Help with timing issues!

Hi everyone!! This is my first time posting on discussion. I have a September test date and I'm not doing so well. My PT scores have been consistently decrease for the past three weeks while my BR score has been increasing. I know this is common so I know this is a timing issue. I was wondering what are the best timing drills/ strategies/ practice I can use to help. For reference, my most recent PT (149) I got a 155 and a 168 on BR. My cold diagnostic was a 150. My highest PT (140) I got a 163 with a 169 on BR. I would like to get into the 170 region but at this rate, I'm not sure if it's possible. I know that this means I know the content and need help with timing. Would love to hear some opinions!

Thanks!

I also had (have) issues with timing. Still working on my RC timing (with accuracy) but I'm finally at a place where I finish my RC sections and have time actually left over on LR.

Biggest game changers for me:

Translation drills. Sit down with a fresh LR section, read the stim, then cover it up and then write a translation in your own words. Don't answer or even look at the questions. Just do it for every question in the section, see how long the section takes you and how accurate you are. I did this, starting with it taking me about an hour and a half and ending with it taking ~35 mins after doing it about 5 times. Seriously, this is probably the thing that helped my score the most (I started at a 153 diagnostic and now I'm at 167, also hoping to hit 170 by october...)
Give yourself benchmarks, but be flexible. Start doing drills in LR that are 1 or 2 star questions, and give yourself 10 minutes for 10 questions. Force yourself to finish them even if it feels rushed. You'll probably do better than you think and it boosts your confidence. On real sections, try to use that as a benchmark, like "By the 10 min mark i should be done w 10 questions" but don't beat yourself up if you're not.
1. This goes for RC too. I started using a "number of questions plus 1" system for RC timing, so if a passage has 6 questions, I get 7 minutes to finish it. If I'm not done, I move on. That way, I end up with extra time and I can come back to anything I didn't finish, but I'm not totally flopping my last passage because I have like 3 minutes to read and answer the questions.
Figure out how often you're re-reading things, and why. Might just be more difficult questions, but if you learn your own patterns, it will help a lot.
Honestly, for me, so much of it was fatigue. I started getting tired and slowing down dramatically. Practicing a lot has helped with that--figuring out when my brain peters out and how I can jumpstart it again. Maybe it's taking 10 seconds for a couple deep breaths or reminding myself these are all just silly puzzles. Or whatever. Find what works for you.

I hope this helps...and good luck!

4 comments

TerritorialDiscerningArrival
Monday, Aug 18
I also had (have) issues with timing. Still working on my RC timing (with accuracy) but I'm finally at a place where I finish my RC sections and have time actually left over on LR.
Biggest game changers for me:
Translation drills. Sit down with a fresh LR section, read the stim, then cover it up and then write a translation in your own words. Don't answer or even look at the questions. Just do it for every question in the section, see how long the section takes you and how accurate you are. I did this, starting with it taking me about an hour and a half and ending with it taking ~35 mins after doing it about 5 times. Seriously, this is probably the thing that helped my score the most (I started at a 153 diagnostic and now I'm at 167, also hoping to hit 170 by october...)
Give yourself benchmarks, but be flexible. Start doing drills in LR that are 1 or 2 star questions, and give yourself 10 minutes for 10 questions. Force yourself to finish them even if it feels rushed. You'll probably do better than you think and it boosts your confidence. On real sections, try to use that as a benchmark, like "By the 10 min mark i should be done w 10 questions" but don't beat yourself up if you're not.
This goes for RC too. I started using a "number of questions plus 1" system for RC timing, so if a passage has 6 questions, I get 7 minutes to finish it. If I'm not done, I move on. That way, I end up with extra time and I can come back to anything I didn't finish, but I'm not totally flopping my last passage because I have like 3 minutes to read and answer the questions.
Figure out how often you're re-reading things, and why. Might just be more difficult questions, but if you learn your own patterns, it will help a lot.
Honestly, for me, so much of it was fatigue. I started getting tired and slowing down dramatically. Practicing a lot has helped with that--figuring out when my brain peters out and how I can jumpstart it again. Maybe it's taking 10 seconds for a couple deep breaths or reminding myself these are all just silly puzzles. Or whatever. Find what works for you.
I hope this helps...and good luck!
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