.
4 comments
On top of Phoebe's recommendations, I'd suggest doing a lot of experimenting to see what works best for you. Mainly, play around with:
1) How much total time you're willing to allot to passages based on how difficult they seem
2) How much time you're willing to spend reading each passage
3) If you want to give yourself a hard cutoff on per question so you don't spend too much time deliberating
I've seen different advice for all three of these, and for me the optimal rules didn't align with all of the conventional wisdom. So I highly recommend playing around with those inputs and seeing how it feels for you.
That's so exciting! I hope you're proud of yourself.
For RC:
A general rule of thumb is to finish your second passage with 20 minutes left so you have 10 minutes each for your last 2, which are usually harder.
Practice "full-send" drills: once you read the passage and make your low-res summaries, you're not allowed to look back at the passage (the exception being questions that reference specific words or sentences). This forces you to a) get in the habit of retaining more on the first go around and b) use reasoning to get rid of answer choices (RC is ultimately just big LR). Pre-phrasing answers as much as possible is also helpful!
Good luck, and happy studying!
@PhoebeHopp That's good to know - I didn't realize the last 2 are harder. Thank you so much!
Do you know if we receive a piece of paper or can bring a piece of paper in person ourselves for the in-person test so we can make low-res summaries during RC?
@nr They give you six pieces of blank paper and pencils. The only items you will be allowed to bring in yourself are your ID and your login information.