Hey guys, I've been drilling timed sections for PTs in the 20s as I heard a lot of their games are useful. I noticed that I've been getting more questions incorrect in the LR sections (by a margin of 1/2 more than my usual score). This hasn't really affected my overall score of the test given the generous curves in the 20s, but I'm a little concerned about the trend I've been seeing. Somehow I find the newer LRs to be less challenging... all in all just a little disheartened. Any opinions on what you thought of the difficulty of LR / other sections in the 20s? Any specific ways you guys attacked them during review? Any insight would be appreciated!
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@ I agree! Formal logic seems to be heavily tested in the 20s. How have you tackled your review in the 20s? Did you find any specific aspects of the 20s useful for more recent tests?
@ Thanks for your insight! Your breakdown of the use for PTs are really helpful. I also do not think the difficulty itself increased, maybe the 20s hit my weaknesses and the the more recent ones I've drilled happened not to. Still a lot to learn from each test for sure.
@ I haven't done the 30s or the 80s yet, so I really don't have a clear picture of what they're like. I did hear that the 80s are very difficult. I've only touched on the 70s (out of the very recent tests). Scared to go on to the 80s :')
@ I didn't think the LRs from before the 20s were all that difficult, so I didn't pay much attention on them. What I do notice about the 20s is that there is a lot of formal logic, and a lot of questions in which the correct answer choices may appear very subtle / less apparent from a first read. No idea if this is true, it's just the way I felt :/ Formal logic didn't really do much to me, but the abstract language / subtle answer choices tripped me up quite a bit.
Thank you so much everyone! I'm still in the process of answering PMs, I'm sorry if I haven't gotten to you yet.
Congratulations!! So happy that everything paid off.
@ Absolutely! I would be more than happy to help.
@ The most useful "general" tip I can give you is to read the stimulus slowly and take the time to understand exactly what's going on. Dwelling on the answer choices will just take away your time. Make a journal filled with questions that you thought were particularly difficult and review them when you have spare time. If you would like to PM me about what exactly you want improvement in, I can tell you what I think.
@ Oh dear, RC sucks. It was my "bad" section. DO NOT rush through passages. Read everything carefully and understand each sentence. Highlight select details you feel could get tested (for instance, important dates, names ... etc). Also, DO NOT choose an answer choice if you cannot locate textual evidence. If you can, choose confidently and move on. Again, you can always PM me about your situation if you would like to talk about this.
Can't believe it finally paid off. I feel like this year just consisted of me crying in my room studying LOL. It was a tough process, but I'm just so happy it's over.
This test sucks ass. It just really does, I have to say it. It literally drained all my mental energy for a year. Trust me, it wasn't like I was good at this test from the start. It took countless hours of staring at a question to figure out what the hell is going on. But hard work does pay off - please, please never give up.
I want to be of help to anyone who is going through this process. Please ask me anything, I may be able to help.
@ Awesome, thank you for letting me know. Will definitely start looking into types and practicing different questions to give myself a good feel. Thanks for the response!
Hey guys, I've started studying for this test around a month ago, and I'm looking to get some general advice from those of you who have been studying this test for a while.
My cold diagnostic was at a 168, with -3 on RC, -7 on LR, and -2 on games. I've been specifically targeting the LR section for the past month, and I'm averaging at around -1/-2 per timed section. Problem areas include Flaw questions and Parallel Flaw questions.
I haven't devoted as much studying RC, but I took a few timed sections and I average around -2. The incorrect answers usually fall in the same passage. As for the games, I really haven't done anything about them yet, although I'm planning on studying each type once I feel like I have a more solid grasp on LR.
A few questions:
I'm honestly pretty clueless when it comes to studying strategically for this test. Any tips you have for any section would be greatly appreciated. I can also share how I studied LR, if anyone would like to know!
Thanks so much in advance.
@ Yes, you're definitely right about the SA/NA. The difference seems to start from the early 70s and go from there - I think the main issue is getting used to the new style. I've picked out 86 and 87 within that range, so I'll see how that goes! Will also do the games from 88 to see what that flower game is all about.
