Unfortunately, I have ALREADY registered for my Sept exam but I won't be able to get the score I want by Sept. Things didn't work out according to plan and I really don't know what to do.
My originally plan was to take about 20-30 PTs before my first actual exam, but as of now, I'm only able to drill by section to increase my speed. I miss about 5-6 questions in LR and have 6 minutes left before the last logic game. I'm not able to read all 4 RC passages and even the ones I do get to read, I get 1-3 wrongs per passage. RC is my worst nightmare and I don't know whether keep drilling it will increase my speed. But when I redo all of the above sections untimed during my BR, I get 85%-100% right. They are not really hard to solve and understand when I don't do them under timed conditions (except for the hardest RC passages) but I get stressed out, nervous, and rush through questions during timed conditions that I don't get to understand some sentences and overlook some key words. For instance, there is always at least one weirdly worded rule in logic games that makes me freeze and hurt my confidence to solve questions accurately. That disappointment and fear have psychological impact on my performance and makes me keep doubt whether I indeed translated the rest of the rules accurately. Overall, it frustrates me that there are many questions that are solvable but I just can't do them properly and accurately because I THINK I don't have enough time and I ACTUALLY don't have enough time. So I came to the conclusion that it's more practical of me to raise my LR and LG speed & score to compensate for my weak RC skills given the amount of time I got.
With these timing issues to overcome, I need to begin my PTing phase next week. I don't think doing about 15 PTs will be enough of practice before the actual test. Ideally, I want to take about 35-40 PTs, but realistically, it's unfeasible by Sept. I'm pretty sure I won't reach in the low 160s by Sept (especially due to this huge timing issue with RC) but I need at least high160s to apply to my dream schools. So I'm thinking of taking the Sept test to just get the experience of taking the exam with many people under stressful conditions and cancelling the score right after the test to not leave any record of unwanted score. I will keep on studying after the first exam, and hopefully by Dec, I will get enough practice with all of my 3 sections (especially RC) to reach my target score and take the Dec exam with no plan of cancelling the score. And by Jan/early Feb, I will be ready to send my applications to my dream schools. Even if I really screw up my Dec exam, I will be able to take one last exam in Feb. I also don't intend to apply for 2018 admission and take any more exams after Feb. I must apply for the fall 2017 admission.
So I'm not sure whether postponing the test date (by paying $90) is a good idea because that would mean losing money and the chance to experience what it's really like taking the exam at the test center. Similarly, if I get a refund, I only get $50 back and I lose the chance to practice under actual test conditions. In my country, I'm not able to even enter the classrooms where the test will be taken because I'm not one of the school's students, doors are closed, classes are being held, and etc. I won't have the opportunity to practice at the test center like some people can abroad. I actually went to the test center in June to check out and get some info on the test center and one of the people who are in charge of administering the exam explicitly told me that I can't enter any of the rooms to practice. She asked me why I'm being so sensitive about the exam. Um...ok. I may be a sensitive person but I mean isn't this supposed to be a serious exam? Haha.
Anyway, the only concern I have about cancelling the score is what if it in anyway hurts my application? If you were in my shoes, what would you do?
Chocolate never disappoints! I miss chips ahoy :) Since I'm so burnt out (with muscle pain and whatnot) I'm going on a two week vacation to forget about this test for a while. Do you think I should still do some logic games and look at some LR questions during my precioussss vacation or completely ignore doing anything LSAT-related and come back with fresh mind? I have never taken a really long break from this exam so I would like some mentorly advice!