@ Definitely! Just took PT 80 yesterday, looked at that building transfer game, said "uh wtf" and brute forced everything haha. Will be doing 4 more, is there a particular PT in the 80 that you found helpful / difficult?
@ Reviewing fundamentals seems to be a great idea, making sure the foundation is solid is always good. I 100% agree with you, sometimes it's hard not to beat yourself up. At the end of the day we should all be proud that we were able to persevere through this, no matter the results!
@ I've definitely been thinking about redoing some tests and just taking a very few in the 50s/60s that I haven't done. Completely agree that mindset is so important!
@ A 170 is definitely something you should celebrate and be very proud about! I definitely did not start out this way and had to put in some tears and grieve over things to get to where I am right now LOL Thank you for your words of encouragement, I'm certain that you'll go even further beyond this point.
@ Same here, scores are usually the around same for me. I guess how the test 'feels' to an individual is just going to be different for every individual. There seems to be something about a few of the 30s, though. I'm certain a 179-180 will NOT be an accurate representation of my scores in more recent tests, but somehow got a few of those scores in the 30s. Who knows what happened there - guess I got lucky with the harder games there. Expecting a struggle from 70 onwards. 😭
@ @ Thanks guys! I'll definitely keep those drilling methods in mind. Honestly I think the hardest part is keeping my angst at bay, it's so easy to talk myself into thinking that something horrible will happen on test day. How do you guys keep confidence? It's hard for me to celebrate good PT scores bc I'll tell myself it was good luck etc :/
@ Thanks so much for the detailed response! Will definitely make sure I'm comfortable with the newer tests.
Usually, I'll take a PT, take an hour or two off, then BR. Then I'll score the PT, and come back to it the next day. I made it a habit for myself to review every question, writing down why an answer choice is right or wrong (usually VERY tedious, but this is how I improved so I'm still going with it). For games, I'll redo each.
I would say my weakest section is RC, since that's where I become the least consistent. I can go anywhere from -0 to -3. As for LR, the ones I'll get incorrect are usually weakening questions or some variation of it. The only 'real practice' I get with games is from the PTs. I'm not having too much trouble with the games but I am trying to find some of those 'weirder' games to do.
I've seen a significant jump in the scores from doing this, although I'm taking it w a grain of salt to keep myself motivated. Also reminding myself that my current scores would likely fall once I take the 80s, since people found those to be brutal 😂
Hey guys, I'm looking to take the June / July test, and I'm unsure how I should distribute my PTs in the months leading up to the test.
I've been very focused on timed drills for the past 2 months to get my accuracy where I want it to be, and started taking full PTs a few weeks ago. I've mainly focused on the late 30s so I can save up the recent PTs, though I have taken two from the 70s to acclimate to the changes that people seem to have noticed.
I realize that I'm not too far away from the test, and I'm starting to think simply working up chronologically might not be a good idea (3 months is clearly not enough time to get every PT in). I'm taking 3-4 PTs a week right now. How do you guys suggest I approach choosing which PTs to take? Should I work on only the odd/evens for every 10 PT?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
P.S. Do you guys find the 30s and the 70s to be vastly different? I'm not picking up on much differences (except RC), but that may be due to the fact that I've only really taken two of the 70s.
Hey guys, I'm sitting for the June international exam (28th) and I'm looking for advice on how I should spend my time leading up to that point.
June is my first take, so I've saved up around 3-4 tests each from the 50s and 60s and 5 tests from the 70s. I haven't touched the 80s yet, but I'm planning to save up 5 tests.
This leaves me with 5 PTs to work on until June. I'm scoring 175 average, so my main goal is consistency and bringing down unnecessary mistakes. With quite a bit of time left, I'm not sure what to do other than take those 5 pts and reviewing questions I got incorrect in the past - doesn't really feel like I'm doing something substantial. Does anyone have tips on drills / review methods I can try out during this time?
Any insight would be appreciated!
@ Lol I haven't done the 80s either, 20s made me sad. I really recommend you try PT 27 if you haven't already! All sections are super valuable (they are all p challenging haha), and the infamous snake/lizard game is there. RC in pt 27 has helped me learn a lot too.